Are We Missing Legal Requirements by Not Having Specific HR Designations in Our Mine?

I have a query. I am working as part of the HR team in a limestone mine where more than 60 people are employed. However, there are no specific designations such as blaster, magazine clerk, heavy earth-moving operator, and timekeeper within the HR team; everyone is working as a team member. If there are any legal non-compliance issues or anything else wrong with this setup, please guide me.

Regards,
Anil Chaturvedi
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy Reasons]

Minimum Wages and Employee Classification

The state government, under the Minimum Wages Act, notifies minimum wages according to the category of employees. For this purpose, it classifies employees as manual, skilled, semi-skilled, technical, or clerical, etc. Sometimes, certain state governments may notify minimum wages based on designations such as clerks, drivers, computer operators, or cleaners.

Therefore, it is better to have designations based on the degree of skill, responsibility, and the value of their functions to ensure that they are paid wages appropriate to their category. If this is not an issue in your company, it is still advisable to classify them as this helps in determining their salary structures and also provides a criterion to decide the quantum of incentives to be paid to them if in the future you contemplate any such scheme.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor