Article by Sulekha Kaul, Principal Associate, Vaish
Associates Advocates
Phone: +91 11 42492516 Email: [email protected]
Minimum Wages Act, 1948
The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (the Minimum Wages Act) provides for
fixing of minimum rates of wages in certain employments. The
minimum wages are prescribed by States through notifications in the
State's Gazette under the Minimum Wages Rules of the specific
State.
In terms of the provisions of the Minimum Wages Act, an employee
means (i) any person who is employed for hire or reward to do any
work, skilled or unskilled manual or clerical, in a scheduled
employment in respect of which minimum rates of wages have been
fixed; (ii) an outworker, to whom any articles or materials are
given out by another person to be made up, cleaned, washed,
altered, ornamented, finished, repaired, adapted or otherwise
processed for sale for the purposes of the trade or business of
that other person; and (iii) an employee declared to be an
