The West Bengal government has announced a bonus hike for its employees. However, not all employees will receive this bonus. Here’s what you need to know about who will get it and how much they will receive.
How Will the Bonus Be Calculated?
The bonus will be calculated based on the number of months an employee has worked in a year. Here’s how:
- Take the employee’s monthly salary as of March 31, 2025.
- Divide the number of months worked by 12.
- Multiply the result by the monthly salary to determine the bonus amount.
However, the maximum bonus an employee can receive is ₹6,800. If the calculated bonus exceeds ₹6,800 (for example, ₹7,000), they will still receive only ₹6,800.
Who Will Get the Bonus?
The state government has announced that employees who are not receiving a productivity-related bonus and have a monthly salary of less than ₹44,000 as of March 31, 2025, will get an ad-hoc bonus of up to ₹6,800. Those earning more than ₹44,000 will not be eligible for this bonus.
Bonus for Contractual Employees
Contractual employees who have worked for at least 120 days in the financial year 2024-25 and receive a fixed salary will also get an ad-hoc bonus. Their bonus will be calculated as follows:
- Their total salary for the financial year 2024-25 will be divided by 12.
- However, the maximum bonus amount remains ₹6,800, similar to regular employees.
When Will the Bonus Be Given?
- Employees of the Islamic religion will receive their bonus before Eid.
- Employees of other religions will receive their bonus between September 15 and September 19, just before Durga Puja.
Employees’ Other Demands
- Currently, the dearness allowance (DA) is 14% under the 6th Pay Commission and is set to increase to 18% from April 1.
- However, employees are demanding that DA be increased to the central government rate of 53%.
- It is expected that DA may increase by 2-3% soon, and the 8th Pay Commission may come into effect from 2026.