The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (the Minimum Wages Act) provides for fixing of minimum rates of wages in certain employments. The minimum wages are prescribed by States through notifications in the State's Gazette under the Minimum Wages Rules of the specific State.
In terms of the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, an employee means (i) any person who is employed for hire or reward to do any work, skilled or unskilled manual or clerical, in a scheduled employment in respect of which minimum rates of wages have been fixed; (ii) an outworker, to whom any articles or materials are given out by another person to be made up, cleaned, washed, altered, ornamented, finished, repaired, adapted or otherwise processed for sale for the purposes of the trade or business of that other person; and (iii) an employee declared to be an employee by the appropriate Government.
The term "wages" has been defined to mean all remuneration capable of being expressed in terms of money which would, if the terms of the contract of employment express or implied were fulfilled, be payable to a person employed in respect of his employment or work done in such an employment and includes house rent allowance but does not include:
a) Any house accommodation or supply of light, water and medical attendance; or
b) Any other amenity or any service excluded by general or special order of the appropriate Government;
- Any contribution paid by the employer to any personal fund or provident fund or under any scheme of social insurance;
- Any travelling allowance or the value of any travelling concession;
- Any sum paid to the person employed to defray special expenses entailed on him by the nature of his employment; or
- Any gratuity payable on discharge.
Further, the Minimum Wages Act requires the employer to pay to every employee engaged in schedule employment wages at a rate not less than minimum rates of wages as fixed by a notification without any deduction (other than prescribed deductions, if any).
