Gratuity Calculation with a Service Break: How Should It Be Handled for Eligibility?

One of the employees retired as of 31.07.2020. His date of joining was 02.12.1989. There was a break in the service period from 04.10.2018 to 03.07.2019 (a period of 273 days). So, there are two periods of service: one was pre-break-in (28 years, 10 months, 2 days) and another was post-break-in (1 year and 28 days).

Gratuity Calculation

How will gratuity be calculated in this case? Is he eligible to receive gratuity for the post-break-in period? Which date's salary will be considered as the last drawn salary?

The date of joining of the employee is 02.12.1989. It seems to me that the employee has worked for 240 days or more every year from his date of joining, i.e., 02.12.1989, to 01.12.2018. Thus, he has been in continuous service for 29 years until 01.12.2018.

For the year from 02.12.2018 to 01.12.2019, the employee worked for 6 months, which is less than 240 days. Therefore, he is not entitled to gratuity for this year. From 02.12.2019 until his retirement on 31.07.2020, he worked for 8 months. Once again, he worked for less than 240 days, hence not entitled to gratuity for this year too.

Therefore, according to my calculations, the total number of years for gratuity is 29 years.