Employer Stopped Gratuity Payments Without Notice – How Should I Address This?

Sir, I have been working since 2000 and am currently employed in an autonomous body of the government. Initially, the job was contractual with breaks in service, but eventually, the nature of the job became continuous for four to five years. During this period, I was included in the Group Gratuity scheme of LIC, which continued until 2015. However, without any notice, my employer delisted my name from the scheme in 2015.

In 2008-09, my service was again made contractual with a stop-gap measure every six months, even though I was still on the list of this scheme. No notice was served by my employer regarding this change, but I discovered it through a source and verified it. My employer believes that I am unaware of this and is hiding the fact.

I have been working here with the hope that my family, who is in financial need, will one day benefit from what my employer initially promised. My employer is still utilizing my services but has stopped paying the gratuity premium to which I am entitled.

Kindly advise me on what I should do now.

Gratuity Entitlement and Employer Obligations

If you have worked for more than 5 years continuously, then you will be entitled to gratuity. Whether your employer has stopped paying premiums or "delisted" you is immaterial. However, since you have a break in service and a change in nature, such as contractual differences, your tenure of continuous service needs to be calculated properly. It seems to me that your employer is trying to deprive you of gratuity by changing the nature of your employment or breaking your service, so you do not enjoy the benefit of gratuity.