Payment of Subsistence Allowance - For an employee kept under suspension pending enquiry

sridharan venkataraman
An employee was kept under suspension pending enquiry during the proceedings of disciplinary action. In this disciplinary action, the Management has taken a lenient view by awarding the specific punishment of 10 days suspension in the place of Dismissal, which was proposed in the Second Show Cause Notice for the proven misconducts. The employee who kept under suspension pending enquiry was paid Subsistence Allowance as per the T.N. Subsistence Allowance Act. The entire process was completed within 90 days.
In this my query is -
Whether the Management has to pay the remaining part of wages to the workman, who was kept under suspension pending enquiry before imposing the specific punishment 10 days for the proven mis-conduct (The employee was no exonerated from the charges levelled against him) after adjusting the Subsistence Allowance already paid to the employee during the period of suspension pending enquiry?
Request Expert advice in this issue with the court ruling, if any, please.
Regards,
umakanthan53
Dear Sridhar,
When a punishment is finally awarded in a disciplinary proceedings, the question of regularising the period of suspension undergone by the employee pending enquiry is an important one. If the disciplinary authority leaves it unanswered, it will amount to double punishment for the same misconduct.
Therefore, while disposing the disciplinary case finally with a punishment, the period of suspension pending enquiry should be regularised as duty and full wages minus the subsistence allowance already paid must be given. In the case of disposal by punitive suspension like the one you mentioned, no wages is payable but it is important that you cannot recover the subsistence allowance already paid.
Another important aspect of the matter is that you cannot award the punishment of punitive suspension exceeding the maximum no. of days if any, so fixed in your standing orders.
Kritarth Consulting
Eye Opening, Precedence-Re-Setting Guidance Umakanthan Sir. Thank you for Crisp, Crystal-Clear Clarification.
Kritarth Team
Bengaluru Office, 10 Dec 2019
sridharan venkataraman
Dear Sri Umakanthan Sir.
Good Morning. I thank you very much for your timely advise given to me, which is so helpful in handling this issue on hand. I shall follow the guidelines given by you Sir. Thanking you once again. Regards, V Sridhar
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