Lakshadweep
Draft · March 2026
Not in force yet
What are Lakshadweep's rules under the Code on Wages, 2019?
Jurisdiction: Lakshadweep state rules under the Code on Wages, 2019.
The Union Territory of Lakshadweep published the draft Code on Wages (Lakshadweep) Rules, 2025 in March 2026 under section 67(1) of the Code on Wages, 2019, inviting objections within 45 days. The draft fixes the minimum-wage methodology, working hours and rest day, wage deduction and advance limits, bonus, the UT advisory board, undisbursed dues, registers, wage slips and compounding. This page synthesizes those provisions; the verbatim rule-by-rule text is on the linked /states page and the source PDF is available below.
Enabling: Code on Wages, 2019
Draft rules: not yet in force
These rules were published for public consultation and have not been finally notified in the Official Gazette. Provisions may change before final notification; verify against the source PDF before relying on them.
Key facts
- Parent code
- Code on Wages, 2019
- Jurisdiction
- Lakshadweep (state rules)
- Published
- March 2026
- Gazette reference
- Notification F.No.08/01/2024-LE&T, dated March 2026, Union Territory of Lakshadweep Administration, Department of Labour, Employment and Training, Kavaratti, published in draft under section 67(1) of the Code on Wages, 2019 for a 45-day objection period (issued with the approval of the Administrator vide diary no. 423 dated 15 March 2026)
Lakshadweep Wages Rules
Key obligations
Scope, commencement and draft status
Source: Rule 1 and the notification header (Chapter I)
The rules are titled the Code on Wages (Lakshadweep) Rules, 2025, extend to the whole Union Territory, and were published in draft for public objection.
- These rules may be called the Code on Wages (Lakshadweep) Rules, 2025 and extend to the whole of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep (rule 1(1) to (2)).
- They come into force after the date of their final publication in the Official Gazette (rule 1(3)); as published they are draft rules issued under section 67(1) of the Code on Wages, 2019 for a 45-day objection period, not final notified rules (notification header).
- The notification is made subject to confirmation of the order delegating the powers of the appropriate or State Government to the Administrator of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep (notification header); the draft's title carries the year 2025 while the notification itself is dated March 2026 with the day of the month left blank in the parsed text, a discrepancy left as it appears in the source.
Minimum wages and working-hour norms
Source: Rules 3 to 10 (Chapter II)
The draft fixes how the minimum rate of wages is computed and sets the normal working day, rest day and night-shift rules.
- 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 per cent of food and clothing spend), fuel, electricity and miscellaneous items (20 per cent of the minimum wage) and children's education, medical, recreation and contingency costs (25 per cent of the minimum wage); the daily rate is divided by eight for an hourly rate and multiplied by twenty-six for a monthly rate (rule 3).
- The UT fixes a single minimum rate applicable within the territorial limits of the Lakshadweep islands and constitutes a technical committee, chaired by the Secretary (Labour, Employment and Training), to advise on categorizing occupations into unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled, taking the national classification of occupations into account (rule 4).
- The cost-of-living (dearness) allowance is to be computed once before 1 April and again before 1 October each year (rule 5).
- The normal working day is eight hours of work plus rest intervals totalling not more than one hour, with the total spread-over capped at twelve hours in a day (rule 6), and for intermittent or emergency work the spread-over may reach sixteen hours with actual work capped at nine hours (rule 9).
- Employees are 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 consecutive days without a rest day; work on a rest day is paid at the overtime rate with the detailed provisos in rule 7 (rule 7), and night shifts crossing midnight are dealt with under rule 8.
- The longer wage period for minimum-rate purposes is the month (rule 10).
Payment of wages, deductions, advances and bonus
Source: Rules 11 to 19 (Chapters III and IV)
The draft caps deductions and advance recovery, sets the procedure before deducting for damage or loss, and leaves bonus set-on and set-off to the central prescription.
- Where authorized deductions in a wage period would exceed fifty per cent of an employee's wages, the excess is carried forward to succeeding wage periods, with recovery in any month still capped at fifty per cent of that month's wages (rule 11).
- Before deducting for damage or loss, the employer must explain the loss to the employee in person and in writing, give the employee an opportunity to offer an explanation, and intimate any deduction actually made within fifteen days (rule 16).
- Recovery of advances (money advanced after employment begins, or wages not yet earned) is made in instalments, with any or all instalments in a wage period capped at fifty per cent of the employee's wages in that period, and recorded in the Form-I register (rule 17); loans for house-building or other approved purposes are recovered subject to directions of the UT Administration (rule 18).
- Intimation of a deduction under the proviso to section 20(2) must reach the Inspector-cum-Facilitator within ten days with reasons (rule 15).
- Calculation of bonus set-on and set-off for the sixth and seventh accounting years, computation of gross profits and the manner of carrying forward are to be as prescribed by the Central Government, rather than restated in the draft (rule 19).
UT Advisory Board and committees
Source: Rules 20 to 36 (Chapter V)
The draft constitutes the Lakshadweep Advisory Board and governs its meetings, quorum, tenure and disqualifications.
- The Board consists of two persons representing employers, two representing employees, and independent persons (the Secretary (Labour) as Chairperson, the Director (Labour) as Member Secretary, an Accounts Officer, a Superintending Engineer and one wages and labour professional), with independent members not exceeding one-third of the Board and at least one woman member (rule 20).
- The Chairperson calls meetings and must convene one within thirty days of a written requisition by at least half the members, giving at least fifteen days' notice in writing (seven days for an emergent meeting) (rules 21 to 22).
- No business is transacted unless at least one-third of members and at least one employer and one employee representative are present; a meeting short of quorum is adjourned to within seven days and may then transact business regardless of numbers (rule 24), and business is decided by majority with the Chairperson holding a casting vote or, on the Chairperson's direction, by circulation supported by a two-thirds majority (rule 25).
- Members ordinarily hold office for two years, continuing until a successor is appointed, and hold office during the pleasure of the Lakshadweep Administration; an outgoing member is eligible for re-nomination for not more than two terms (rules 30 and 33).
- A member who fails to attend three consecutive meetings without prior intimation to the Chairperson ceases to be a member (rule 35), and unsound mind, undischarged insolvency or conviction for an offence involving moral turpitude disqualifies a person from membership (rule 36).
Undisbursed dues, registers, wage slips and returns
Source: Rules 37 to 46 (Chapters VI and VII)
The draft routes undisbursed dues to the Labour Enforcement Officer and sets the registers, wage slips and returns employers must keep.
- Wages payable to a deceased or untraceable employee that cannot be paid to the nominee within three months are deposited with the Labour Enforcement Officer, UT of Lakshadweep, who disburses them to the nominee within two months (rule 37); wholly undisbursed dues are deposited before the fifteenth day after the six-month mark (rule 38), and amounts unclaimed for seven years are dealt with as the UT Administration directs (rule 39, which in the parsed text cross-refers to a non-existent 'rule 47', apparently meaning rule 38).
- Fines, deductions and their realizations, and the general registers under section 50, are kept in Form-I and Form-IV electronically or otherwise and preserved for five years after the last entry (rule 43).
- Every employer issues wage slips in Form-V on or before payment of wages (rule 44), files the annual return electronically in the form specified under the central rules with a copy to the Labour Bureau (rule 45), and submits minimum-wage, payment-of-wages and bonus statistics as required (rule 46).
- A single application under section 45(5) is filed in Form-II and an appeal under section 49(1) in Form-III (rules 41 to 42); the parsed Form headers cite rule numbers (for example Form-II 'See rule 39', Form-III 'See rule 40', Form-V 'See rule 42') that do not match these operative rules, an OCR or drafting slip left as it appears.
Inspection, offences and compounding
Source: Rules 47 to 53 (Chapters VIII to X)
The draft provides for an inspection scheme, the Inspector-cum-Facilitator's powers, compounding of offences and timely payment through contractors.
- An inspection scheme is formulated by the Labour Enforcement Officer with the approval of the UT Administration, specifying a number for each officer and establishment (rule 47), and the Inspector-cum-Facilitator, a deemed public servant, may enter premises, examine persons and seize records (rule 48).
- For holding enquiries the UT may appoint an officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary (Labour) or equivalent (rule 49).
- An accused person may apply in Form-VI to compound an offence for a sum equal to fifty per cent of the maximum fine provided under the Code, before a notified Gazetted (compounding) officer (rule 50); a further composition application is provided in Form-VII (rule 51).
- Where employees are engaged through a contractor, the contractor must disburse wages before the payment date, and on the contractor's failure or short payment the principal employer is liable to pay wages in full, the rule expressly invoking section 55 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 as it appears in the source (rule 52).
- The rules framed under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 as applicable to Lakshadweep are repealed, with things done under them saved (rule 53).
Frequently asked questions
Official gazette PDF
Notification F.No.08/01/2024-LE&T, dated March 2026, Union Territory of Lakshadweep Administration, Department of Labour, Employment and Training, Kavaratti, published in draft under section 67(1) of the Code on Wages, 2019 for a 45-day objection period (issued with the approval of the Administrator vide diary no. 423 dated 15 March 2026)