Jaipur: Quilts, bedsheets and lunch boxes are replacing cash bonuses for factory workers this Diwali, with several industrial units distributing gifts whose value is significantly lower than the statutory annual bonus payable to eligible employees.The practice has raised questions about compliance with labour laws, particularly where employers treat festival gifts as a substitute for mandatory monetary benefits.TOI spoke to workers and representatives of several industrial units who said the nature and value of Diwali gifts largely depend on the employer’s discretion and the financial performance of individual companies.N K Jain, president of the Employers Association of Rajasthan, said, “Under the provisions, employees are entitled to a bonus equal to at least 8.33% of their annual wages, which is generally disbursed ahead of the Diwali festival.”However, he added that companies incurring losses find it difficult to pay bonuses.Workers, meanwhile, said bonuses have become increasingly rare. “We are not expecting a cash bonus. In the last few years that I have worked here, I have only received gifts worth around Rs 600-700,” said a worker employed at a ready-made garment factory.The worker in Sitapura Industrial Area, who hails from Bihar’s Champaran district, said, “Cash bonuses are a thing of the past. Rarely do we come across factories that pay a month’s salary or even 8.33% of annual wages as a bonus.”The Code on Wages, which came into force last year, subsumed the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, while retaining the provision for a mandatory annual bonus for eligible employees.Under Section 26 of the Code, employees drawing wages within the eligibility limit are entitled to a minimum annual bonus of 8.33% of the wages earned during that period.
