Minimum Wages 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020 REVISED SPECIAL ALLOWANCE and What to do when wages are not Paid for work done? Effect lockdown

• 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020 REVISED SPECIAL ALLOWANCE 
• What to do when wages are not Paid for work done? Effect lockdown

1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020 REVISED SPECIAL ALLOWANCE 

The notice of declaration of special allowance:-

Under the Minimum Wages Act, 1949, a competent authority issues a notice announcing the amount of special allowance every six months. Revised Special Allowance rates for the six months from 1.1.2020 to 30.6.2020 are provided in the following notice.

Minimum wage = Basic pay + Special allowance

The minimum wage is the sum of base salary and special allowance. Establishments employing 50 or more workers have to pay minimum house rent allowance of 5% (minimum wage = basic salary + special allowance) over and above the minimum wages in Maharashtra.

MINIMUM WAGES CALCULATION 

DA/SPECIAL ALLOWANCE JULY 2019 - DEC. 2019

How To calculate Minimum Wages 

Minimum wage = Basic pay + Special allowance 
The minimum wages are calculated based on the following two documents. The names of the industries/employment in which the minimum wage is applied to the workers will also be mentioned in document no.1

Document no. 1
Notice of special allowance
Under the minimum wages Act, 1948, the competent authority releases the notice of declaration of special allowance every six months. the copy of DA blow displays the special allowances for the industries named in column number 2, the adjacent column shows the special allowance amount in rupees per month.

Document no. 2

Maharashtra Government Gazette

In Maharashtra Government Gazette, a notification is issued providing the basic wage rate for each of the industries in column No. 1 above. The basic wage rate is revised issuing a new notification as and when required but supposed to be revised every five years.

  With the help of the above documents, the minimum wage should be calculated as follows.

1. The worker in our example is unskilled in a Drugs and pharmaceutical factory (located in Zone 2).

2. The basic minimum wage rate (Rs. Per month) 6200 for an unskilled worker is shown in the Gazette of Maharashtra Govt. for zone II in the Drugs and pharmaceutical industry. 

3. The notice of declaration of special allowance rate for the six months (from 1/7/2019 to 31/12/2019) in the drugs and pharmaceutical industries (at Annexure 1) shows the special allowance rate in rupees per month Rs.4,144.

4. Minimum wage = Basic pay + Special allowance

                               = 6200 + 4144


                               = 10,344/-

     

   In our example, the minimum wage for a worker is Rs.10,344/-

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• *  विडिओ किमान वेतन २०२०-कृपया येथे क्लिक करा
• *  VIDEO MINIMUM WAGES 2020- Please click here
• विडिओ किमान वेतन २०२० भाग २ -कृपया येथे क्लिक कर 
•  VIDEO MINIMUM WAGES 2020 PART II- Please click here

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   What to do when wages are not Paid for the work done?

Effect lockdown

"The lockdown has turned hundreds of semi-skilled and skilled migrant employees from northeast jobless and left them stranded to face the rough end of city life in Gujarat like many others other states. Chhetri’s employer had not paid her salary since January. Sophia from Imphal, her colleague in the Ahmedabad resort where she worked had the same experience as did many other migrant workers from the northeast as the first batch of trains left Gujarat on Friday." This is the news "Wages not paid, Northeast workers board train from Gujarat"in economic times click here to read the news

•  HOW THE COURT  HELPED WORKERS/EMPLOYEES EARLIER?

• the supreme court/high court has taken suo moto cognizance of cases in rare situations where there are rampant violations of human rights and fundamental rights and club such cases into one. The supreme court in many of its judgments equated payment of minimum wages to Art 21, right to life. 

• Health emergency is one of the rarest situations where the rights of the workers are just crushed due to the circumstances created in an emergency. The industrialists who are stakeholders went to the court and stayed the order of  Ministry of Home Affairs order dated 29 March 2020 to pay to the workers during the lockdown. Now the courts should also come to the rescue of the workers especially the migrant workers who are not paid salaries for the work they have already done and returned back to their native state in health emergency without reporting the breach of their legal right to wages at such time when they need their hard-earned money.

• WHAT CAN THE EMPLOYEES/WORKERS DO NOW?

• The workers/employees can complain in any Indian language or in English online to PM/CM/Labour minister/Commissioner of labour, as it is their right to have minimum wages equated as the right to life for the work they have done in the time of emergency, where they are facing never seen hardships.  

• The employees should complain to the Labour Department of the State or the Centre as to which they belong about nonpayment of wages or delayed payment or less payment as the case may be and claim minimum wages and compensation under various acts under the guidance of the officers of the labour department. 

• The fine for paying less than minimum wages can be 10 times the amount of difference between the minimum rate of wages to be according to the law and the wage actually paid. Employees to whom wages are not paid or less paid or made delayed payment should refer to e.g. Minimum wages Act 1948, Payment of Wages Act 1936 and The Contract Labour Act 1970. Under the Contract Labour Act when a contractor does not pay the wages or salary the principal employer has to pay the salary to the contract labour working in his company/factory/establishment.

• payment of minimum wages is always regarded as the right to life by the supreme court.

• Visit this site click here you will find the following legal provisions -

Under The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 following are the contraventions mentioned check it with reference to your case.

• If the workers are being paid wages after the expiry of the statutory time limit. It is the breach of Rules 21(1)(a)

• If the exact wages for overtime work at double the normal rate of wages are not being paid to the workers. It is a breach of Sec. 25(1)

• If the workers were paid their wages at a rate less than the minimum rate of wages fixed for their respective categories. It is a breach of Sec 12(1)

• please to check your statutory payment under the act in Gujarat visit the site.

Similarly, check for other acts too if you are eligible under the various act below. The same site of Gujarat govt. provides for other acts too, you can check for the breaches in the following act-

• Payment of  Bonus Act, 1965

• The payment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

• The Equal remuneration Act, 1976.

• The Contract Labour (R&A) Act,1970 & Gujarat Rules, 1972.

• The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (RE & CS) Act, 1979 & Gujarat rules, 1981

 You are not supposed to know provisions of the various labour laws in detail. What you should know that not paying you your wages, bonus, gratuity, leave with wages, overtime at the rate double of the normal rate your employer has breached the law. You can get all your legal dues if you just make an application to anyone mentioned above, particularly to the labour department. It will take some time but you will get all your money.

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• Supreme Court directions on 12 June 2020 read the news (Payment of Wages amid COVID-19: "No industry can survive without workers", Supreme Court asks employers, employees to negotiate) click here