Ex-Service Personnel Reemployment: Are You Really Entitled to Gratuity?

I have worked in IAF for 20 years. After that, I worked in an organization for 5 years and 6 months. On resignation, I was refused gratuity, stating that gratuity is not applicable for ex-service personnel who are reemployed. Kindly clarify this and please let me know the legal aspects.

If the organization you worked for after your retirement from the IAF is an industrial establishment falling under Sec. 1(3) of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, you are entitled to gratuity notwithstanding the receipt of similar terminal benefits for earlier services rendered in any other organization.

If the above answer suits your case in all respects, you can file a claim for gratuity, together with interest, before the Controlling Authority under the P.G. Act, 1972 of the area in which the organization is situated.

Hello Mr. Sharmaji,

As suggested by Mr. Umakanthan, you are eligible for Gratuity. I am also retired from IAF after 20 years of service. There are many individuals working in private sectors, including banks, where the payment of gratuity is applicable as advised by them. I recommend you connect with your colleagues in private companies to obtain more information.

Thank you.

Section 1(3) in The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972

(3) It shall apply to:

(a) every factory, mine, oilfield, plantation, port, and railway company;

(b) every shop or establishment within the meaning of any law for the time being in force in relation to shops and establishments in a State, in which ten or more persons are employed, or were employed, on any day of the preceding twelve months;

(c) such other establishments or class of establishments, in which ten or more employees are employed, or were employed, on any day of the preceding twelve months, as the Central Government may, by notification, specify in this behalf.

(It has nothing to do with your previous services). You are doing fresh services in private concerns, and therefore the applicability of gratuity is only subject to the conditions as prescribed in the Payment of Gratuity Act.

You should receive the gratuity; this has nothing to do with your ex-serviceman status or any other matter, as Mr. Umankantan and Mr. Bijay Majumdar have rightly quoted. If you need more help, please let me know. All the best.

Regards,
R.R. Inamdar
Advocate
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Dear Sharma,

If your organization is covered under the Act and your service period is more than 5 years of continuous service, you are entitled to gratuity.

Thank you.