The Construction of Ambiguous Gratuity Provisions

The payment of gratuity by an employer to its staff is one of the best labour practices expected in any standard employment relationship. An employer that maintains a gratuity policy for its workers reflects the image of a typical twenty first century organization and would usually attract more respect and prestige than its defaulting contemporaries. Gratuity policies serve as incentives to workers, which stimulate them to perform better for their employers with the hope that at the end of the employment, their services will be appreciated. However, in practice, cases abound where, upon the employee trying to enforce his employer's gratuity policy, the question becomes whether he is truly entitled to the gratuity or how the gratuity is to be calculated. This will lead to parties debating the purport of the gratuity clause. The debate gets worse where the clause is inelegantly drafted thereby subjecting its meaning to the conjecture of the parties.