Confused About Contractor Wages: Should We Follow State or Central Minimum Wages?

We are a telecom industry registered under the Central CLRA Act. We have a few contractors like security, pantry workers, etc. One of our contractors is paying state minimum wages to deputed employees. Here, I have a doubt: should they follow state minimum wages or central minimum wages? Most people are recommending that the contractor should adhere to central minimum wages. However, from the contractor's perspective, they provide PAN India services and serve all, even the principal employer registered under the State CLRA Act. The contractor also argues that the same type of work is being done for all principal employers, so they cannot provide central minimum wages.

Resolution Needed

Can you suggest how to resolve this? I need strong clarity on this matter.

Thank you.

Since the Central Government is the Appropriate Government for the Telecom Industry, I believe the Central rates should be implemented.

Thank you.

There is a practical problem from the contractor side. They are registered under the S&E Act, and they provide services to both the telecom and other industries. All the employees come under their payroll with the same salary structure. Here, they can't provide different salaries for the same work done by their employees, right? For example, people outsourced here are getting 6500, while the same kind of workers deployed in industries are getting 5000. It's somewhat complicated!

How Can We Resolve This?

How can we resolve this?

Please ignore the fact that the Contractor's establishment is registered under the State Shops & Estt Act and it's facing administrative difficulties due to its uniform wage structure and its status as a Pan-India concern. What is of paramount importance is determining who the Appropriate Government is in relation to the Principal Employer. Since the Principal Employer is a telecom service provider and a Central Government undertaking (I presume), the Appropriate Government is the Central Government. Therefore, the contractor's difficulties become insignificant in comparison. Furthermore, it is not legally permissible to refuse to implement the Central rates of wages simply because they are higher. This is a special case, and special cases must be handled differently. I hope this clarifies the situation.

In my view, the state minimum wages should be implemented in this situation, regardless of the registration matter. All the states declare the Minimum Wages as per the CPI of their state, and it becomes applicable all over the state. As the deployed work leaves in that local area and his expenditures are as per the CPI of that particular state! There may be a different view on this. But, in my view, all the employees should be paid as per the State Minimum Wages where they are deployed.

Regards,

Since the amendment in the definition of wages is not carried out under the Minimum Wages Act by the Central Government, it is imperative that all contractors have to pay the wages declared by the State Government under Scheduled Employment, irrespective of whether the Appropriate Government is the Central Government.