[Analysis] Wages (Central) Rules 2026 – Chapter-wise Guide | Registers and Forms | Compliance Checklist

The Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 were notified by the Central Government on 8th May 2026 vide G.S.R. 343(E), in exercise of the power under section 67 of the Code on Wages, 2019. They run to 8 chapters, 54 rules, 9 Forms and 4 Appendices, and supersede 17 earlier rule-sets — sixteen made under the repealed Acts and one made under the Code itself. A corrigendum, G.S.R. 629(E) dated 15th July 2026, corrected the short title to "the Wages (Central) Rules, 2026".

Table of Contents

1. What are the Wages (Central) Rules, 2026?
2. The name: why “Wages” and not “Code on Wages”
3. Which rules do they supersede?
4. Chapter II — how the minimum rate of wages is calculated
5. Chapter II — working day, rest day and the substituted rest day
6. Chapters III and IV — floor wage, deductions and fines
7. Chapter V — bonus computation
8. Chapter VI — the Central Advisory Board, in sixteen rules
9. Chapter VII — undisbursed dues on the death of an employee
10. Chapter VIII — registers, wage slip, returns and the nine Forms
11. Claims, appeals and composition of offences
12. Who makes the rules: Centre or State?
13. Quick answers

1. What are the Wages (Central) Rules, 2026?

The Code on Wages, 2019 came into force generally on 21st November 2025. For nearly six months after that, the only rules made under it were the Code on Wages (Central Advisory Board) Rules, 2021, framed after a narrow set of Advisory Board provisions was notified in December 2020. Everything else ran on the rules made under the four repealed Acts. The Rules of 2026 closed that gap.

The sequence, as recorded in the notification itself:

• 30th December 2025 — the draft rules, then styled the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2025, were published under section 67(1) vide G.S.R. 936(E) in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II, Section 3, sub-section (i), inviting objections and suggestions within forty-five days. The notification records that it was made available to the public the same day.
• 8th May 2026 — after considering the suggestions and objections received, the Central Government notified the final rules vide G.S.R. 343(E). They came into force on the date of publication in the Official Gazette.
• 15th July 2026 — G.S.R. 629(E) issued as a corrigendum, correcting the short title.

The structure is compact for a set of rules covering four erstwhile Acts:

Chapter	Subject	Rules
I	Preliminary	1–2
II	Minimum Wages	3–9
III	Floor Wages	10
IV	Payment of Wages	11–20
V	Payment of Bonus	21–28
VI	Central Advisory Board	29–44
VII	Payment of Dues, Claims, etc.	45–47
VIII	Forms, Registers and Wage Slip	48–54

Sixteen of the fifty-four rules, close to a third, are given over to the constitution and functioning of the Central Advisory Board. That is a fair indication of how much of the Code’s machinery is consultative rather than regulatory.

Beyond the fifty-four rules and the nine Forms there are four Appendices, and they are easy to overlook because nothing in the Arrangement of Rules announces them. They carry the computation machinery for Chapter V:

Appendix	Referred to in	Contents
A	Rules 22, 23, 27 and 28	The ten-year set-on and set-off illustration, worked on an assumed minimum bonus of Rs. 1,04,167 and a maximum of Rs. 2,50,000
B	Rule 24	Computation of gross profits for a banking company
C	Rule 25	Computation of gross profits for an employer other than a banking company
D	Rule 26	The further sums deductible from gross profit

2. The name: why “Wages” and not “Code on Wages”

A small point that saves a citation error.

The draft was published as the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2025. When the final rules issued on 8th May 2026, rule 1(1) was corrected by Corrigendum G.S.R. 629(E) dated 15th July 2026 to read: “These rules may be called the Wages (Central) Rules, 2026.”

So the correct short title carries no “Code on”. A great deal of secondary material still uses the pre-corrigendum form, and it survives in two of the commentary’s own Relevant Rules headings, under sections 36 and 44. For a pleading, a compliance manual or an inspection response, the corrected title is the one to use.

3. Which rules do they supersede?

Seventeen rule-sets, listed in the preamble to G.S.R. 343(E), and superseded “except as respects things done or omitted to be done before such supersession”:

1. the Payment of Wages (Procedure) Rules, 1937
2. the Payment of Wages (Railways) Rules, 1938
3. the Minimum Wages (Central) Rules, 1950
4. the Payment of Wages (Mines) Rules, 1956
5. the Payment of Wages (Procedure) Application to Scheduled Employments Rules, 1962
6. the Payment of Wages (Manner of Recovery of Excess Deductions) Rules, 1966
7. the Payment of Wages (Air Transport Services) Rules, 1968
8. the Payment of Wages (Deductions for National Defence Fund and Defence Savings Scheme) Rules, 1972
9. the Payment of Bonus Rules, 1975
10. the Equal Remuneration Rules, 1976
11. the Payment of Undisbursed Wages (Air Transport Services) Rules, 1988
12. the Payment of Undisbursed Wages (Mines) Rules, 1989
13. the Central Advisory Committee on Equal Remuneration Rules, 1991
14. the Payment of Wages (Nomination) Rules, 2009
15. the Minimum Wages (Central Advisory Board) Rules, 2011
16. the Code on Wages (Central Advisory Board) Rules, 2021
17. the Ease of Compliance to Maintain Register under the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and the Payment of Wages Act, 1936

Two things to note about that list. Item 16 is not a rule made under a repealed Act at all — the Code on Wages (Central Advisory Board) Rules, 2021 were made under the Code itself, the Advisory Board provisions having been notified from 18th December 2020 by S.O. 4604(E). And the saving at the end is narrower than it first reads: it preserves the validity of things done or omitted before 8th May 2026, but it does not keep the superseded rules alive as the governing law going forward.

4. Chapter II — how the minimum rate of wages is calculated

Rule 3 supplies the arithmetic, on the subject the Minimum Wages (Central) Rules, 1950 used to occupy.

• The minimum rate of wages is fixed on a day basis, on criteria to be separately specified by the Central Government by special or general order.
• Where a daily rate is fixed, it is divided by eight for the hourly rate and multiplied by twenty-six for the monthly rate. In that division and multiplication, factors of one-half and above are rounded to the next figure and factors below one-half are ignored.
• Where the working week is shorter than six days, the hourly rate so calculated is used to derive the rate for the day.

A proviso to rule 3(1) that repays attention: the Central Government shall not fix the minimum wages of Central Government employees under this Code.

Rule 4 sets the cadence for the variable dearness allowance, and does so in mandatory terms. The cost of living allowance and the cash value of the concession in respect of essential commodities at concession rate shall be computed once before 1st April and then before 1st October in every year, to revise the variable dearness allowance payable on the minimum wages, taking into account the Average Consumer Price Index Number for Industrial Workers published by the Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment.

Rule 2 carries the definitions the rest of the set runs on. The four skill categories used for fixing minimum rates under section 6(6) are defined in the rules themselves: highly skilled occupation at rule 2(1)(m), semi-skilled at (s), skilled at (t) and unskilled at (u). So is “geographical area”, at (l), meaning areas notified by the Central Government from time to time. Rule 2(1)(j) defines “electronically” broadly enough to cover email, a designated portal, a mobile application, a website, and digital payment in any mode.

5. Chapter II — working day, rest day and the substituted rest day

Rule 5. A normal working day is eight hours for an employee whose wage period is daily, with the rest interval as notified under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. For any other wage period, the normal working day is fixed so that total weekly working hours do not exceed forty-eight. Rule 8 then allows the categories of employees covered by section 13(2) to exceed those normal hours, provided their overtime is paid as section 14 requires.

Rule 6 is the longest rule in the set and the one most likely to be got wrong in a roster.

• One rest day a week. In a six-day week it is ordinarily Sunday; in a shorter week the rest day includes Saturday and Sunday. The employer may fix another day, but must give notice of the day and of any change before the change takes effect, displayed conspicuously or electronically.
• Entitlement is earned by continuous service — six days in a six-day week, or the stipulated number of working days in a shorter week. Days on which the employee attended and was paid only an attendance allowance without being given work, days of lay-off with compensation under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, and leave or holiday with or without pay all count towards that continuous period.
• Work on the rest day requires a substituted rest day in the week immediately before or after. And there is a hard outer limit: no substitution may result in the employee working more than ten days consecutively without a rest day.
• Where an employee works on the rest day and takes a substituted day, wages for the day worked are at the overtime rate and wages for the substituted day at the rate applicable to the previous working day.
• A proviso deals with the six-day week where the daily rate has been derived by dividing the monthly rate by twenty-six. In that case no separate wages for the rest day are payable, and where the employee works on the rest day with a substituted day, he is paid only for the day worked, at the overtime rate, which shall not be less than twice the normal rate. Disputes about whether the daily rate was worked out correctly go to the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) or the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) having jurisdiction, on written representations.
• Rule 6(5) preserves more favourable terms under any other law, award, agreement or contract of service.

Rule 7 handles shifts running past midnight: the rest day means twenty-four consecutive hours beginning when the shift ends, and hours worked after midnight count towards the previous day.

Rule 9 settles a question the Code leaves open — the longer wage period for the purposes of the minimum rate of wages under section 14 is by the month.

6. Chapters III and IV — floor wage, deductions and fines

Chapter III contains a single rule. Rule 10 prescribes the manner of fixing the floor wage under section 9: consultation with the Central Advisory Board taking into account minimum living standards including food, clothing and housing; circulation to the States for comments; consideration of both before fixing; and revision ordinarily at an interval not exceeding five years with periodic cost-of-living adjustment.

Chapter IV is the operational heart for payroll.

Rule	What it requires
11	Where employees are engaged through a contractor, the proprietor of the establishment shall pay the contractor the amount payable in respect of the employees’ wages in accordance with the Code.
12	No entitlement to wages for a full normal working day under section 10 where the employee had agreed to work part time under the terms of employment.
13	Prescribes the manner of recovery contemplated by section 18(4). Where the deductions authorised under section 18(2) exceed fifty per cent of wages, the excess is carried forward and recovered in instalments from succeeding wage periods, so that recovery in any month does not exceed fifty per cent of that month’s wages.
14	The Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) having jurisdiction is the authority for approving acts and omissions for the purposes of section 19(1).
15	The notice specifying acts and omissions must be displayed, physically or electronically, in Hindi, English and the local language, at a conspicuous place, with a copy sent electronically or by speed post to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator.
16	Before a fine: written or electronic intimation of the particulars, seven days to show cause. On charges being established, the fine is imposed. If no reply is received in time, the fine is imposed and intimated within fifteen days.
17	Deduction for absence from duty under the proviso to section 20(2) requires prior intimation and a seven-day opportunity to reply.
18–20	Procedure for deduction for damage or loss, conditions for recovery of advances, and deduction for recovery of loans.

Rule 13 deserves a note. The fifty-per-cent ceiling sits in section 18(3), which caps the total deductions that may be made in any wage period. Section 18(4) then provides that where the authorised deductions exceed that half, the excess may be recovered in such manner as may be prescribed — and rule 13 is the prescription. So the cap is per wage period, not on the amount ultimately recoverable. The obligation does not disappear; it queues.

7. Chapter V — bonus computation

Eight rules, of which the two that matter most are rules 27 and 28, prescribing the manner of carrying forward set-on and set-off under section 36(1) and (2). Both direct that the carry-forward be worked “in the manner as illustrated in Appendix A” to the Rules — a ten-year worked table that traces set-on and set-off across profitable and loss years alike. Section 15 of the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 did the same job by reference to its Fourth Schedule; section 36 of the Code leaves the manner to be prescribed by the Central Government, and Appendix A is where it has been prescribed.

Rules 24 and 25 prescribe the computation of gross profits, separately for a banking company and for other companies, and rule 26 the deduction of further sums from gross profit. Rules 22 and 23 supply the set-on and set-off calculation for the sixth and seventh accounting years, pairing with section 26(7)(i) and (ii).

Rule 21 is narrower than its marginal note suggests. Where employees are engaged through a contractor and the contractor fails to pay bonus under section 26, the principal referred to in the proviso to section 43 must — on written information of the failure from the employees or a registered trade union, and on confirming it — pay minimum bonus. It is a default remedy against the principal, not a general extension of Chapter IV of the Code — the bonus chapter — to contract labour.

8. Chapter VI — the Central Advisory Board, in sixteen rules

Rules 29 to 44 are the largest single block in the set, and they are almost entirely procedural. They deal with the constitution of the Board (rule 29), its meetings, notice of meetings and quorum (rules 30, 31, 33), the functions of the Chairperson (rule 32), disposal of business, method of voting and proceedings of meetings (rules 34 to 36), summoning of witnesses and production of documents (rule 37), the term of office of members (rule 38), travelling allowance (rule 39), officers and staff (rule 40), eligibility for re-nomination (rule 41), resignation of the Chairperson and members (rule 42), cessation of membership (rule 43) and disqualification (rule 44).

Nothing in the chapter creates a duty on an employer. It matters for two reasons all the same. The Board is the body the Central Government must, under section 9(3), consider consulting before it fixes the floor wage, and Rule 10 routes that consultation through it. And these were the first provisions of the Code to be brought into force at all. By S.O. 4604(E) dated 18th December 2020, sub-sections (1), (2), (3), (10) and (11) of section 42 and clauses (s) and (t) of section 67(2) were notified, in each case to the extent they relate to the Central Advisory Board — nearly five years before the rest of the Code.

9. Chapter VII — undisbursed dues on the death of an employee

Three rules, and they are more detailed than anything the repealed rules contained.

Rule 45 — nomination. Every employee makes a declaration in Form VII, physically or electronically, nominating a person to receive amounts standing to his credit on death. Where the employee has a family, the nomination must be in favour of the spouse, or the spouse in preference followed by one or more members of the family; a nomination by an employee having a family in favour of a person outside the family is invalid. A fresh nomination in favour of the spouse must be made on marriage, and any nomination made before the marriage is deemed invalid. Where the nominee is a minor, a guardian is appointed. Where more than one nominee is named, the shares must be specified so as to cover the whole amount.

Rule 45(2) — the three-month clock. Where an amount is due after death, or because the employee’s whereabouts are not known, and could not be paid to the nominee within three months of becoming payable, the employer deposits it with the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), who disburses it to the nominee within two months of the deposit after ascertaining identity.

Rule 46 — the six-month clock. Where no nomination was made, or the amount could not be paid for any other reason, the employer deposits it after the expiry of six months from the date it became payable, and before the expiry of the fifteenth day after that six-month period, by bank transfer or crossed demand draft in favour of the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central).

Rule 47 — what happens to the money. It is invested in Central or State Government securities or placed in a fixed deposit with a scheduled bank. Notice is exhibited for at least fifteen days on the notice board and published in two local vernacular newspapers in the area where the wages were earned and two in the area of the employee’s permanent residence. Release is to the nominee or claimant after an opportunity of being heard. If the amount remains unclaimed for seven years, it is dealt with as the Central Government directs.

10. Chapter VIII — registers, wage slip, returns and the nine Forms

Rule 51 — three registers. Every establishment to which the Code applies maintains, electronically or physically, in the formats appended to the Rules:

• Form I — Employee Register
• Form IV — Register of Wages, Overtime, Advances, Fines and Deductions for Damage and Loss
• Form IX — Attendance Register-cum-Muster Roll

All fines and realisations under section 19(8) and all deductions and realisations under section 21(3) are recorded in Form IV, and the authority for section 19(8) is the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central). Registers are preserved for five years after the date of the last entry.

The field list in Form I is worth reading before a payroll system is configured. It calls for, among other things, the establishment’s Labour Identification Number as its registration number, the employer’s PAN or TAN, and for each employee the employee code, category (HS / S / SS / US), type of employment (P / T / FT / T / B), Universal Account Number, PAN, Aadhaar number, ESIC insurance-person number, EPS or NPS details, nominee, details of family, and bank account. Several of those fields will not exist in a register built for the 1936 or 1948 Act.

Rule 52 — wage slip. Every employer issues wage slips in Form V, electronically or physically, on or before payment of wages. Not after.

Rule 48 — returns. One sentence, and the widest reach of any rule in the set. Returns are to be filed electronically by every employer of an establishment to which the Code applies, in the Forms under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. The wage return is not a standalone filing. It sits inside the OSH return, which means a compliance calendar built around the Code on Wages alone will not tell you when it is due.

The nine Forms appended to the Rules:

Form	Purpose
I	Employee Register
II	Single application under section 45(5)
III	Appeal under section 49(1) before the Appellate Authority
IV	Register of Wages, Overtime, Advances, Fines and Deductions for Damage and Loss
V	Wage Slip
VI	(A) Application for composition of offence; (B) Composition Certificate
VII	Nomination Form
VIII	(A) Notice to the respondent by the authority under section 45(5); (B) Notice by the Appellate Authority under section 49(1)
IX	Attendance Register-cum-Muster Roll

11. Claims, appeals and composition of offences

Rule 49 — claims. A single application under section 45(5), on behalf of or in respect of any number or group of employees in the same establishment whose claims relate to the same wage period or any incident of discrimination, is filed in Form II, manually or electronically. The authority serves notice in Form VIII by electronic means or speed post. Non-appearance by the employer permits an ex parte determination; non-appearance by the applicant without reasonable cause shown in advance permits dismissal.

Rule 50 — appeals. An appeal under section 49(1) is filed in Form III, electronically or by speed post, within the ninety days allowed by the section. The proviso is the operative part for an employer: no appeal by an employer shall be admitted unless, at the time of preferring the appeal, the appellant has deposited the claim amount with the appellate authority. A pre-deposit condition of that kind changes the arithmetic of whether to contest an order, and it should be factored in before the order is passed rather than after.

Rule 54 — composition. An application for composition is made in Form VI to the notified Gazetted Officer. Where the offence is compoundable and the accused agrees, the officer compounds it for a sum of fifty per cent of the maximum fine provided for that offence, payable within thirty days of the composition order. The certificate issues in Part B of Form VI within ten days of receipt of the amount. Failure to deposit in time results in prosecution before the competent court.

The two sub-section references that appear here are worth untangling, because they look like a conflict and are not. Rule 54(1) speaks of composition “under sub-section (1) of section 56” and of “the Gazetted Officer notified under said sub-section” — section 56(1) is the compounding power and the source of the officer’s authority. Form VI Part A is headed “Application under sub-section (4) of section 56” — section 56(4) is the provision requiring the application to be made in the prescribed manner. Both are apt, and section 67(2) draws the same distinction in its rule-making heads.

Rule 53 — enquiry. Rule 53 sets out a full adjudicatory procedure for the officer appointed under section 53(1): summons on the address in the complaint, explanation of the offence, penalty on a plea of guilty, and otherwise evidence on oath with cross-examination, documentary evidence on record, and an opportunity of defence with cross-examination of defence witnesses. Complaints may be made by an officer authorised by the Central Government, an aggrieved employee, a registered trade union under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, or an Inspector-cum-Facilitator.

12. Who makes the rules: Centre or State?

Rule-making under the Code is split, and the split is jurisdictional rather than merely administrative.

Under section 67(3), the Central Government has exclusive power to make rules on sections 9(1), 9(3), 26(7)(i), 26(7)(ii), 32(a) and (b), 34(c), 36(1), 36(2) and 53(1). On those subjects a State Government has no jurisdiction to make rules at all.

Under sections 67(1) and (2), both Governments may make rules, each in its capacity as the appropriate Government for the establishments falling to it under section 2(d). Those subjects include section 6(4) and clauses (b) and (c) of section 6(6), section 10, section 13(2), section 14, section 18(2)(f)(ii) and 18(4), and section 19(1) and (2), among others.

So an establishment for which a State is the appropriate Government follows that State’s rules on the section 67(2) subjects — and the Central rules on the section 67(3) subjects, whatever the State has notified.

Where an establishment operates across several States and needs the applicable rule for each, the consolidated position is maintained on Taxmann.com | Research. For a specific question about which rule governs a given establishment, Taxmann AI will answer it against the notified text; where the answer has to be turned into a register format or a return calendar, Taxmann Advisory takes it from there.

13. Quick answers

When were the Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 notified?
On 8th May 2026, by G.S.R. 343(E), and they came into force on the date of publication in the Official Gazette.

What is the correct short title?
“The Wages (Central) Rules, 2026”, as corrected by Corrigendum G.S.R. 629(E) dated 15th July 2026. The draft was styled the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2025.

How many rules and Forms are there?
Eight chapters, 54 rules, 9 Forms and 4 Appendices. Appendix A carries the ten-year set-on and set-off illustration; Appendices B, C and D carry the gross-profit computations and the further deductible sums.

Which registers must be maintained?
Three, under rule 51 — Form I Employee Register, Form IV Register of Wages, Overtime, Advances, Fines and Deductions for Damage and Loss, and Form IX Attendance Register-cum-Muster Roll. They may be kept electronically and must be preserved for five years from the last entry.

How are returns filed under the Code on Wages?
Electronically, in the Forms under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 — rule 48.

Is there a pre-deposit for an employer’s appeal?
Yes. Under the proviso to rule 50(1), no appeal by an employer is admitted unless the claim amount has been deposited with the appellate authority at the time of preferring the appeal.

What does it cost to compound an offence?
Fifty per cent of the maximum fine provided for that offence, payable within thirty days of the composition order — rule 54(2).

Do the old central rules still apply?
No, for the seventeen rule-sets superseded on 8th May 2026, except as respects things done or omitted to be done before that date.

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The Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 are reproduced in full, with all nine Forms and all four Appendices, in Taxmann’s Law & Practice Relating to Code on Wages by Sunil Kumar Tripathi, Senior Advocate. Thirty-seven of the fifty-four are also printed a second time at the point of use, across fourteen inline “Relevant Rules” blocks set immediately beneath the sections they implement. The law is stated as on 20th July 2026.

Related reading: floor wage under section 9 and Rule 10 · what survives the repeal of the four wage Acts · the definition of wages under section 2(y) · the Code on Wages 2019 — complete guide.