Will gratuity be calculated in two parts or in continuity and will it be counted as break in the service?

After completing 9 yrs 5 months in an organisation, one of my friend was suspended for some charges for 3 days with LWP, after that he is still continuing in the same organisation. So will it affect his gratuity in any way. Will gratuity be calculated in two parts or in continuity and will it be counted as break in the service?

This LWP of 3 days will not affect calculations of 240 days in the year.
9 years 5 months as such will be treated as 9 years.

Means he is still continuing after 3 days suspension,so will suspension be counted as break in the service and what about gratuity. Will he get it? If yes then period after suspension will be counted as a fresh or in continuation of 9yrs 5 months?

Dear Shahid,
Suspension is the temporary debarment of an employee from work without affecting his contract of employment with the employer. So the employee continues to be in the service of the employer during suspension irrespective of its type and duration.
Again, suspension is of two types viz., suspension pending enquiry and punitive suspension.
In the case of suspension pending enquiry, after any punishment finally awarded in the disciplinary proceedings, the period of suspension would be regularised as duty or a portion of suspension undergone already can be ordered as punishment subject to the restriction on its length as mentioned in the service regulations/standing orders as the case be.
Only the punitive suspension would be treated as break in service as a disqualification for the purpose of calculation of continuous service for gratuity.
It's to be noted again that only this unqualified period of service alone will not be taken into account for calculation of total service comprising of the period before and after the period of such punitive suspension which is a kind of what is called as " dies non " in service terms. A dies non will not be an effective break in service so as to affect the continuity of employment just before and after such break but will not be taken into account only for terminal benefits like gratuity, pension etc.
Therefore, in case of termination of your employment in future, only these three months would be excluded from your then entire service for the purpose of calculation of gratuity under the PGA, 1972.

The fact that it was treated as 'LWP' itself will suggest it has been treated as 'leave' and having taken back it should not infringe gratuity entitlement.
I am sure what was the process of enquiry, if any conducted. If yes, the final verdict of the Enquiry Officer has to be looked into. If there is a mention about 'break in service' and he won't earn gratuity for this suspended period then it's a different issue. If there is no mention, no worry.

Dear colleague,
In the instant case the suspension without wages for 3 days was a punitive action and is regarded as temporary break in service.
. But since his employment contract continues thereafter, he will not be disqualified for gratuity on this ground alone, if he has otherwise completed 240 days of continuous service in that year and service will not be treated in parts for the purpose of gratuity but as continuous one.
Regards,
Vinayak Nagarkar
HR and Employee Relations Consultant

In your post, you mentioned that after suspension of services was lifted, your friend has returned to service in the company and he is continuing services. So he is eligible for gratuity payment as per Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 and 3 days of suspension period will not be counted as break-in-services.

Thanks a lot everyone for ur valuable guidance and suggestions.

In continuation of previous query, i wanna confirm that if he is continuing after suspension then he has to again qualify 5 yrs eligibility criteria for gratuity separately for this period or will it be in continuation of previous time period of before suspension. Or gratuity will be calculated for total period with 3 days not counted. Can any organisation deny gratuity on suspension ground although it is of 3 days only.

My opinion is No, with suspension imposed no separation takes place, there appears no 'break-in-service' intended and therefore for gratuity the service continues without a break. No need to rework eligibility criteria.