The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 was repealed on 21 November 2025 and its scheme now sits inside the Code on Wages, 2019. The obligation itself is short and absolute: no employer shall pay to any employee wages less than the minimum rate of wages notified by the appropriate Government. Everything else is machinery.
Who is covered, which is wider than people expect
The Code speaks of an employee, defined as any person, other than an apprentice, employed on wages by an establishment to do skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled, manual, operational, supervisory, managerial, administrative, technical or clerical work. So the minimum wage obligation is not confined to workmen or to any particular grade. The Code's employer includes a contractor and the legal representative of a deceased employer, which matters when the work was routed through a manpower agency.
Where the rate comes from, and why we will not print one
- The appropriate Government fixes the minimum rate for time work or for piece work, and may fix it by the hour, by the day or by the month. In fixing it, the Government primarily takes into account the skill of workers required under the categories of unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled, or the geographical area, or both, and may add for arduous conditions such as difficult temperature or humidity, hazardous processes or underground work.
- The Central Government fixes a floor wage, taking into account minimum living standards, and different floor wages may be fixed for different geographical areas. A minimum rate fixed by a State cannot be lower than the floor wage, and where a State's existing rate was already higher, the Code forbids reducing it.
- Fixing and revision follow a set procedure, either through committees that hold enquiries and recommend, or by publishing proposals for consideration after not less than two months. The Government is to review or revise the rates ordinarily at intervals not exceeding five years.
Because the rate is a notified figure that varies by category, by area and by revision date, a number quoted in an article is worth nothing to you. Get the current Karnataka notification for the employment and category that fits your work, and read the category descriptions rather than guessing from the job title.
Minimum wages are compared against wages as the Code defines them, and that definition excludes several allowances while adding back the excess where the excluded heads exceed one half of your total remuneration. It also adds conveyance allowance, house rent allowance, remuneration under an award or settlement and overtime allowance back in for the purpose of payment of wages. So work out the correct comparison figure before you conclude that you are underpaid, and put your working in the application.
Where the complaint goes
- The claims authority. The appropriate Government appoints one or more authorities, not below the rank of a Gazetted Officer, to hear and determine claims arising under the Code. For a private employer in Bengaluru the appropriate Government is the State, so the officer sits in the Karnataka Labour Department and jurisdiction follows the location of the establishment.
- Who may apply. The employee concerned, a registered Trade Union of which the employee is a member, or the Inspector-cum-Facilitator. A single application may be filed on behalf of or in respect of any number of employees in an establishment, which is the efficient course where a whole shift or site is underpaid.
- When. Ordinarily within three years from the date the claim arises, and the authority may entertain a later application if sufficient cause for the delay is shown.
- What it can order. The amount determined, plus compensation which may extend to ten times the amount determined, having regard to the circumstances. The authority is to endeavour to decide within three months and has the powers of a civil court for taking evidence and compelling documents.
- Recovery. If the employer does not pay, the authority issues a certificate of recovery to the Collector or District Magistrate of the district where the establishment is located, who recovers the amount as an arrear of land revenue and remits it for payment to the employee.
- The inspection route in parallel. An Inspector-cum-Facilitator appointed under the Code advises on compliance, inspects establishments, and may search, seize or copy the wage registers and notices relevant to an offence. A written complaint to that officer costs nothing and often produces the register you would otherwise have to fight for.
What to assemble before you file
- The appointment order or offer letter, and any revision letters
- Payslips, bank statements showing credits, and any wage slip signed on paper
- Attendance records, shift rosters, biometric or gate logs
- The Karnataka notification for the employment and category you say applies
- Your own computation of the shortfall, month by month
- A dated written demand to the employer and proof of its delivery
Read the appointment letter first, because a contract that promises more than the notified minimum is enforceable as a contract and is often the better claim; our guide on what an Indian employment agreement should contain covers what those wage clauses have to say to be worth anything. Where the underpayment comes with deductions or unpaid overtime, put every head in one application rather than filing serially, and do not delay past the three year mark on the earliest months, because each month's shortfall arises on its own date. For why the Minimum Wages Act references in older material no longer lead anywhere, see our overview of what the four labour codes changed for employees.