Gratuity without appointment letter - completed 6 years

Dear Sir,

Please advise me. I work for a company (partnership firm) without an appointment letter for more than six years. My salary has been going into my bank account. Last month, I resigned from the company and asked for the gratuity, but the company did not give me the gratuity.

My basic salary is 15000 per month. There have been no deductions from my salary such as PF and others.

Thank you.

Hi,

First of all, I failed to understand how you are working without an appointment letter. Secondly, if no contributions such as PF, ESIC, etc., are being paid from your salary, then surely your employer is not considering you as an employee and must be categorizing you differently in their books. Thus, you are not entitled to gratuity.

Other than the Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976, if I am correct, no labor enactment mandates the issue of appointment orders by any employer. Therefore, the absence of appointment orders cannot entirely repudiate the claim for gratuity of an employee if he can prove the facts of his employment and its duration through any other documentary evidence. Payment of salary through a bank is an acceptable and sufficient proof of employment. Therefore, if the Act is applicable to the establishment, the questioner can file a claim for gratuity before the Controlling Authority under the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, for the area.

Dear SMN Kumar,

If your establishment employs 10 or more employees, it is covered under the Payment of Gratuity Act 1972. An appointment letter is not a precondition; even if you did not have one from the firm, it does not mean that you were not employed. Your bank records serve as sufficient proof of your employment.

I hope you have completed a minimum tenure of 4 years & 8 months to be eligible for gratuity. If all the above conditions are met, your employer is obligated to pay you, and you have the legal right to claim it. In the event that your employer refuses to pay, please contact the authorities in the Labour Department.