Hello Team,
Greetings of the day.
This is Raj Kumar, and he belongs to Himachal Pradesh. I have some questions regarding Gratuity.
I joined a company in Delhi named MCI GeTS India in July 2017, and then I worked offline until April 2020. Then, the COVID period came, and the company wrote an email to some of the employees, stating that they were putting them on pause position for some time and would call them back once the industry opened.
Also, another email came a few days later from our office end, where they mentioned that if someone wants to do freelancing, they can pursue it. There is no clear-cut indication in the email that you are no longer an employee of the company.
So, after a long time, I resigned from the company in December 2023, and now the company is saying that my last day was April 2020, and the COVID period will not count as there was no work, no pay, and no PF contribution.
Can you advise me if the COVID period will be considered in the Gratuity calculation?
Please advise.
Regards,
Raj
From India, Ludhiana
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Greetings of the day.
This is Raj Kumar, and he belongs to Himachal Pradesh. I have some questions regarding Gratuity.
I joined a company in Delhi named MCI GeTS India in July 2017, and then I worked offline until April 2020. Then, the COVID period came, and the company wrote an email to some of the employees, stating that they were putting them on pause position for some time and would call them back once the industry opened.
Also, another email came a few days later from our office end, where they mentioned that if someone wants to do freelancing, they can pursue it. There is no clear-cut indication in the email that you are no longer an employee of the company.
So, after a long time, I resigned from the company in December 2023, and now the company is saying that my last day was April 2020, and the COVID period will not count as there was no work, no pay, and no PF contribution.
Can you advise me if the COVID period will be considered in the Gratuity calculation?
Please advise.
Regards,
Raj
From India, Ludhiana
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Hi,
Between April 2020 and December 2023, what was your employment status?
Did you receive a fixed monthly salary or a variable salary based on assignments?
I assume your employer might have removed you from the payroll by April 2020 and considered you as a freelancer. However, even in that case, your employer should have informed employees about their exit by April 2020. I am not sure if you contributed work to your organization online on a daily basis or once in a while. Did you mark attendance on a daily basis? With so many questions, it might be challenging to prove your continuous employment with the employer until December 2023. To claim gratuity, you must prove 5 years of continuous employment with the employer without any breaks in employment.
From India, Madras
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1153Between April 2020 and December 2023, what was your employment status?
Did you receive a fixed monthly salary or a variable salary based on assignments?
I assume your employer might have removed you from the payroll by April 2020 and considered you as a freelancer. However, even in that case, your employer should have informed employees about their exit by April 2020. I am not sure if you contributed work to your organization online on a daily basis or once in a while. Did you mark attendance on a daily basis? With so many questions, it might be challenging to prove your continuous employment with the employer until December 2023. To claim gratuity, you must prove 5 years of continuous employment with the employer without any breaks in employment.
From India, Madras
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Hello Sir,
Thank you for getting back. Let me explain to you. We received an email from the company in July 2020 stating that some employees would be placed on pause positions due to the COVID period, and the company did not have business.
The company put us on a "no work and no pay" option and did not contribute to the PF. Additionally, the company sent another email shortly after, informing us that if someone wanted to do freelance work or join another organization, they could assist with company exit formalities. However, the company did not explicitly state in the email that we were no longer employees of the company.
There was no communication between myself and the company regarding resignation or termination until December 2023. Therefore, I considered myself still an employee of the company and did not seek employment elsewhere.
Now, the company is stating that my last day was in April 2020, but they did not clearly inform me that I was no longer an employee of the company.
Please advise.
From India, Ludhiana
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Thank you for getting back. Let me explain to you. We received an email from the company in July 2020 stating that some employees would be placed on pause positions due to the COVID period, and the company did not have business.
The company put us on a "no work and no pay" option and did not contribute to the PF. Additionally, the company sent another email shortly after, informing us that if someone wanted to do freelance work or join another organization, they could assist with company exit formalities. However, the company did not explicitly state in the email that we were no longer employees of the company.
There was no communication between myself and the company regarding resignation or termination until December 2023. Therefore, I considered myself still an employee of the company and did not seek employment elsewhere.
Now, the company is stating that my last day was in April 2020, but they did not clearly inform me that I was no longer an employee of the company.
Please advise.
From India, Ludhiana
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From the description given, I understand that there was no individual communication of termination of employment post July 2020. There was a general communication saying that the company is terminating some employees. But who all are covered under the term "some employees" is not known. Moreover, the company has not initiated any retrenchment process as required under the law. Naturally, if the establishment was employing at least 50 persons, they should have informed the appropriate government authorities of their intention to retrench the employees. I think that was not done.
But the employees, at least you, did not ask when should you come to the office and what work should you do then? Nobody asked why the salary is not credited. Now how can you say that you were in the company until December 2023? Did you mark your attendance? Did you receive a salary? No. Then what is the proof that you were working there?
It is true that the employer had not communicated your termination nor did they inform the government of their intention to terminate some employees. But you should have raised a dispute when you did not receive a salary in July or August 2020. Therefore, the matter is a question of law and if you take it forward, I feel that you may put yourself in trouble. At the same time, as promised by the employer, if you had put in a resignation antedated, they would have helped you to find another job. You did not use that option in July 2020 but remained at home presuming that you are still in service but on loss of pay. Now you have to establish that you remained on leave without pay as per the instructions of the company so that continuity of service could be proved. Do you have any communication from the company that you have to remain off the service for such a long time?
From India, Kannur
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But the employees, at least you, did not ask when should you come to the office and what work should you do then? Nobody asked why the salary is not credited. Now how can you say that you were in the company until December 2023? Did you mark your attendance? Did you receive a salary? No. Then what is the proof that you were working there?
It is true that the employer had not communicated your termination nor did they inform the government of their intention to terminate some employees. But you should have raised a dispute when you did not receive a salary in July or August 2020. Therefore, the matter is a question of law and if you take it forward, I feel that you may put yourself in trouble. At the same time, as promised by the employer, if you had put in a resignation antedated, they would have helped you to find another job. You did not use that option in July 2020 but remained at home presuming that you are still in service but on loss of pay. Now you have to establish that you remained on leave without pay as per the instructions of the company so that continuity of service could be proved. Do you have any communication from the company that you have to remain off the service for such a long time?
From India, Kannur
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Hi,
This case looks a bit perplexing.
In the absence of proper communication from the employer, you may challenge the employer's decision by stating that you neither submitted a resignation nor were officially relieved by the employer. Therefore, the period of absence from April 2020 to December 2023 should be considered as continuity of employment. Moreover, as per your claim, your employer temporarily withheld employment, which was communicated through email, and assurance was given by the employer to call back employees in due course. You may request Gratuity from your employer. Submit FORM 'I' through RPAD and wait for their response.
From India, Madras
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This case looks a bit perplexing.
In the absence of proper communication from the employer, you may challenge the employer's decision by stating that you neither submitted a resignation nor were officially relieved by the employer. Therefore, the period of absence from April 2020 to December 2023 should be considered as continuity of employment. Moreover, as per your claim, your employer temporarily withheld employment, which was communicated through email, and assurance was given by the employer to call back employees in due course. You may request Gratuity from your employer. Submit FORM 'I' through RPAD and wait for their response.
From India, Madras
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Hi Madhu,
Yes, the company contacted me to rejoin the service in January 2023 via WhatsApp and calls, but they are offering me the salary I had three years ago, which was not sufficient. Additionally, the job responsibilities were increasing. Therefore, the company refused to increase the salary, and I also declined to rejoin.
Regards,
Raj
From India, Ludhiana
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Yes, the company contacted me to rejoin the service in January 2023 via WhatsApp and calls, but they are offering me the salary I had three years ago, which was not sufficient. Additionally, the job responsibilities were increasing. Therefore, the company refused to increase the salary, and I also declined to rejoin.
Regards,
Raj
From India, Ludhiana
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That means there was a communication in January 2023, and the company offered a different role with a different salary, but you declined to accept the offer. Neither the company terminated you nor did you resign. Both the company and you were wrong because the company, even though it did not terminate you, had given you options to rejoin. Rejoining always happens when you are not in service. You did not question the company, saying, "Why should I rejoin when I am still in service but remaining off without salary?" I understand that there should be further communication from you stating that you need a higher salary because the role is different, or you should have said that you cannot work for a salary from three years ago. The company should have stated that they cannot offer more than the amount offered. All these establish that you were aware that you were not on their payroll at that time. The company also knew that you were not in service but being unemployed; they offered you a new role which they have now, right? Then what is the meaning in asking the company about your gratuity?
From India, Kannur
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From India, Kannur
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This is true that they asked me to come to the office. Job responsibilities were slightly increased, and I demanded a raise on my previous salary, but the company said they are not in a position to increase the salary. Then they said they will consider it in the future.
From India, Ludhiana
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From India, Ludhiana
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That means they have treated you as left service. True, there was miscommunication between both of you. What about other employees? There should be someone else also in the 'someone' to be put on pause, right?
Similarly, what is the status in the PF? Did they exit you from PF in 2020?
From India, Kannur
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Similarly, what is the status in the PF? Did they exit you from PF in 2020?
From India, Kannur
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