The Government of West Bengal vide circular No. Labr./210/(LC-IR)/3C-01/18 has issued guidelines to be followed by all employers and employees of the state covered under the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 (''Act'') while settling the legitimate dues of the workers in respect of bonus for the year 2020 in terms of the said Act in the interest of maintenance of Industrial peace and harmony,:- (1) It is expected that the employers would adopt a flexible attitude on the issue of the payment of bonus (2) All establishments where the bonus was paid in the previous year are requested to see that the rate of bonus payable this year is not lower than that of last year. Employers are also requested to consider payment of an amount of exgratia in lieu of bonus as is admissible at the maximum stage to those employees who have crossed the eligibility limit as per the Act (3) All employees, whether in casual employment/re-employment after retirement/employed through contractors and have worked for not less than 30 days during the year should be paid a bonus (4) The employers in default towards payment of bonus for the previous year are requested to make such payments this year along with the bonus for the current year. (5) The Government appeals to all trade unions and employers' organisation to extend their cooperation in peaceful and effective settlement of industrial disputes concerning bonus without any disruption of work (6) The Government has noted that in many cases, in previous years, employees of the IT sector, Hotel and Restaurants, Shops & Establishments, Security Workers, and some workers in jute mills did not get any bonus. It is hoped that the situation will not be similar this year. (7) All payments of bonus should be made before the commencement of Durga Puja, 2020. Even employers in unorganised sector where most employees are not covered under the Act are expected to pay bonus/ex-gratia to their workers before the commencement of Durga Puja, 2020. Hence, all employers having their establishments in West Bengal may make note of the above guideline and comply accordingly
