Gujarat
Notified · 5 October 2021
What are Gujarat's rules under the Code on Wages, 2019?
Jurisdiction: Gujarat state rules under the Code on Wages, 2019.
Gujarat notified the Code on Wages (Gujarat) Rules, 2021 by notification No. KHR/2021/128/LVD/10/2020/555709/M(2) dated 5 October 2021, published in the Gujarat Government Gazette, Extraordinary, Part I-L, on 5 October 2021. The rules set the state's minimum wage method, working hours, deduction and advance limits, State Advisory Board, dues procedure and registers. This page synthesizes those obligations from the gazette; the verbatim text is on the linked /states page and the source PDF is below.
Enabling: Code on Wages, 2019
·Synthesized from a 19-page gazette notificationKey facts
- Parent code
- Code on Wages, 2019
- Jurisdiction
- Gujarat (state rules)
- Notified
- 5 October 2021
- Gazette reference
- No. KHR/2021/128/LVD/10/2020/555709/M(2), dated 5 October 2021, Government of Gujarat, Labour and Employment Department, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, published in the Gujarat Government Gazette, Extraordinary, Part I-L, 5 October 2021
- Source gazette length
- 19 pages
Gujarat Wages Rules
Key obligations
Scope, commencement and coverage
Source: Rules 1 to 2 and the notification's rule-making clause
Chapter I titles the rules, extends them to the whole state, and supersedes seven earlier wage-related instruments.
- These rules may be called the Code on Wages (Gujarat) Rules, 2021, and extend to the State of Gujarat (rule 1(1) to (2)).
- They come into force from the date the Code on Wages, 2019 itself takes effect (rule 1(3)), not from the gazette publication date.
- They are made in supersession of seven earlier instruments named in the rule-making clause, including the Payment of Wages (Procedure) Rules, 1937, the Gujarat Payment of Wages Rules, 1963, the Gujarat Minimum Wages Rules, 1961, and the Ease of Compliance to Maintain Registers under various Labour Laws (Gujarat) Rules, 2017 to the extent made under the Payment of Wages Act, 1948.
- Chapter I also defines the appeal, appellate authority, authority, Board, committee, day, Form and the four occupation classes (unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled) used throughout the rules (rule 2).
Minimum wages and working-hour norms
Source: Rules 3 to 10 (Chapter II)
Chapter II fixes the minimum wage method, the wage-fixing areas, dearness allowance revision, and the norms for a working day and weekly rest.
- The minimum rate of wages is fixed on a day basis for a standard working-class family of three adult consumption units, using a net intake of 2,700 calories per day per unit, 66 metres of cloth per year, and set allocations for housing rent (10% of food and clothing spend), fuel, electricity and other items (20% of minimum wage), and children's education, medical, recreation and contingency costs (25% of minimum wage) (rule 3(1)); the daily rate is divided by eight for an hourly rate and multiplied by 26 for a monthly rate (rule 3(2)).
- For minimum wage fixation the State Government divides the area into metropolitan, non-metropolitan and rural categories, and a technical committee chaired by the Commissioner or Director of Labour advises on categorizing occupations into unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled (rule 4).
- The cost-of-living allowance is computed once before 1 April and again before 1 October each year to revise the dearness allowance payable on the minimum wages (rule 5).
- The normal working day is eight hours of work plus rest intervals not exceeding one hour in total, with the spread-over capped at 12 hours in any day (rule 6); for intermittent or emergency work the spread-over may reach 16 hours and actual work 9 hours in a day (rule 9).
- An employee is entitled to a weekly rest day, ordinarily Sunday, after six continuous days of work, with substitution allowed but capped so no employee works more than ten days consecutively without a rest day (rule 7); night shifts extending past midnight are counted under a defined 24-hour rule (rule 8).
- The longer wage period for minimum-rate purposes is the month (rule 10).
Payment of wages, permissible deductions and advances
Source: Rules 11 to 18 (Chapter III)
Chapter III caps deductions and advance recovery and sets the procedure for fines and for deductions for damage or loss.
- Where authorized deductions in a wage period would exceed 50% of an employee's wages, the excess is carried forward and recovered in later wage periods, still capped at 50% of wages in any month (rule 11).
- The Assistant Commissioner of Labour (State) with jurisdiction is the authority for the purposes of section 19, and a notice of acts or omissions for which fines may be imposed is displayed conspicuously at the workplace with a copy to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator (rules 12 to 13).
- Before imposing a fine the employer gives written intimation to the Assistant Commissioner of Labour, who hears the employee and the employer before granting or refusing approval (rule 14), and any deduction made under the proviso to section 20(2) is intimated to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator within 10 days with reasons (rule 15).
- Before deducting for damage or loss the employer explains the loss to the employee personally and in writing, gives an opportunity to respond, and intimates any deduction to the employee within 15 days of making it (rule 16).
- Recovery of advances of money or of unearned wages is capped at 50% of the employee's wages in any wage period, with particulars recorded in the Form I register (rule 17); deductions for house-building or other approved loans follow State Government directions (rule 18).
State Advisory Board: constitution and procedure
Source: Rules 19 to 36 (Chapter IV)
Chapter IV constitutes the State Advisory Board, sets its meetings, quorum and voting, and fixes members' terms and disqualifications.
- The Board consists of four persons representing employers, four representing employees, and independent persons including the Chairperson, one Member of Assembly, two wage and labour professionals and one person who is or has been a presiding officer of an Industrial Tribunal; independent members do not exceed one-third of the Board and one-third of members are women (rule 19).
- The Board additionally advises the State Government on minimum wages for working journalists and for sales promotion employees on a reference from the Government (rule 20).
- The Chairperson calls meetings and must convene one within 30 days of a written requisition from not less than half the members, with 15 days' notice ordinarily and seven days for an emergent meeting (rules 21 to 22); no business is transacted without a quorum of at least one-third of members including one employer and one employee representative (rule 24).
- The term of office of the Chairperson or a member is normally two years, a member ceases on failing to attend three consecutive meetings, and disqualifications include unsound mind, un-discharged insolvency and conviction for an offence involving moral turpitude (rules 30, 35 and 36).
Payment of dues on death or non-traceability
Source: Rules 37 to 39 (Chapter V)
Chapter V governs amounts that cannot be paid to an employee after death or where the employee's whereabouts are unknown.
- Where an amount due after an employee's death or on account of unknown whereabouts could not be paid to the nominee within three months, the employer deposits it with the Labour Welfare Commissioner or Assistant Commissioner of Labour, who disburses it to the nominee within two months of the deposit after verifying identity (rule 37).
- Amounts that remain undisbursed because no nomination was made or for any other reason are deposited within 15 days after the six-month mark, by bank transfer or crossed demand draft (rule 38).
- The deposited amount is invested in Central or State Government securities or a scheduled-bank fixed deposit, a notice is exhibited and published in two newspapers, and any amount unclaimed for seven years is dealt with as the State Government directs (rule 39).
Registers, wage slips, single application and compounding
Source: Rules 40 to 46 (Chapters VI and VII)
Chapters VI and VII cover the claim application, appeal, registers and wage slips, compounding of offences and the principal employer's liability where a contractor is used.
- A single application for claims is filed in Form II and an appeal against the authority's order is filed in Form III to the appellate authority (rules 40 to 41).
- Every employer maintains a register of fines and deductions in Form I and a general and employee register in Form I and Form IV, electronically or otherwise (rule 42).
- Wage slips are issued to employees in Form V, electronically or otherwise, within five working days of making payment of wages (rule 43).
- An accused person may apply in Form VI to compound an offence, and the notified Gazetted Officer may compromise it for a sum of 50% of the maximum fine provided for that offence under the Code (rule 44).
- Where employees are engaged through a contractor, the principal employer pays the contractor before the wage-payment date so wages are paid on time (rule 45), and must pay minimum bonus directly, on confirmed written information of the contractor's failure, if the contractor fails to pay it (rule 46).
Frequently asked questions
Official gazette PDF
No. KHR/2021/128/LVD/10/2020/555709/M(2), dated 5 October 2021, Government of Gujarat, Labour and Employment Department, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, published in the Gujarat Government Gazette, Extraordinary, Part I-L, 5 October 2021