Gratuity Eligibility Question: Does This Employee Qualify Based on These Working Days?

Dear Friends,

Please help me to understand the eligibility for gratuity in the case mentioned below. If an employee's working days are as follows, is he eligible for gratuity?

1st year: 269 days
2nd year: 263 days
3rd year: 273 days
4th year: 97 days
5th year: 276 days
6th year: 199 days

Is he eligible for gratuity as per the act?

Calculating Days for Gratuity Eligibility

How did you calculate the days? You have to calculate the days in a 12-month block. The number of days should include all paid leaves, weekly off days, and paid holidays. During the fourth year, the employee had worked only for 97 days. If the absence was regularized, then the employee would get gratuity. The Act only mentions continuous service, not continuous employment. Being employed is different from being in service. An employee may take leave without pay, or he may not be employed for certain days, but he will still be in service of the company.

Understanding Leave and Service Interruption

Very simple, if the leave of absence is with the permission of the employer, then the days on which the employee did not work will not be treated as an interruption of service. But if the employee is absent without the approval of leave and the employer has taken any action against the employee with an endorsement to establish that the leave would be treated as an interruption of service, then he will lose the opportunity to get gratuity.

In the instant case, even if the employee has worked for six years, he may not get gratuity if he cannot establish that his shortage of working days in the 4th year and 6th year were with permission from the employer.

Please explain why he has worked only 97 days in year 4. Only after that can we give a proper answer.

He/She is eligible for gratuity for the years 1, 2, 3, and 5. For the years 4 and 6, we need the reason to assess.

But the minimum service required for gratuity is five years and not four years.

In the 4th year - 97 days (present ??) requires explanation. It is presumed that this represents 'approved leave availed'. However, for this, there must be 'continuous service' with no 'break-in-service' until the 6th year. Further clarification of the facts is needed.