Ministry of Labour and Employment invites comments on fresh draft Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2025 by 12.02.26

The Ministry of Labour and Employment has published a fresh draft of Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2025 (“Draft Rules”) under the recently notified Code on Wages, 2019 (“Code”) in supersession of some of the key Rules-

1. The Payment of Wages (Procedure) Rules, 1937;
2. The Payment of Wages (Mines) Rules, 1956;
3. The Payment of Undisbursed Wages (Mines) Rules, 1989;
4. The Minimum Wages (Central) Rules, 1950;
5. The Payment of Bonus Rules, 1975;
6. The Equal Remuneration Rules, 1976;
7. The Ease of Compliance to Maintain Register under various Labour Laws Rules, 2017;

Objections and suggestions, if any, may be addressed to Shri Nitesh Bhasin, Under Secretary (wagecell@nic.in), Government of India, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi-11000, within 45 days from the date of its publication in the Gazette, i.e., 12^th February 2026.
 

Important provisions proposed to be introduced in the new Draft Rules:

1. It inserts an express definition of family, covering spouse, dependent minor or studying children (including unmarried daughters), infirm dependent children, and dependent parents including father‑in‑law and mother‑in‑law of a woman employee.

2. Throughout the Draft Rules, the term “worker” has been replaced with the term “employee”.

3. It further proposes to replace the earlier fixed limits on rest intervals and spread‑over with a provision that the number of hours constituting a normal working day and the permissible spread‑over must be as per general or special orders issued from time to time.

4. It is now prescribing the manner of displaying notice specifying acts and omissions resulting in levying of fines and deductions. The said display is proposed to be done in physical form or electronically in Hindi, English and local language at conspicuous places in the workplace, so that every concerned employee would be easily able to read the contents of the notice. Further, a copy of the notice should be sent electronically or by registered post to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator having jurisdiction.

5. It has now been laid down that the employer will be required to intimate the proposed fines electronically or in writing to the Deputy Chief Labour Commissioner (Central), who must hear both parties and dispose off the matter within 30 days of receipt of intimation, failing which the imposition of fine is deemed to be approved, whereas, the intimation of deductions under the proviso to section 20(2) must be sent electronically or by registered post within 10 days to Inspector‑cum‑Facilitator, and he must act on the same within 30 days.

6. It is further proposed that every employee will be required to make a declaration in Form‑VII, nominating a person who has the right to receive amounts outstanding to the employee on account of his death.

7. It restructures record‑keeping by requiring every employer to maintain, an Employee Register in Form I, a Register of Wages, Overtime, Advances, Fines and Deductions for Damage and Loss in Form IV, and an Attendance Register‑cum‑Muster Roll in Form IX, either electronically or in physical form, and all such registers preserved for 5 years after the last entry.

8. A new Rule introduces an annual return obligation, under which every employer of an establishment to which the Code applies must file the return electronically in the form prescribed under the rules framed under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, and forward a copy electronically to the Labour Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India.

Source: E-Gazette