Handling Gratuity Requests After an Employee's Passing: How Should We Proceed?

One of our employees expired last month after being with us for 2 years. His legal heir, his wife, is now asking for gratuity.

Kindly advise.

Hi,

It is not clear whether you have a tie-up with LIC under the Group Gratuity Scheme. If you have a tie-up with LIC for gratuity, you can process gratuity for the deceased employee through LIC. If you don't have a tie-up with LIC, then your employer is bound to pay gratuity for 2 years since the nature of the exit is due to death. As per the provisions of the Gratuity Act, the deceased employee is eligible for gratuity, even though the number of years is less than 5 years.

To V. M. Lakshminarayanan,

Thank you for your prompt reply. We do not have a tie-up with LIC. Please let me know how much gratuity we have to pay. His basic salary is Rs. 15,000 per month, and his date of joining was 1/2/2017. He expired on 19/3/19. Also, please inform me if a successor certificate is required from his wife.

Please advise.

Jayant Nisal
Email: nisaljayant@yahoo.com
Phone: 7875757963

The gratuity calculation will be 15000/25 x 15 x 2 years. The successor certificate is essential to ensure that the payment made goes to the legal heir or successor.