Seeking Advice: How Can a Family Secure Support After an Employee's Sudden Passing?

One of our engineers passed away due to a heart attack. He had dedicated 12 years of his life to the company. He was very hardworking and result-oriented, and the company has gained a good reputation and profits from his contributions. Unfortunately, the employee has passed away, leaving behind his uneducated wife and two school-going children with no source of income. The company has not shown willingness to help this family. I calculated his gratuity and presented it to the management, but they are not prepared to pay.

His wife has made numerous attempts to meet with my Managing Director, but he has not made time for her. I managed to assist them slightly by navigating the paperwork at the Provident Fund office for his claims, providing some temporary relief for the grieving family.

In this situation, I seek your advice on how the family can seek support from the company. Can she pursue legal action to claim benefits from the company? Please advise.

Entitlement to Gratuity and Legal Action

He is entitled to gratuity. It does not matter if the company does not want to pay. Advise the lady to complain to the Labor Officer about the non-payment of gratuity. Was the heart attack precipitated due to work pressure?

Retrieving Provident Fund Balances

PF balances can be retrieved if you show some interest. Help her fill in the forms and submit them to the PF office. Why is your company acting so unconcerned? Today it is the engineer; tomorrow it could be somebody else. The lack of humanitarian concern and the non-introduction of an employee insurance scheme speak badly about the management.

Since the employee is deceased, his legal heir can claim the gratuity. It does not matter whether the company wants to pay or not. Moreover, it is also advisable to calculate other benefits if at all applicable to the deceased employee.

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I am more than happy to see your involvement in supporting the family. This is the main function of an HR person: to take care of employee benefits in such hard times. I request you to, first of all, remove your name from the post and mark it as "Anonymous." Since you are working with the company, please take care of yourself as well.

You have not mentioned the origin state. If it is in Delhi NCR, you can share my contact number with the family. I used to go to Labour Offices for Labour Licence issues of my company. The experienced members have already described what benefits can be claimed from the company.

In EPF, the family can get an insurance amount for the EDLI scheme. You can help the family by processing the Pension Documents so that they can get the pension as soon as possible (though it is a long and complex process with a lot of documentation and repeated follow-ups with PF Officials).

Regards, Pan Singh Dangwal [Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

I really appreciate your attention regarding the friend's family. In case of their demise during duty hours, you can claim the workmen's compensation policy. As you mentioned, the employee has worked in your organization for 12 years, so he is entitled to gratuity.

Gratuity Entitlement

The rule for gratuity states that an employee must complete 4 years and 8 months if working 6 days a week. If your MD refuses to pay gratuity to the nominee, you can escalate the matter to the assistant labor commissioner or labor commissioner (a better option) with proper documentation such as previous salary slips, appointment orders, the last salary slip, and bank statements. By providing these documents and any other necessary paperwork, you can achieve success.

Please note that as per the latest notification, she can receive Rs. six lakh against the EDLI claim from EPFO. You can proceed accordingly.

Great work here. Apart from all legal help, one more thing can be done. If your MD's attitude is similar towards other staff in case something like this happens to anyone, you can show them their place.

There was an ad on TV where a company owner removes a person diagnosed with HIV+ from the company, and in protest, all staff starts resigning, giving various reasons. Eventually, the owner understands his mistake.

I am doubtful if this is the correct URL for that ad: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmXdkVkdB60. You can try something similar. Everyone could attempt to resign with one common message: "Your future doesn't seem secure in this company." This will make the news!

The company has to pay all benefits as mentioned below:

1. Salary due amount.
2. Earned Leave Salary (for the leave due and accrued up to the date of death).
3. Gratuity for the service period (approximately 6 months' salary).
4. In PF, all PF amount. In EPS, pension for the entire period up to her death and for 2 children up to the age of majority.
5. In PF EDLI scheme, she will receive a lump sum amount of about 3.5 Lakhs as insurance.

Please send an advocate notice to management.

Dear Queriest,

Please go through the link provided below and act accordingly. Mr. Korgaonkar has outlined the procedure for claiming gratuity, albeit in somewhat unclear terms.

[Link to the article](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.citehr.com/537653-gratuity-day-company-based.html&sa=U&ved=0ahUKEwirp4WOm PrMAhUBt48KHYqBAsMQFggOMAU&client=internal-uds-cse&usg=AFQjCNFGm2RqNTLJqx3j_D2iIdMPIEsZcw )

Kindly review the information provided in the link. Thank you.

I value your response to my post. Finally, the wife of the deceased received the settlement—Gratuity + Ex-gratia amount. I had to explain, fight, and argue with my Directors and MD to obtain it. Although the MD was willing to pay, the directors had their own versions and tried their best to avoid the payments (they wanted to get into the good books of the MD by saving the company money).

I explained to my directors and MD the consequences faced if not paid and the legal concerns. Finally, I was successful in releasing the amount. Now, all dues as per our company are paid to the deceased's wife.

Thank you once again for your guidance and support.

Regards, MSYM

You have really done a very good job, not only as an HR person but on the grounds of humanity as well. I think sharing your query with this forum put some energy into you and also showed you various ways to handle the situation. You have handled it very well and got the result you wanted.

Important Points to Consider

1. Getting the dues from the company seemed difficult as the management was not willing to pay. But now, since they agree to pay, there is no issue. Still, I request you to clarify to the forum members exactly what dues you are going to pay to the deceased family.

2. Getting the benefits from the PF Office (PF Contribution, EDLI claim, Pension to the wife and children). Based on my personal experiences, I request you to work on this properly. First, collect all necessary documents (Death Certificate, Bank Account in a Pension-related Bank, Specimen Signatures, Thumb Impressions, Family Details, etc.). You can take some consultant's help to handle the case so that pension benefits can be started without any hassle. Although most things are online now, getting a pension from the PF office involves long procedures.

Regards

You have given what his family deserved. You should even go to your MD and guide him on clearing gratuity dues, as it is mandatory by law. Also, please guide him and state the consequences that may arise due to non-payment.

Even in the above case, if the company is not ready to settle the gratuity, then the family has no option but to go to the labor commissioner, state their query there, and seek his help to settle all the dues.

Though I would not recommend meeting with the labor commissioner, if there is no option left, then the deceased's family has to take this step.

Regards,
Ankit Chaturvedi

Dear Mr. Pan Singh/Ankit,

The family received the dues from the company. Along with gratuity, the company has also paid ex-gratia. Gratuity was calculated as per norms - number of months worked multiplied by 15 days of basic salary of the last drawn salary, plus ex-gratia of Rs. 1 lakh given to the family.

The payment has already been handed over to the wife of the deceased, and she has acknowledged the same. Now, why should they go to the Labor Commissioner?

Anyways, thanks for your advice.

Gratuity Eligibility and Claim Process

Please note that gratuity is applicable to every establishment where 10 or more employees are working. Normally, if an employee has worked continuously for 5 years, gratuity is applicable. However, if the employee dies during their service, gratuity is applicable even if they have not completed 5 years of service.

The wife of the deceased employee should first submit an application to the management in the prescribed format to release the gratuity. If there is no positive response, a complaint should be filed with the gratuity commissioner. For further information, you can contact the District Labour Office.

Gratuity can be claimed with interest for the period of delay.

Thank you.