Gratuity

I must tell you that I had been loyal to my previous employer for 4 years and 223 days. One might be surprised to know that I actually remember the exact number of days.

Here's the story behind it.

When I left the Organization I knew that I was so close to be eligible for gratuity, a monetary benefit for ones service but since I did not want to stick around for the next 4 months (Usually one is eligible for gratuity if you complete 5 years in an Organization however it varies from one to another) I was ready to give up on the additional perk and moved out. It did bother me a bit considering the fact that I missed a lump sum by few months but I made the decision looking at other aspects so I thought it was okay.

A week before I had a conversation with a friend and was told that I might still be entitled for the benefit as some employers have the eligibility criteria set to 4 years and 8 months. I got excited about this (I have tons of commitments, you see!) and technically I had completed 4 years and 8 months. So,I dropped a note to my previous employer to know about the details. The request was forwarded in minutes to a different team to get back to me with the details and I kept my fingers crossed.

I kept waiting for the response and in the meantime there were people who raised my hopes by saying that I might receive the bonus as the cut off was 4 years and 6 months. That was a "To be excited OR To not be excited" situation I must say. Did I mention that I left the employer a year and half before? I know what you are thinking, but yeah, I did all this verification a week ago.

So, finally I was thrilled to see a final mail in the morning that read the following:


Hi XXXXX,

Please be informed that the below mentioned employee DOJ as per our Database is DD-MMM-YYYY and DOL is DD-MMM-YYYY.

However based on above details we have checked the eligibility for gratuity, wherein this employee is not eligible for gratuity as it come to 4 Years and 223 Days.

Gratuity eligibility is 4 Years and 240 Days.

Best regards,

YYYY



Gosh darn it..... Did I miss it by 17 days????
Yes, it is a BIG YES and Ouch, it HURTS!

Well, the lesson learnt here is: When in doubt, "damn it, just ASK"!