Background
Uttarakhand Code on Wages Rules, 2026 were notified by the Government of Uttarakhand (Labour Department) on 25 August 2026 vide Notification No. 1115/VIII-1/2026-60(Labour)/2019, in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 67 of the Code on Wages, 2019, and came into force on their publication in the Official Gazette after the State considered the objections received on the draft Rules published in March 2026. The Code on Wages, 2019, brought into force nationally on 21 November 2025, consolidates the Payment of Wages Act, 1936, the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965 and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 into a single wage law, and the State Rules operationalise it in Uttarakhand, superseding the Uttarakhand (Uttar Pradesh) Payment of Wages Rules, 1936 and the Uttarakhand (Uttar Pradesh) Minimum Wages Rules, 1952 framed under the repealed enactments.
The resulting framework applies a universal minimum-wage floor with extra wages for arduous and hazardous work, fixes a ten-hour day and forty-eight-hour week with defined rest intervals, spread-over, weekly rest, substituted rest days and overtime at twice the normal rate capped at one hundred and forty-four hours per quarter, and prescribes permissible modes, wage periods and payment deadlines, including settlement within two working days on separation. Deductions and fines are capped and made subject to show-cause notices and oversight by the Assistant Labour Commissioner, bonus and contractor wage liabilities are fixed on the principal employer, nominations and the deposit of undisbursed dues are regulated, and record-keeping is unified into Form I and Form VI registers, a Form VII wage slip and a single electronic annual return filed in the OSH Code format, with contraventions punishable under Section 54 of the Code.
Applicability
The Rules apply to every establishment, factory and Government establishment in Uttarakhand covered by the Code on Wages, 2019, whose employers must pay at least the notified minimum wages without gender discrimination, observe the prescribed limits on hours, rest and overtime, pay wages on time and by permitted modes, confine deductions and fines to authorised limits and procedures, pay bonus, maintain registers, issue wage slips, display notices and file the annual return; establishments engaging workers in hazardous, underground, emergency or intermittent work are subject to additional wage and working-hour conditions, while principal employers using contract labour must fund contractor wages and pay minimum bonus where the contractor defaults, and employees are required to file Form II nominations, with the employer depositing unpaid or undisbursed dues with the Assistant Labour Commissioner.
Compliance Requirement Under the act in Accordance with the Rules & Regulations:
No employer shall pay to any employee wages less than the minimum rate of wages notified by the appropriate Government.
Workers engaged in works where they tolerate extreme temperature or humidity, or in a hazardous occupation or process, or in underground work, shall be paid extra wages in addition to the wages determined by the State Government from time to time. Hazardous occupations and processes are those defined in the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.
In any establishment, factory or Government establishment, no employee shall be compelled or permitted to work for more than ten hours in one day and forty-eight hours in a week.
No worker shall be required to work for a continuous period of five hours unless he is given a rest interval of more than half an hour.
In the case of work of an urgent nature, exemption from the limits on hours of work or weekly rest may be given only with the prior approval of the Inspector-cum-Facilitator. The employer shall obtain such prior approval before requiring employees to work beyond the prescribed limits.
Any work exceeding ten hours in a day or forty-eight hours in any week shall be considered overtime, and the total number of overtime hours in a three-month period shall not be more than one hundred and forty-four hours.
Where an employee whose minimum rate of wages has been fixed under the Code works on any day in excess of the number of hours constituting a normal working day, the employer shall pay him overtime wages for every hour or part of an hour so worked in excess, at a rate not less than twice the normal rate of wages. For the purpose of the minimum rate of wages under section 14, the long wage period shall be one month.
In any establishment, the total number of hours of work in any shift, including the rest interval, shall not be more than twelve hours.
Every employee shall be given one day of rest in every week, which shall generally be Sunday, though the employer may fix any other day as the rest day. In a six-day or shorter working week, the remaining days of the week shall be paid rest days. An employee is entitled to the rest day if he has worked under the same employer for a continuous period of not less than six days in the case of a six-day week, or for the stipulated number of working days in the case of a shorter working week.
Information of the fixed rest day, and of any subsequent change in the rest day, shall be given to employees before the change comes into effect, by displaying the information at the place in the place of employment specified by the Inspector-cum-Facilitator in this regard.
No employee shall be required or allowed to work on the rest day unless he has or will have a substituted rest day for a whole day on one of the working days in the week immediately before or after the rest day. No substitution shall be made which results in the employee working for ten days without a full rest day. Where an employee works on a rest day and is given a substituted rest day, the rest day shall, for the purpose of calculating weekly hours of work, be counted in the week in which the substituted rest day falls.
Every employee shall be given wages for the rest day calculated at the rate applicable to the next preceding day. Where an employee works on a rest day and is given a substituted rest day, he shall be paid wages at the overtime rate for the rest day worked and at the applicable rate of the next preceding day for the substituted rest day. No separate rest-day wages are payable where the minimum or actual daily rate is derived by dividing the monthly rate by 26 and is not less than the notified minimum daily rate; in such a case, work on the rest day for which a substituted rest day is given shall be paid at the overtime rate only. For piece-rated employees, the rest-day wage shall be as determined by the State Government.
Where an employee works in a shift which extends beyond midnight, then (a) for the purpose of the weekly rest day under rule 8, a complete rest day means a continuous period of twenty-four hours beginning at the end of his shift; and (b) the next day shall be the period of twenty-four hours beginning from the completion of such shift, and the hours worked after midnight shall be counted in the previous day.
The provisions of rules 7, 8 and 9 apply to an employee who (a) is employed in an emergency which could not have been foreseen or prevented; (b) is engaged in work of a preparatory or supplementary nature; (c) is employed in work that is necessarily intermittent; (d) is employed in work which is required to be completed within duty hours for technical reasons; or (e) is employed in work which cannot be carried on except at times dependent on the uncontrolled action of natural forces, subject to the conditions that (i) the working hours of the employee shall not exceed twelve hours on any working day, and (ii) the actual hours of work of the employee shall not exceed ten hours.
There shall be no discrimination in an establishment or any unit thereof among employees on the ground of gender in matters relating to wages paid by the same employer in respect of the same work or work of a similar nature. No employer shall, for the purpose of complying with this requirement, reduce the rate of wages of any employee, nor make any discrimination on the ground of sex while recruiting any employee for the same work or work of a similar nature, or in the conditions of employment, except where the employment of women in such work is prohibited or restricted by or under any law for the time being in force. For this purpose, a worker does not include an apprentice engaged under the Apprentices Act, 1961, or a person employed in a managerial or administrative capacity, or in a supervisory capacity drawing wages exceeding fifteen thousand rupees per month or such other amount as may be notified, but includes working journalists and sales promotion employees. An employer includes the occupier or manager of a factory; in relation to any other establishment, the person who has control over its affairs, including where such affairs are entrusted to a manager or managing director; a contractor; and the legal representative of a deceased employer.
All wages shall be paid in current coin or currency notes, by cheque, by crediting the wages to the bank account of the employee, or by electronic mode. The appropriate Government may, by notification, specify the industrial or other establishments whose employers shall pay wages to every person employed therein only by cheque or by crediting the wages to the employee’s bank account.
The employer shall fix the wage period for employees as daily, weekly, fortnightly or monthly, subject to the condition that no wage period in respect of any employee shall be more than one month. Different wage periods may be fixed for different establishments.
The employer shall pay, or cause to be paid, wages to employees engaged (i) on a daily basis, at the end of the shift; (ii) on a weekly basis, on the last working day of the week, that is, before the weekly holiday; (iii) on a fortnightly basis, before the end of the second day after the end of the fortnight; and (iv) on a monthly basis, before the expiry of the seventh day of the succeeding month. Where a separate due date has been specified by the State Government under the applicable State law, the due date so specified shall be followed.
Where an employee has been removed or dismissed from service, has been retrenched, has resigned from service, or has become unemployed due to closure of the establishment, the employer shall pay all wages payable to him within two working days of such removal, dismissal, retrenchment, resignation or closure, as the case may be.
The wages of an employee shall not be subject to deductions of any kind except those authorised by or under the Code. The total amount of deductions made from the wages of an employee in any wage period shall not exceed fifty per cent of such wages.
Where the total deductions authorised under sub-section (2) of section 18 exceed fifty per cent of the wages of the employee, the excess amount shall be carried forward and recovered from the subsequent wage period or periods, as the case may be, in such instalments that the recovery in any month does not exceed fifty per cent of the wages of the employee in that month.
Deductions for loans taken from any fund constituted by the State Government for the welfare of workers, and for recovery of interest due thereon, shall be subject to such instructions or circulars issued by the State Government from time to time regulating the limit for sanctioning such loans and the rate of interest payable thereon.
Deductions on loans sanctioned for construction of a house or other purposes approved by the State Government, and recovery of interest payable thereon, shall be subject to the instructions or circulars issued by the State Government from time to time regulating the limit for sanctioning such loans and the rate of interest payable.
Any advance given to an employee after the commencement of his employment, or any advance of pay not yet earned by him, shall be recovered by the employer from the pay of the employee concerned in such instalments that no instalment, or the aggregate of all instalments, exceeds fifty per cent of the pay of the employee for that pay period. The particulars of such recovery shall be recorded in a register maintained in Form I.
The notice specifying the acts and omissions for which fines may be imposed shall be in Form A and shall be displayed at prominent places in the premises of the workplace where the employment is carried on, so that every employee concerned can easily read the contents of the notice.
A copy of the Form A notice specifying the acts and omissions for which fines may be imposed shall be sent to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator of the concerned region having authority and jurisdiction, and to the authority under sub-section (1) of section 19 of the Code on Wages, 2019, as provided for in Form A.
No fine shall be imposed on any employee save in respect of such acts and omissions as the employer, with the previous approval of the appropriate authority, has specified by notice. The total amount of fine imposed in any one wage period shall not exceed three per cent of the wages payable in respect of that wage period. No fine shall be imposed on an employee below fifteen years of age, no fine shall be recovered in instalments, and no fine shall be recovered after the expiry of ninety days from the day on which it was imposed.
Before imposing a fine, the employer shall give a show-cause notice to the employee concerned, either electronically or in writing, in a language understood by the employee, specifying the reasons for the imposition of the penalty and the acts and omissions which justify it, and shall give the employee an opportunity of not less than fifteen days to present his case. After submission of the employee’s reply, or after expiry of the period allowed for reply, the employer shall, within one week, give notice in writing containing the relevant details to the Assistant Labour Commissioner or higher officer for obtaining sanction for the imposition of the penalty, and such officer shall hear both the employee and the employer before granting or refusing sanction. The penalty shall be imposed on the delinquent employee only after approval of the officer specified in Rule 14, and the employee shall be informed of its imposition within fifteen days from the date of imposition.
When an employer intends to make any deduction for absence from duty, he shall give a show-cause notice to the employee concerned, either electronically or in writing, in a language understood by the employee, specifying the reasons and full particulars justifying the deduction, and shall give the employee an opportunity of not less than fifteen days to present his case. On establishment of the charges, the deduction shall be made in accordance with section 18(3). If no reply is received from the employee within fifteen days, the employer shall make the deduction from the wages and intimate the same to the employee within fifteen days of the date of deduction. The employer shall report every such deduction to the Assistant Labour Commissioner or higher officer having jurisdiction within ten days from the date of deduction, and in case of an illegal deduction, that officer shall hear the matter and take appropriate action as per law.
Any employer intending to make a deduction for damage or loss from the wages of an employee shall give a show-cause notice to the employee concerned, electronically or in writing, in a language understood by the employee, stating the reasons and the value of the damage or loss to the goods entrusted to the employee, and shall give the employee not less than fifteen days to present his case. Where the deduction concerns more than one employee or workman, a separate written show-cause notice shall be issued to each of them. On establishment of the charges, deductions shall be made in accordance with section 18(3). If no reply is received within fifteen days, the employer shall make the deduction and intimate it to the employee within fifteen days of the date of deduction. The order regarding deduction shall be made in a language understood by the employee, and the employer shall report the deduction to the Assistant Labour Commissioner or higher officer having jurisdiction within ten days from the date of deduction.
Bonus payable under the Code shall be paid to the employee within eight months from the close of the financial year. Where a dispute regarding payment of bonus is pending before any authority, the bonus shall be paid within one month from the date on which the award becomes enforceable or the settlement comes into operation in respect of such dispute.
Where employees are employed in an establishment through a contractor and the contractor fails to pay them the minimum bonus under section 26, the company, firm, association or other person referred to in the proviso to section 43 shall, on written information of such failure given by the employees or by any registered trade union or unions of which they are members, and on confirming such failure, pay such minimum bonus to the employees.
Where employees are employed in an establishment through a contractor, the company, firm, association or any other person who is the proprietor of the establishment shall pay to the contractor the amount payable to him or it in respect of the wages of employees in accordance with the provisions of the Code.
Every employee shall make a declaration in Form II nominating a person to receive the amount that may stand to his credit in the event of his death. Where the employee has a family at the time of nomination, the nomination shall be in favour of the spouse, or the spouse together with one or more members of the family, and a nomination in favour of a person who is not a family member shall be invalid. A fresh nomination in favour of the spouse shall be made by the employee on his marriage. Where the nomination is in favour of a minor, the employee may appoint a guardian, and where more than one person is nominated, the share payable to each shall be specified. The employer shall certify the nomination in the Certificate by Employer appended to Form II.
Where any amount payable to an employee under the Code remains unpaid on account of his death or his address being unknown, and the amount has not been paid to the employee’s nominee within three months from the date on which it became payable, the employer shall deposit the amount with the jurisdictional Assistant Labour Commissioner or higher officer.
Where any amount payable to an employee under the Code remains undisbursed due to the employee not making a nomination or for any other reason, and the amount has not been paid to the employee’s nominee within six months from the date on which it became due, the employer shall deposit the entire amount with the Assistant Labour Commissioner or higher officer having jurisdiction before the expiry of fifteen days from the last day of the said period of six months. The deposit shall be made by bank transfer or by demand draft drawn on a scheduled bank.
The employer shall maintain, electronically or otherwise, a register in Form I recording the details of all fines and realisations thereof referred to in section 19(8), and of all deductions and realisations for damage or loss referred to in section 21(3). For the purposes of section 19(8), the authority shall be the Assistant Labour Commissioner or higher authority for the area, and all realisations of fines shall be applied only to such purposes beneficial to the persons employed in the establishment as are approved by that authority. In addition, every employer of an establishment to which the Code applies shall keep the registers under section 50(1) in Form I and Form VI, in electronic or any other form, containing details of persons employed, muster roll, wages and such other particulars as are prescribed. The requirement of section 50(1) does not apply to an employer employing not more than five persons for agricultural or domestic purposes.
Every employer of an establishment to which the Code applies shall keep the register of wages, advance recovery, overtime, fine and deduction for damage and loss in Form I and the employee register in Form VI, in electronic or any other form. The registers shall contain the details of persons employed, muster roll, wages and other particulars specified in the Forms.
Every employer shall, at or before the time of payment of wages, issue a salary slip to the employee under sub-section (3) of section 50 in Form VII, in electronic or any other form.
Every employer shall display a notice on the notice board at a prominent place of the establishment containing the abstract of the Code, category-wise wage rates of employees, wage period, day or date and time of payment of wages, and the name and address of the Inspector-cum-Facilitator having jurisdiction.
Every employer of an establishment to which the Code applies shall file the annual return electronically in the relevant columns of the Form specified for such purpose in the rules made under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, and shall forward a copy of such return electronically to the Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India. Where the annual return is filed under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, no separate annual return is required under any other labour code.
Penalty and Consequences
Section 54(1)(a) of the Code on Wages, 2019 — Payment of less than the amount due to an employee
Any employer who pays to any employee less than the amount due to such employee under the provisions of the Code shall be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.
Section 54(1)(b) of the Code on Wages, 2019 — Repeat offence of underpayment
Any employer who, having been convicted of an offence under clause (a), is again found guilty of a similar offence within five years from the date of commission of the first or subsequent offence shall, on the second and every subsequent commission of the offence, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with fine which may extend to one lakh rupees, or with both.
Section 54(1)(c) of the Code on Wages, 2019 — Contravention of any other provision, rule or order
Any employer who contravenes any other provision of the Code, or any rule made or order made or issued thereunder, shall be punishable with fine which may extend to twenty thousand rupees.
Section 54(1)(d) of the Code on Wages, 2019 — Repeat contravention
Any employer who, having been convicted of an offence under clause (c), is again found guilty of a similar offence within five years from the date of commission of the first or subsequent offence shall, on the second and every subsequent commission of the offence, be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month, or with fine which may extend to forty thousand rupees, or with both.
Section 54(2) of the Code on Wages, 2019 — Non-maintenance or improper maintenance of records
Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), for the offence of non-maintenance or improper maintenance of records in the establishment, the employer shall be punishable with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees.
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