Dear Fridoya,
I think the organization would have already been registered under the Foreign Contribution ( Regulation) Act,1976. At that time it would have been mentioned about the constitution of the organization such as whether a Trust registered under the Societies Registration Act or a Company incorporated under the Companies Act.
1) Anyway, the application of the Payment of Gratuity Act,1972 comes into play only when the no of employees in such an establishment reaches 10 or above not withstanding any reduction in the number later.
2) Every employee in such an establishment to which the PG Act,1972 applies would be eligible to claim gratuity under the Act only upon his termination of employment due to retirement, resignation, discharge, dismissal, retrenchment or his death or disablement due to accident or disease provided he has rendered not less than five years of continuous service in the establishment. However, termination of employment due to death or disablement does not require the above minimum service.
3) Gratuity for such eligible employee has to be calculated as follows:
Gratuity = Last drawn monthly wages [ only the sum of basic and D.A]/26 X 15 X the no of years of
completed service
4) While computing the total no of years of continuous service, service exceeding 6 months has to be treated as one year.
5) The amount of gratuity thus calculated under the Act should be limited to the ceiling of Rs.20 lakh.
6) The amount of gratuity payable under the Act shall be paid to the employee or his nominees in case of his death within 30 days it became payable failing which simple interest would be levied @ 10% p.a.for the period of default.
7) In case of any dispute as to the amount of gratuity payable etc., the employer shall deposit the amount of gratuity as per his calculation with the Controlling Authority under the Act.
If you are closing down your projects and retrenching the employees, follow the above steps in respect of eligible employees for gratuity if the PG Act,1972 applies to your organization.