13th Salary / End of Year Gratuity

Hi All... I wonder could anyone please advise me about the End of Year Gratuity Act here in Mauritius. My friend has been working in a particular position for over 4 years and recently a new owner has recently taken over.
The new owner is now saying that she is not entitled to the End of Year Gratuity as she was in employment with the previous owner for the first 9 months and not them.
Is this correct?

Thanks

If the new owners issued a new contract of employment as a new company without continuous service then they would still have to pay pro rata if the person is employed on December 31.  If contract still the same then the full year is due.

Even if a new contract there should be a break in employment for not to pay full amount.

Thanks JKev...
She's still experiencing problems. After querying this she was eventually told they would pay from when they took over in September but only 75% before xmas and the rest at months end, which from what I'm aware of is not legal either... This woman has worked in this position for almost 5 years and has never missed a day and only taken 1 week holidays (this March gone) in all of this time. Which she was also not paid fully for!!! She told me she now feels like she's being made uncomfortable in her work also because she queried her rights. After all my time here I still find it difficult to accept how sub-par employment law and employees rights are.

The Employment Act is very clear about such things and she can go to the labour office and complain.  It also spells out holiday entitlement and the right to be paid for holiday accrued but not taken.

I'll definitely pass on your info. Thanks again, much appreciated.