MINIMUM WAGES ACT, 1948

The concept of Minimum Wages was first evolved by

ILO in 1928 with reference to remuneration of workers
in those industries where the, level of wages was
substantially low and the labour was vulnerable to
exploitation, being not well organised and having less
effective bargaining power. The need for a legislation
for fixation of minimum wages in India received boost
after World War – II when a draft bill was considered
by the Indian Labour Conference in 1945. On the
recommendation of the 8th Standing Labour
Committee, the Minimum Wages Bill was introduced in
the Central Legislative assembly on 11.4.1946 to
provide for fixation of minimum wages in certain
employments.
The Minimum Wages Bill was passed by the
Indian Dominion Legislature and came into force
on 15th March, 1948. Under the Act both State
and Central Government are “Appropriate
Governments” for fixation/revision of minimum
rates of wages for employments covered by the
Schedule to the Act. The minimum rates of
wages also include Special Allowance (Variable
Dearness Allowance) linked to Consumer Price
Index Number which are revised twice a year
effective from April and October. The rates of
wages once fixed are revised at an interval not
exceeding of five years.
The National Minimum Wage has been
considered at various for a in the past. However,
State/UT Governments are not unanimous on the
need of a National Minimum Wage as
socioeconomic conditions vary from state to
state, region to region and also from industry to
industry due to different geographical,
topographical and agro-climatic factors. The Six
Regional Minimum Wages Advisory Committees
set up in 1987 to reduce regional disparities
among States have been broadened and
renamed as Regional Labour Ministers’
Conferences.
Employer’s Checklist for
Minimum Wages
The employer must pay every employee wages
as fixed by the Government.
(a) Wages must be paid in cash.
(b) For the fixation of minimum wages, the
employment must have been in Schedule
originally or added to the Schedule by a
notification under Section 27 of the Act.
(c) The employer can take actual work on any
day up to 9 hours in a 12 hours shift, but he
must pay double the rate for any hour or part of
an hour of actual work in excess of 9 hours or
for more than 48 hours in any week.
 (d) Once a minimum wage is fixed according to the
provisions of the Act, the employer must pay to every
employee engaged in a Scheduled employment,
minimum wages notification for that class of employees.
 (e) The employer should fix wage-period for the
payment of wages at intervals not exceeding one month
or such other larger period as may be prescribed.
 (f) The employer should pay wages on a working day
within seven days of the end of wage period or within 10
days if 1000 or more persons are employed in an
establishment.
 (g) The employer should pay the wages to a person
discharged not later than the second working day after
his discharge.
(h) Every employer should maintain a register of
wages at workplace specifying the following
particulars for each wage period in respect of each
employed person:
i. Minimum rate of wages payable;
ii. The number of days in which overtime was
worked;
iii. The gross wages;
iv. The wages actually paid and the date of
payment.
(i) Every employer should get the signature or the
thumb impression of every person employed on the
wage book and the wage slips.
 (j) The employer should exhibit at main entrance to the
establishment and its offices, a notice in respect of the following
in English and local language:
 i. Minimum rates of wages;
 ii. Abstracts of the Acts and rules made there under;
 iii. Name and address of the Labour Inspector/ Asst.
Commissioner of Labour etc.
 The minimum wages covers all workers in the sectors
agricultural, industrial and small-scale sectors.
 This means:
  farm labourers
  landless labourers
  factory workers
  people working in cottage industries
  Construction workers etc.
The issue of fixation of minimum wages is of
primary importance in a country like India where
300 million people are employed in the informal
sector with no collective bargaining power. This is
93 percent of the workers. The enactment of the
Minimum Wages Act in 1948 is a landmark in the
labour history of India. The Act provides for fixation
of minimum wages for notified scheduled
employment.
As per Government of India, for all the States, the
minimum wages have been fixed at about Rs 40 to
60 per day per person, average about Rs 50 per
day for 25 days per month.
There are 45 scheduled employments in the
Central sphere and 1232 in the state sphere for
which minimum wages have been fixed. To protect
the wages against inflation they were linked to rise
in the Consumer Price Index.
The variable dearness allowance (VDA) came into
being in 1991 and the allowance is revised twice a
year.
At present 22 states /Union Territories have these
provisions. The states and Union Territories were
further directed to ensure that minimum wages
are not below Rs 45 per day for any scheduled
employment.