How Can We Prove an Employee's Salary Exceeds Minimum Wage Requirements in Court?

I need your kind advice here, as one of the ex-colleagues has filed a complaint against the company at the labor court. He demands the provision of the Minimum Wages register. However, that executive is not covered under minimum wages as he was a highly paid employee. What are the supportive documents we could submit to the court that state/show his salary rate to ensure that he is not covered under the Minimum Wages Act? Kindly help.

Thanks & Regards,

Every employee covered under the Minimum Wages Act is eligible regardless of their salary.

Clarification on Minimum Wages Act Coverage

Your statement that the employee was not covered by the Minimum Wages Act is incorrect. Every person is covered by the act. The act states that everyone should be paid above minimum wages. Therefore, everyone must be paid above minimum wages. When you pay someone above minimum wages (even 100 times the minimum wage), they do not go out of the scope of the law; instead, you become compliant with the requirements of the law.

When the court has asked for the register, it would have asked for the wage register, not the minimum wages register. You need to show the wage register and payment proof to the court to demonstrate how much he was being paid.

Please note that basic pay + DA must be above minimum wages. If you give him more than the minimum wages in total but the basic pay + DA is low, then you would still be violating the law, which is what I suspect happened in this case.

Understanding the Minimum Wages Act

The preamble of the Minimum Wages Act states that it is to provide for fixing minimum rates of wages in certain employments. Therefore, if minimum rates of wages are not established in any employment, the Act does not apply to those working in that specific employment.

Regards,
Varghese Mathew

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Minimum Wages and Employment Coverage

Is there any employment for which minimum wages are not fixed? Also, the governments are putting a generic category to cover all not specified. Of course, the original post gives no details of either location or industry.

No, you will have to submit the wage register. The court will be free to ask for it, and there is no excuse you will have for not showing it. If the employee has a copy of the wage slip, which includes the breakup, the same will be admissible as proof.