In Brief
Employees of Fertilizer Corporation of India and Hindustan Fertilizer Corporation received ad hoc monthly payments pursuant to interim Supreme Court orders while seeking pay revision parity with other public sector undertakings. When gratuity was calculated, they included these ad hoc payments as 'wages.' The Supreme Court held that interim payments cannot be included in gratuity calculations because wages must be earned 'in accordance with terms and conditions of employment.' Since the Court's final order dismissed the claims, the ad hoc benefits automatically ceased. However, the Court directed no recovery from those already paid, considering elapsed time and deaths among employees.
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