Minimum wages and the national floor wage

Updated 11 October 2026

A minimum wage is the lowest pay an employer can legally pay for a day's work. Under the Code on Wages, 2019, in force since 21 November 2025, it covers every employee, not just the "scheduled employments" of the old Minimum Wages Act, and the rates are fixed by the Centre for the central sphere and by state governments for everything else. The Code also provides for a national floor wage that no state may go below, but as of October 2026 the Centre has not notified one.

Who fixes minimum wages

• Central government: for the central sphere, such as railways, mines, oilfields, major ports, banks, central public sector undertakings and central government establishments. The Chief Labour Commissioner publishes these rates.
• State governments: for shops, factories, offices and other establishments in the state. Each state publishes its own schedule, and most private-sector jobs fall under it.

Rates vary by skill (unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled) and by area. The central sphere uses Areas A, B and C, broadly the biggest cities, other cities and the rest. Basic rates are to be revised at intervals of not more than five years, and a variable dearness allowance (VDA), linked to the Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers, is revised every 1 April and 1 October.

Central sphere rates from 1 October 2026

For construction and maintenance work, the daily rates (basic plus VDA) from 1 October 2026 are:

Sweeping and cleaning, and loading and unloading, are paid ₹840, ₹704 and ₹565 a day in Areas A, B and C. Watch and ward staff get ₹1,024 a day in Area A without arms and ₹1,111 with arms. These rates apply only to central sphere work; for other jobs, check your state labour department's latest notification. Central rates are published by the Chief Labour Commissioner.

Daily, monthly and overtime rates

The Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 fix minimum wages on a daily basis. The hourly rate is the daily rate divided by 8, and the monthly rate is the daily rate multiplied by 26. A normal working day is 8 hours, weekly hours are capped at 48, and overtime is paid at twice the normal rate. Monthly wages must be paid by the 7th of the following month.

What the national floor wage is

Section 9 of the Code on Wages lets the Centre fix a floor wage based on the minimum living standards of a worker, with different floors for different regions if needed. Once it is notified, no state can fix a minimum wage below it, and a state whose rates are already higher cannot cut them. Under the central rules, the floor wage is fixed after consulting the Central Advisory Board and the states, and revised at intervals of not more than five years.

Where the floor wage stands in 2026

• The old national floor level minimum wage, ₹176 a day since 2017, was only advisory, and some states set rates below it.
• An expert committee led by Anoop Satpathy recommended ₹375 a day (at July 2018 prices) in 2019; the government did not adopt it. Another expert group was set up in 2021.
• In July 2026 the Labour Ministry began work on the method for a statutory floor wage, and on 21 July 2026 it notified the Central Advisory Board under the Code, chaired by the Labour Minister. Several unions objected to its composition in September 2026.
• No floor wage figure has been notified. Treat any number in the news as a proposal until it appears in the Gazette.

If you are paid less than the minimum

Find the rate for your job, skill level and area in the state or central notification, and compare it with your pay before deductions. The Code also requires equal pay for the same work regardless of gender, and caps total deductions at 50% of wages. Raise underpayment with your employer in writing first, then with the labour department, where a claim can be filed with the authority under the Code. For how pay is split on your payslip, see salary slip components; for the wider changes, Labour Codes and your salary. The minimum wage also sets the base for statutory bonus.