Government Announces Ad-hoc Bonus for Central Govt. Employees; Check Eligibility Here

For the financial year 2021–2022, the Union Government has approved giving all non-gazetted employees in Group B and all central government employees in Group C a non–productivity linked bonus (ad hoc bonus) equal to 30 days of payment.

This information was released via an office memo from the Ministry of Finance's Department of Expenditure on October 6, 2022. Employees who are not covered by a productivity-linked incentive scheme receive a non-productivity-linked bonus.

The DoE stated in the official memorandum that the monthly emoluments calculation cap for ad-hoc bonus payments will be Rs 7,000. Ad-hoc bonuses may also be paid to qualified members of the central paramilitary forces and the armed forces. This directive will also apply to Union Territory personnel who follow the central government emoluments pattern and are not covered by any other bonus or ex-gratia scheme.

How much bonus will central government employees receive?

According to the office memo, the amount of the ad-hoc bonus will be determined by the lower of the calculation ceiling or average emoluments. To determine the non-productivity linked bonus for a day, divide the average annual salary by 30.4. The amount will be multiplied by the number of bonus days given to the workers.

The non-productivity linked bonus (ad hoc bonus) for 30 days would be calculated using the calculation ceiling of monthly emoluments of Rs 7,000 (where actual average emoluments exceed Rs 7,000), according to DoE, and will be calculated as Rs 7,00030/30.4=Rs 6,907.89 (rounded to Rs 6,908).

According to the DoE, casual laborers will be eligible for the ad-hoc bonus payment if they have worked in offices six days a week for at least 240 days annually for three years or more (206 days annually for three years or more in the event of workplaces observing a five-day workweek). Ad-hoc bonus amount: Rs. 1,200 multiplied by 30/0.4, or Rs. 1,184.21 (rounded off to Rs 1,184). If the actual emoluments are less than Rs. 1,200 per month, the amount will be calculated.

Who are eligible for the ad-hoc bonus?

According to the Department of Expenditure, "Only those employees who were in service as of 31.03.2022 and have performed at least six months of continuous service throughout the year 2021–2022 would be entitled to payment under these directives."

According to the statement, eligible personnel will be entitled to pro-rata remuneration for periods of continuous service from six months to a full year, with the eligibility period measured in terms of the number of service months (rounded to the nearest number of months).

The Department of Expenditure stated that all payments made in line with these orders will be rounded to the closest rupee. The statement further stated that "the spending on this account would be debitable to the various Heads to which the pay and allowances of these workers are deducted."

According to the official memo, the costs associated with the non-productivity-linked incentive must be covered by the authorized budget allocation of the relevant ministries and departments for the current fiscal year. The Union government had previously given railway workers a 78-day production-linked bonus (PLB) for the years 2021–2022.