A suspended employee does not have to mark daily attendance in order to get subsistence allowance said the Bombay High Court. In fact, no condition should be imposed on a suspended employee in order to get the subsistence allowance they are entitled to during suspension.
According to the HC, Section 10A of the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, provides for an employee to receive subsistence allowance without the employer making it mandatory for the employee to mark daily attendance for the same.
Subsistence allowance helps employees fulfil their own and their family’s needs during suspension period when their salary is not coming in.
Natubhai Patel’s claim for subsistence allowance was rejected by the labour court in Daman. A writ petition was then filed by Hindustan Lever Employees Union challenging the rejection.
Patel, an employer of Hindustan Unilever, was suspended pending an inquiry by his employer. The company wanted him to report and mark his daily attendance at the factory gate every day. If he failed to do so, he would be marked absent for the day and lose pay for the day.
The High Court, however, ruled that as per the provisions of Section 10A of the Act subsistence allowance is supposed to be paid to a suspended employee at prescribed rates without any condition being imposed.
Therefore, the company could not cut his pay because of an attendance-marking practice that the company had imposed on the employee, reports LiveLaw.
