3 consumption units for one earner: In calculating the minimum wage, the standard working class family should be taken to comprise three consumption units for one earner, the earnings of women, children and adolescents in the family being disregarded.Instead, the norms recommended by the Indian Labour Conference, held in 1957, are taken into account while fixing the minimum wages. (Rules issued by the Central Government may be seen here.)Ĭontrary to popular perception, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 has not laid down the criteria for fixing the minimum wages in the country though it specifies the procedure for doing so. Once the minimum rates of wages are fixed according to the procedure prescribed by law, it is the obligation of the employer to pay the said wages irrespective of his capacity to pay.Īdministrative aspects of payment of minimum wages are detailed in the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and the Rules issued in this regard. The minimum wage is fixed uniformly for an individual irrespective of being a man or woman but differently for different types of jobs and duration of work. The minimum wage is generally exclusive of other allowances in kind, accommodation facilities, perks etc.
Minimum wage corresponds to the minimum cash payment to be paid to an individual working in certain notified jobs (mostly in the informal / unorganised sector), at a rate fixed by the central or state Governments, by taking into account the norms recommended by the 15th Indian Labour Conference, 1957 and the Supreme Court directive in 1992 in the case of Reptakos & Co.