Q: Suppose I am an employee of a company which is an undertaking of the government of West Bengal in Durgapur and my annual increment is in August each year (since I joined in that month) and I have been promoted in June 2004. When shall I get the promotion scale benefits and when shall I get my annual increment? Please advise.
Amar Sen,
Durgapur
A: In public service, the pay scale of an employee indicates his initial pay and the manner in which it shall advance in a time scale of pay by periodic increases (increment) till it reaches a certain higher limit. Generally, the increments are automatic and take effect from the anniversary of the appointment date. Whilst increment operates within the same scale, the concept of promotion normally results in movement from a lower scale to a higher scale. Upon promotion, the initial pay in the time scale of the higher post would, therefore, be fixed at the stage above the notional pay arrived at by increasing his pay in respect of the lower post held by him regularly by an increment at the stage at which such pay has accrued.
However, government servants generally have the option to have the pay fixed from the date of such promotion (June 2004 in your case) or to have it fixed initially at that stage of the higher pay scale which is above the pay he was till then receiving on a regular basis, which may be then ?re-fixed? on the date of accrual on the next increment in the scale of pay of the lower grade (August 2004 in your case).
Whether or not to exercise the option would depend on the actual circumstances of the employee, taking into account various factors, including basic pay, increment, the initial pay of the next scale, the additional benefits, etc. And it is only after actually calculating the economic benefits in the long run that this option should be exercised.
Q: I am a doctor employed as a medical officer in a private company. If I have any dispute with the management, can I approach the Industrial Tribunal to seek justice?
Dr P. Chakravorti,
Calcutta
A: The choice of your forum of redress would depend on the nature of your duties and the dispute. To avail the provisions of the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, the aggrieved employee must be defined as a workman in the said Act. Generally, as a medical officer/doctor, you would be employed to do ?technical? work and courts have held, in some cases, that such officers do qualify as ?workmen? within the purview of the said Act. However, if you are only rendering your professional services to various establishments or are engaged in supervision of subordinate employees within the company itself, you would not come under this definition and you would have to approach a civil court (district court or high court) for resolving your disputes.
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