CHENNAI: Employee PF & ESI has to be paid by the employer, but corporate companies are deducting it in the employee salary. What is the legal remedy for this?
— Ramkumar Ramanathan
Both EPF & ESI are contributory schemes. One share will have to be deducted from the employee’s salary.
I was terminated from service from July 1, 2020 by the The Hindu Group citing scaling down of editorial operations. At the time of retrenchment I was working as a senior sub-editor in The Business Line, Chennai. I had put in 33 years of service and have four more years of service left. Only three-month salary has been offered as retrenchment compensation to me while I am eligible for 16-month basic plus DA as retrenchment compensation as envisaged under Section 25F of Industrial Disputes Act. Do I have a case to contest here? I assume that the management may cite Force Majeure (financial loss due to COVID) to deny me retrenchment compensation. If corporates are allowed to deny retrenchment compensation to employees citing Force Majeure, is it not equitable justice to extend the same to workers also who had availed housing loans, marriage loans, etc, in the hope that the company would compensate even in case of retrenchment. Please advice.
— S Madhavan
If you are covered by the provisions of the Working Journalists Act, 1955, you can challenge the retrenchment by raising a dispute. Force Majeure cannot be a reason for denying retrenchment compensation. While retrenching, the management will have to follow seniority rule in respect of each establishment and by which only “last come first go” principle will have to be adopted.
What is the procedure for cancellation of the Power of Attorney? Are there different rules for Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra as the property is in the latter and the owner is in Tamil Nadu?
— Ryan Easdon
If the Power of Attorney is registered in Tamil Nadu, you can revoke it in Tamil Nadu. If it was executed after receiving some consideration, then there will be some difficulty in revoking it.
My grandfather had eight acres of land at Minjur. He passed away 45 years back. I am one of the eight legal heirs. We don’t have any documents to claim ownership of the land. Is it possible to get details including necessary documents from the sub-registrar, Ponneri?
—Rajagopal K
Only if there were any transactions, details will be available with the sub-registrar office. Otherwise, you will have to approach the VAO and find out the details from the land register. If it is not updated, you can apply for a patta from the Tahsildar of the Taluk. If the land is not divided, then the patta will show only the joint ownership of all concerned.
Justice K Chandru is a former judge of the Madras High Court
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