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CONTENTS
Table showing sections of Code on Wages, 2019 & corresponding provisions of Repealed Laws I-7
Table showing sections of Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 & corresponding provisions of Code on Wages, 2019 I-15
Table showing sections of Minimum Wages Act, 1948 & corresponding provisions of Code on Wages, 2019 I-17
Table showing sections of Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 & corresponding provisions of Code on Wages, 2019 I-20
Table showing sections of Payment of Wages Act, 1936 & corresponding provisions of Code on Wages, 2019 I-24
Comparative Study of Code on Wages, 2019 & Equal Remuneration Act, 1976/Minimum Wages Act, 1948/ Payment of Wages Act, 1936/Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 (Repealed Acts) I-27
CODE ON WAGES, 2019*
[29 OF 2019]
An Act to amend and consolidate the laws relating to wages and bonus and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
Short title, extent and commencement.
1
Corresponding Provision : Definitions.
2. a Corresponding Provision : 1 b c Corresponding Provision : 3 21-11-2025 See See see Notifications 21-11-2025
Corresponding Provision : 10
Corresponding Provision : 14
Corresponding Provision : 15 16 ii
m
Corresponding Provision : ic 17
Corresponding Provision : 16
Corresponding Provision : 19
Corresponding Provision : e
Corresponding Provision : f 20 iv
Corresponding Provision : h
Provided a i
Provided further d f g h
Explanation.—
Corresponding Provision : g 21 h vi z aa i f ii d
See aa see Appendix See f see Appendix
See d see Appendix
Corresponding Provision : i
SECTION NOTES
COMMENTS
EMPLOYEE [SEC. 2(k)]
Definition of ‘employee’ k vide Notification No. SO 454(E), dated 30-1-2026.
RELEVANT CASE LAWS
Partner is not employee
RPFC
S G Tin Printers
Tin Printers RPFC Om Roller
Flour Mills UOI Prakash D Shah UOI
Industries
Director can be employee -
ESIC Ramaiya Match
ESIC Apex Engineering Ltd.
ESIC Arun Granites
ESIC .Venus Alloy Pvt. Ltd.
Tin Printers RPFC
UOI
Monitron Securities Mukundlal Khushalchand
Speed Sales
ESIC
Apex Engineering Ltd. ESIC
Sarathi Lines
ESIC Padma Bhawan Engineers
Apprentice is not ‘employee’ or ‘workman’ -
ESIC Haryana Biological
Dhampur Sugar Mills Ltd. Bhola
Singh Mukesh K
Tripathi Senior Divisional Manager, LIC
National Small Industries Corporation V Lakshminarayanan
Home workers can be covered - PM Patel UOI
Officer-in-charge, PF Office Godavari Garments Ltd.
Silver Jubilee Tailoring House Chief Inspector of Shops and Establishments
The Office in-charge, Sub-Regional Provident Fund Office & Anr. Godavari Garments Limited
ESIC Hindustan Milkfood Manufacturers Ltd.
ESIC Hindustan Milkfood Manufacturers Ltd. .
Employee may be working in factory or outside -
ESIC Agew Steel Manufacturing Pvt. Ltd. -
ESIC K. Ramachandran and Ors.
Casual engagement of person is not employment -
ESIC P R Narahari Rao
ESIC Surya Printmac Industries
Provident Fund Inspector T S Hariharan
Royal Western India Turf Club Ltd. . ESIC
ESIC Premier Clay Products
EMPLOYER [SEC. 2(l)]
SECTION NOTES
Definition of ‘employer’ (l) in his establishment
ESIC SSRS Brothers
Definition of “Employer”
”Employer” in relation to establishment of Central Govt./State Govt.
”Employer” in relation to establishment of a local authority
Persons specifically included in definition of “employer”includes
Explanation I
Explanation II f
7. Notice by occupier a b bb c
SECTION NOTES
ESTABLISHMENT [SEC. 2(m)]
Definition of ‘establishment’ (m) place
“Any place” Advanced Law Lexicon P.R. Aiyar
Stroud’s Judicial Dictionary
Duck Bates
Beckett Sutton
Code on Wages 2019 with Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026 – Bare Act with Section Notes
AUTHOR : Taxmann’s Editorial Board
PUBLISHER : Taxmann
DATE OF PUBLICATION : May 2026
EDITION : 2026 Edition
ISBN NO : 9789375618096
No. of Pages : 256
BINDING TYPE : Paperback
295
DESCRIPTION
Code on Wages 2019 with Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026 [Bare Act with Section Notes] by Taxmann is a consolidated, applicationready statutory publication presenting India’s wage law in its fully enforced, post-Code form. The Code on Wages—brought into force with effect from 21st November 2025 vide Notification S.O. 5322(E)—subsumes and replaces the Payment of Wages Act 1936, the Minimum Wages Act 1948, the Payment of Bonus Act 1965, and the Equal Remuneration Act 1976, consolidating them into a single architecture governing minimum wages, floor wage, payment of wages, deductions, bonus, advisory boards, claims, inspection, and offences. As its core editorial feature, the 2026 Edition introduces Section Notes—brief, provision-by-provision annotations placed immediately after each section—together with relevant Case Laws beneath the section, cross-referencing the corresponding clauses of the repealed Acts and the related Rules and decisions. The publication is rounded out by the Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026 with the prescribed Forms, a front-placed Comparative Study, five sectional cross-reference Tables, a Subject Index, the Statement of Objects and Reasons, Notes on Clauses, an Appendix of other Acts referred to in the Code, the enforcement and clarificatory notifications (including the supervisory wage-ceiling notification dated 30-1-2026), FAQs on the Code on Wages and the Industrial Relations Code, and a practitioner-oriented Compliance Handbook—making it a complete, single-volume operational reference for the post-enforcement phase. This publication is intended for users who apply, interpret, administer, adjudicate, or transition into the Code on Wages regime, including:
• HR, Payroll, and Compliance Heads
• Labour & Employment Law Practitioners
• Employers, Industrial Establishments, and Management Representatives
• In-house Counsel, Company Secretaries, and Finance Controllers
• Inspectors-cum-Facilitators, Appellate Authorities, and Adjudicatory Officers
• Trade Unions, Worker Representatives, and Employee-Side Advisers
• Law Students, Academicians, and Policy Researchers
The Present Publication is the 2026 Edition, covering the amended and updated text of the Code on Wages [Act No. 29 of 2019] and Rules, with the following noteworthy features:
• [Section Notes – Core USP] Brief, provision-level annotations placed immediately after each section, identifying the corresponding clauses of the four repealed Acts and flagging consolidated, modified, or newly introduced material—turning the Bare Act into a selfcontained transition tool
• [Case Laws Beneath the Section] Relevant judicial precedents reproduced under each section to confirm standard interpretations and provide authoritative reference for adjudication and compliance
• [Five-Way Statutory Cross-Reference Tables] Tables aligning the sections of the Code with the corresponding provisions of each repealed Act—Payment of Bonus Act 1965; Minimum Wages Act 1948; Payment of Wages Act 1936; and Equal Remuneration Act 1976—together with four reverse-direction tables, enabling lookup in either direction
• [Front-Placed Comparative Study] A subject-wise and section-wise comparison between the Code and the four repealed Acts, identifying retained provisions, substantive departures, rationalised thresholds (universal applicability, 50% cap on deductions, abolition of the working-day stipulation), and consciously omitted concepts (LIC premium deductions, Post Office insurance deductions, Fidelity Guarantee Bond deductions)
• [Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026 – Final Notified Text] The operative procedural framework, including the manner of calculating minimum rate of wages, fixation of floor wage, working-hour provisions, recovery procedures, computation of gross profits, and the prescribed Forms (Employee Register, Wage Register, Wage Slip, Attendance Register-cum-Muster Roll, etc.)
• [Notifications and Clarifications] The enforcement notification of 21-11-2025, the earlier partial-enforcement notification of 18-122020, and the supervisory wage-ceiling notification of 30-1-2026—the complete commencement and clarification record in one place
• [FAQs on the Four Labour Codes] FAQs covering the Code on Wages 2019 and the Industrial Relations Code 2020, addressing definitional, applicability, and enforcement concerns in plain language
• [Compliance Handbook for Employers under the Four Labour Codes] A practitioner-oriented chapter setting out employer obligations across all four Labour Codes in the Central Government sphere—wage payment, working hours, overtime, registers and records, notice-board display, authorised deductions, bonus, bi-partite committees, standing orders, layoff and retrenchment compliance, strike and lockout notices, and OSH-WC obligations
• [Statement of Objects and Reasons & Notes on Clauses] Reproduced in full to support purposive interpretation and legislativeintent arguments
• [Appendix of External Provisions] The relevant text of other Central Acts referenced in the Code (Apprentices Act 1961, Code of Criminal Procedure 1973, Companies Act 2013, Factories Act 1948, and others), eliminating the need to consult separate volumes
• [Subject Index] Detailed alphabetical index for rapid topical retrieval