Kerala Industrial Employees' Payment of Gratuity Act, 1970
No: 6 Dated: Feb, 18 1970
THE KERALA INDUSTRIAL EMPLOYEES' PAYMENT OF GRATUITY ACT, 1970
(Act 6 of 1970)
An Act to provide for the payment of gratuity to the employees in factories, plantations and other establishments in the State of Kerala.
Preamble.- WHEREAS it is expedient to provide for the payment of gratuity to the employees in factories, plantations and other establishments in the State of Kerala;
BE it enacted in the Twenty-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
I. Short title, extent and application.- (1) This Act may be called The Kerala Industrial Employees' Payment of Gratuity Act, 1970.
(2) It extends to the whole of the State of Kerala.
(3) It shall apply in the first instance to -
(a) any factory as defined in clause (m) of section 2 of the Factories Act, 1948 (Central Act 63 of 1948);
(b) any plantation as defined in clause (f) of section 2 of the Plantations Labour Act, 1951 (Central Act 69 of 1951) which admeasures 10.125 hectares or more or in which ten or more persons are employed on the date of the commencement of this Act;
(c) any establishment as defined in clause (8) of section 2 of the Kerala Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1960 (34 of 1960);
(d) any establishment as defined in clause (h) of section 2 of the Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966 (Central Act 32 of 1966) where ten or more persons are employed;
(e) any motor transport undertaking as defined in clause (g) of section 2 of the Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961 (Central Act 27 of 1961):
Provided that the Government may, after giving not less than two months' notice of its intention so to do, by notification in the Gazette, apply the provisions of this Act to any other factory, plantation, establishment or undertaking to which the provisions of this Act as such do not apply.
2. Definitions. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:-
(a) "completed year of service" means uninterrupted service for one year and includes service which may be interrupted by sickness, accident, leave, strike, lock-out or cessation of work not due to employee's fault;
(b)"continuous service" means uninterrupted service and includes service which may be interrupted by sickness, accident, leave, strike, lock-out or cessation of work not due to employee's fault;
(c) "controlling authority" means the authority appointed by the Government under section 3;
(d) "employee" means any person employed in any factory, plantation, establishment or undertaking to do any skilled or unskilled, manual or clerical or supervisory work for hire or reward but does not include any such person-
(i) whose monthly wages exceed rupees seven hundred and fifty; or
(ii) who is subject to the Army Act, 1950, or the Air Force Act, 1950, or the Navy Act, 1957 or the Toddy Workers' Welfare Fund Act, 1969 (Kerala Act 22 of 1969); or
(iii) who is employed in the police service or as an officer or other employee of a prison;
(e) "employer" means-
(i) in relation to any factory, plantation, establishment or undertaking which is under the control of the Government, a person or authority appointed by the Government for the supervision and control of employees or where no person or authority is so appointed , the head of the Department;
(ii) in relation to any factory, plantation, establishment or undertaking under any local authority, the person appointed by such authority for the supervision and control of employees or where no person is so appointed , the chief executive officer of the local authority;
(iii) in any other case, the person, who or the authority which has the ultimate control over the affairs of the factory, plantation, establishment or undertaking and where the said affairs are entrusted to any other person whether called a manager , managing director, managing agent, superintendent or by any other name, such person;
(f) "family" means-
(i) in the case of a male employee, the wife, children whether married or unmarried, dependant parents of the employee and the widow and children of a deceased son of the employee;
(ii) in the case of a female employee, the husband and children of the employee, dependant parents of the employee or of the husband and the widow and children of a deceased son of the employee;
Provided that if a female employee by notice in writing to the controlling authority expresses her desire to exclude her husband from the family, the husband and his dependant parents shall no longer be deemed to be part of the employee's family for the purposes of this Act unless the employee subsequently cancels in writing any such notice;
Explanation.- In either of the above two cases, if the child of an employee has been adopted by another person and if under the personal law of the adopter, adoption is legally recognized, such child shall be considered as excluded from the family of the employee;