Legal Framework of Employment: Payment of Bonus Act 1965
Legal Framework of Employment: Payment of Bonus Act 1965
Legal Framework of Employment: Payment of Bonus Act 1965
EMPLOYMENT
PAYMENT OF BONUS ACT 1965
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Concept of Bonus
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Section 2: Interpretation
Accounting Year (i) in relation to a corporation, the year ending on the day on which
the books and accounts of the corporation are to be closed and
balanced.
(ii) in relation to a company, the period in respect of which any
profit and loss account of the company laid before it in annual
general meeting is made up, whether that period is a year or not;
(iii) in any other case -
(a) the year commencing on the 1st day of April; or
(b) if the accounts of an establishment maintained by the
employer thereof are closed and balanced on any day other than
the 31st day of March, then, at the option of the employer, the
year ending on the day on which its accounts are so closed and
balanced:
“Allocable surplus” (a) in relation to an employer, being a company (other than a
banking company) which has not made the arrangements
prescribed under the Income-tax Act for the declaration and
payment within India of the dividends payable out of its profits
in accordance with the provisions of section 194 of that Act,
sixty-seven per cent of the available surplus in an accounting;
year;
(b) in any other case, sixty percent of such available surplus;
“Available surplus” means the available surplus computed under section 5;
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• “Salary or Wage” means all remuneration (other than
remuneration in respect of over-time work) capable of
being expressed in terms of money, which would, if the
terms of employment, express or implied, were fulfilled,
be payable to an employee in respect of his employment
or of work done in such employment and includes
dearness allowance (that is to say, all cash payments, by
whatever name called, paid to an employee on account
of a rise in the cost of living),
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but does not include-
(i) any other allowance which the employee is for the time being
entitled to;
(ii) the value of any house accommodation or supply of light,
water, medical attendance or other amenity or of any service or
of any concessional supply of food grains or other articles;
(iii) any traveling concession;
(iv) any bonus (including incentive, production and attendance
bonus);
(v) any contribution paid or payable by the employer to any
pension fund or provident fund or for the benefit of the employee
under any law for the time being in force;
(vi) any retrenchment compensation or any gratuity or other
retirement benefit payable to the employee or any ex gratia
payment made to him;
(vii) any commission payable to the employee.
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Section 3: Establishments to include departments,
undertakings and branches.—
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Continued…
Section 5: Computation of available surplus—
The available surplus in respect of any accounting year
shall be the gross profits for that year after deducting
there from the sums referred to in section 6;
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Continued…
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Labour Appellate Tribunal (LAT) Formula
• A dispute relating to the payment of bonus by the cotton mills of
Bombay was decided by the Industrial Court Bombay. In its
decision, the LAT laid down the principles involved in the grant of
bonus to workers. These principles are known as LAT formula.
According to it, the following prior charges were to be deducted
from gross profits of a company---
– Provision for Depreciation
– Reserve for rehabilitation (of machinery and equipment)
– Return of 6% on the paid up capital
– Return on the working capital at a rate lower than the return on paid up
capital
The balance, if any, was called “available surplus”, and
the workmen were to be given a reasonable share out of it
by way of bonus for the year
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