Attendance Bonus excluded from Basic Wages for PF: Madras HC

Madras HC in the case of Regional Provident Fund Commissioner, Employees Provident Fund Organisation vs. Colorplus Fashions Ltd. and Ors. W.P. No. 18104/2012, while holding that the attendance bonus would qualify as ‘bonus’ for the purpose of exclusion from Section 2(b)(ii) of the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (“EPF Act“) observed that ‘attendance bonus’ is an inducement amount paid to the employees who reported to the work regularly without absenting themselves and without availing any leave and if an employee failed to turn up for the required number of days, and thus the nature of ‘attendance bonus’ is (a) found to be variable; (b) not common; (c) not granted by all industrial concerns and (d) not paid to all employees within an industrial concern.