On employee’s death, employer bound to inform the dependants of their rights

High Court of Jharkhand at Ranchi: The Court recently held that on the death of an employee and removal of his/ her name from the roll of the company, it is the bounden duty of the employer (Central Coalfields Limited in this case) to inform the dependents of such an employee of their rights under the National Coal Wages Agreement or any such similar agreement that the employer undertook with the employee.
The Court addressed a petition wherein the petitioner argued that she came under the scheme which entitled her with the rights available to the female dependent of a former employee and hence, needed to be given monetary compensation accordingly.
The writ petition had been filed in regards to a claim for monetary compensation under clause 9.5.0 of the National Coal Wages Agreement. Under the said provision, a female dependent of an employee is entitled for monetary compensation, if she is not found eligible for appointment on compassionate ground, till she attains the age of 60 years. The petitioner had asserted that she had attained the age of 51 years. There was no statutory rule framed by the respondent providing limitation for submission of application for monetary compensation. The Court thus held that the claim of the petitioner had been illegally declined and that the respondents had committed gross negligence on not carrying out the obligations under the Agreement. [Sukri Devi v. Central Coalfields Limited,  2017 SCC OnLine Jhar 2263, order dated  22.11.2017]