Tata Steel management and Tata Workers’ Union signed the much awaited bonus agreement today at the Board Room of Tata Steel. The Memorandum of Settlement was signed for Annual Bonus to the employees of Jamshedpur including Tubes Division, for the accounting year 2008-2009. The agreement was signed by Mr B Muthuraman, MD and Mr H M Nerurkar, Executive Director (India & South East Asia) and other senior officials of the Company with Mr Raghunath Pandey, President, Tata Workers’ Union and other union officials, in presence of Dy Labour Commissioner, Jamshedpur.

The Annual Bonus for the accounting year 2008-2009 will be paid @ 18.5% of salary/wages (Basic + DA) paid for the year 2008-2009 taking into account the amount of salary/wages (Basic + Dearness Allowance) of arrears of wage revision paid/payable, as the case may be, for the accounting year 2008-09.

An ex-gratia amount is also being paid for the arrears of wages/ salary (Basic + Dearness Allowance) of wage revision during the period 01-01-2007 to 31-03-2008 at 8.33% of arrears of wages/ salary (Basic + Dearness Allowance) paid/payable for the aforementioned period.

Most of the employees of the Steel Company are drawing salary/wages higher than the limit laid down in the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, and such employees of the Company are not eligible for bonus under the Act. However, respecting our old traditions, the Company is going to pay bonus to all employees in the unionized category.

At 18.5% percent bonus for 2008-09 and 8.33% ex-gratia on arrears the minimum and the maximum annual bonus payable will be Rs 21,486/- and Rs 1,00,845/- respectively for employees of Jamshedpur. The total payout on account of annual bonus, as per above, for employees of Jamshedpur (including Tubes) will be Rs.81/- crores approximately. Nearly 16500 employees would be paid annual bonus this year.

In a communiqué signed by the Managing Director and President, Tata Workers’ Union, all the employees have been informed about the payment of annual bonus.