How Can I Claim My Pending Salary and Gratuity After Quitting Without Notice?

Dear all,

I worked at an engineering college for eight years. Due to pending salary for the last three months and harassment, I quit the job without giving a resignation. Now, the college has terminated me and is not ready to provide my pending salary and gratuity benefits. I would like to know how I can receive the pending salary and gratuity benefits. Please guide me.

Handling Employment Abandonment and Gratuity Claims

What has happened to you is quite unfortunate; nevertheless, it appears that you have mishandled the situation. If your employer did not pay you for three months, instead of abandoning your employment at that time, you should have approached this forum and sought advice. By abandoning your employment, not only have you weakened your case, but you have also risked a legitimate claim for gratuity.

It appears that you took this decision in a fit of annoyance (इच्छाशक्ती in Marathi).

Abandonment of employment is no grounds to withhold gratuity. However, you have to make efforts to claim it. You may submit Form I of the Gratuity Act, duly filled, to your employer. Take acknowledgment on the second copy or photocopy. If the employer refuses to accept the form by hand, then send it by registered post. If the gratuity claim is still not entertained, then you may make a complaint to the Labour Officer (LO) under whose jurisdiction your engineering college falls. Please note that the LO is different from a labor lawyer. The former is appointed by the government, whereas the latter is a professional who works in an individual capacity and that too with a fee.

Similarly, write a separate application for the payment of wages until your last working day. If your application is not entertained, then approach the LO for this matter as well.

As you approach the LO, let us see whether he agrees to intervene. If not, we will discuss what to do later.

Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons]

Dear Mr. Bansode, as Dinesh sir already enlightened you, in addition to that, if the employer doesn't accept your gratuity claim form or application to clear your dues, while sending the gratuity form by registered post, please add a covering letter with the same stating "Encl. Form to claim gratuity" and mention a copy of the same has been submitted to the labor office. Submit the copy to the labor office. It seems your employer will not go easy in this case. Therefore, to add weight to your application, the employer should know that the labor office is involved.

The senior counsel (Mr. Divakar) of the forum has given you the right suggestion based on the information provided in the post. My view is that when you are posting any issue, do not just provide the information. The battle you are going to fight is a legal one. To deal with the matter effectively, mere information is not sufficient; having facts on record is crucial to provide a comprehensive solution. The necessary information includes the date of joining, a copy of the appointment letter, the last date you attended the office before abandoning the job, and the text of the termination letter issued to you. This will greatly assist you. You might be expecting a mango, but you could end up with an orchard.

Regards

Dear Bansode,

One way or another, all those employed in any organization for hire or reward are workmen/employees. Therefore, at some time or another, every person in such paid employment has to face some problems due to omissions or commissions in the fulfillment of the contract of employment, either on their part or on the part of their employer, inevitably becoming the center of an employment dispute or industrial dispute. However, the redress or remedy depends on the employment status of the employed person. To invoke the provisions of Labor Law for the redress of a specific employment grievance, the employed person should be a workman/employee as defined under the particular law. Adverting to judicial dicta, the current legal position is that although education is an industry, a teacher employed in an educational institution is not a workman for the purpose of the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947.

As I understand, yours is a case of termination for abandonment of employment or unauthorized absence. Unfortunately, there is no mention in your post whether you belonged to the teaching faculty or the non-teaching staff and if any disciplinary action was instituted before your termination. Had you been a member of the teaching faculty, you cannot invoke the provisions of the ID Act for reemployment and recovery of the dues to you or the Payment of Wages Act of 1936 for the denied salary. In such a situation, instituting a Civil Suit for breach of the contract of employment is the only available option.

If you were a member of the non-teaching staff, you can raise an industrial dispute under section 2-A(1) of the ID Act of 1947 against your termination before the Labor Officer as suggested by Mr. Dinesh or file a claim under section 33C(1) of the same act for the recovery of the unpaid salary before the Government or under section 15(1) of the Payment of Wages Act of 1936 before the DLC.

In either case, you can file a claim under section 7 of the Payment of Gratuity Act of 1972 for gratuity before the Controlling Authority under the Act for your area.

Therefore, for the recovery of the unpaid salary and gratuity, I would suggest engaging the services of an advocate.