CONSOLIDATED COFFEE LIMITED Vs. UTHAMAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Every employee engaged in a factory is entitled to be paid gratuity in terms of S.4 of the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972 (35 of 1972). The 1st respondent is admittedly an employee in a factory belonging to the petitioner.

(2.) The authorities under the Act have held that the factory is not a seasonal establishment insofar as the 1st respondent is concerned and he is therefore entitled to gratuity at the full rate of 15 days' wages. According to the petitioner, the factory is a seasonal establishment and therefore an employee in that factory, irrespective of the period during which he works in a year, is entitled to receive gratuity only at the rate of 7 days' wages.

(3.) The relevant portions of S.4 read as follows: