Dear Soundhar, In India, apart from the provisions of the Child Labor (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, which forbids the employment of children below the age of 14 years and adolescents in certain specified hazardous occupations or processes, there is no statutory bar on entry into general employment nor any age of exit except for the service regulations of individual organizations in the non-governmental sector. Therefore, it is at the discretion of the individual employer to re-employ a superannuated person either as a regular employee, a Fixed Term Contractual Employee, or as a consultant on a retainer basis. In the case of retainership, no gratuity is payable irrespective of the length of service as it is only a contract for service. For regular employees, the re-employment constitutes a fresh innings of service, and gratuity would be payable as per the provisions of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972. If the re-employment is on a Fixed Term Contract basis, gratuity would be payable in proportion to the length of service, regardless of the minimum qualifying service under the P.G Act, 1972.
Thank you.