Confused About Calculating Minimum Wages for Contract Labor? Let's Discuss the Right Approach

Dear HR Professionals and seniors,

If contract laborers have worked 24 days and taken 5 weekly offs and two festival holidays (11.10.2016 and 29.10.2016) in October 2016, do we need to write the maximum working days as 24, 26, 30, or 31 in contract labor registers under the CLRA Act 1970?

Without loss of pay, how many days can we give leave to contract laborers excluding the 5 weekly offs and 2 festival holidays in October 2016 or every month?

Minimum Wages as per AP Rules

- Unskilled = Rs. 7944 per month
- Semi-Skilled = Rs. 9377 per month
- Skilled = Rs. 11509 per month
- Highly Skilled = Rs. 14357 per month

For calculating the daily rate of wages, we are dividing the above minimum wages by 26.

If we write the number of working days as 30 or 31 (including wages for weekly off rest and festival holidays), it will exceed the above minimum wages.

If we write the number of working days as 26 (excluding weekly off rest but including festival holidays), it will come to exactly the minimum wages because we are dividing by 26.

Example Calculation

Category: Unskilled labor
Number of working days (Including weekly offs and holidays) in October 2016 = 31
Per day = 7944 / 26 = 305.5384615
Per month = Per day wages x Number of working days = 305.5384615 x 31 = 9471.692308 (Say: 9472)

But we need to pay only the minimum wages of Rs. 7944, but it is coming out to be Rs. 9472. How can we correct this issue?

Category: Unskilled labor
Number of working days (Excluding weekly offs and including holidays) in October 2016 = 26
Per day = 7944 / 26 = 305.5384615
Per month = Per day wages x Number of working days = 305.5384615 x 26 = 7944

It correctly totals the minimum wages of Rs. 7944.

We need to pay only the minimum wages every month (including leaves with wages, wages for weekly offs rest, and holidays with wages) not more than the above minimum wages.

For your quick reference, we have attached the Contract Labor Andhra Pradesh Rules 1971. Please find the attachment copy.

And please clarify the above matters.

Thanks with Regards,

Thirumurugan

In the first place, your post gives the impression that paying wages higher than the minimum wages fixed under the Act is unnecessary, particularly when converting from a monthly rate to a daily rate and vice versa. I wish to emphasize that statutory standards are minimal, and there is no restriction on adopting better standards if required by the circumstances of employment.

Coming to your specific queries, when the month comprises 31 days and the weekly off days and the national and festival holidays are paid days as per Rule 8 and 9 of the APCL Rules, 1971, I am not able to understand your difficulty in filling up the actual days worked as 24 in the register, simultaneously marking the remaining 7 days as W/O and NfhL as the case may be.

Rule 12(ii) of the APCL Rules specifically states that to arrive at daily wages, monthly wages should be divided by 26, and the monthly wages are inclusive of weekly holiday wages. Such a conversion for calculation purposes would arise either when the employee goes on leave without pay or when you have to pay double wages for working on a national or festival holiday. So, while the first query has no correlation to the second at all, the grant of admissible leave and its extent is at the discretion of the PE or Contractor, subject to the exigencies of work.

Regards

Dear Mr. Umakanthan.M, We want to pay the minimum wage of exactly Rs. 7944 to unskilled labor for the month of October 2016.

Wage Calculation for October 2016

For October 2016, the calculation is as follows:
- 24 working days
- 5 weekly offs (Sunday)
- 2 festival holidays (11.10.2016 and 29.10.2016)

Daily rate of wage calculation: 7944 / 26 = 305.5384615

Number of payable days: 31 days (24 working days, 5 weekly offs (Sunday), 2 festival holidays)

Therefore, the total wages for October 2016 would be:
31 days x 305.5384615 (Daily rate of wages) = 9471.692308 (approximately 9472)

However, we only need to pay the minimum wage of Rs. 7944 for October 2016.

Kindly provide the calculation to adjust the amount to Rs. 7944.

Thanks with regards,
T. Thirumurugan

Dear Thirumurugan,

When the minimum wage rates are fixed for a month as a whole irrespective of the number of days it may contain, and the workmen are entitled to wages for the entire month, including the days of the weekly off and other holidays without allowing for deductions on account of unauthorized absence, how does the calculation for the daily rate arise?

Based on working days:

24 * 305.54 = 7332.96 if no festival leave is allowed (LOP = 2).

26 * 305.54 = 7944 if festival leave is allowed (LOP = 0).

Where the weekly off is considered as your pay days, as already included in the per day computation.

If anyone was absent for 2 days in October 2016, how will you calculate the loss of pay for those absent days? Do you divide the minimum wage, Rs. 7,944, by 26?

= 7,944 / 26 = 305.5384615

Number of payable days = 31 days - 2 absent days = 29 days

Calculation may be: 7,944 (31 days wages) - 611.07 (Loss of pay for 2 absent days (305.5 + 305.5))

Net salary = 7,332.9

or

Do you divide the minimum wage, Rs. 7,944, by 31?

= 7,944 / 31 = 256.2580645

Number of payable days = 31 days - 2 absent days = 29 days

Calculation may be: 7,944 (31 days wages) - 512.5 (Loss of pay for 2 absent days (256.25 + 256.25))

Net salary = 7,431.48

Please tell me, which calculation is correct in the above scenarios?

Form XVII Register Of Wages Rule 78(1)(a)(i)

(i) How will you fill up the Form XVII Register Of Wages Rule 78(1)(a)(i) Column no: 5 & 7 without calculating the daily rate of wages under the CLRA Act, 1970?

Form XIX Wage Slip Rule 78(1)(b)

(ii) How will you fill up the Form XIX Wage Slip Rule 78(1)(b) Sl. no 1 & 3 without calculating the daily rate of wages under the CLRA Act, 1970?

For your quick reference, we have attached Form XVII Register Of Wages Rule 78(1)(a)(i) and Form XIX Wage Slip Rule 78(1)(b). Please find the attachment copy.

Kindly clarify the above matters.

Thanks with Regards,

Thirumurugan

Dear Mr. NAHMED,

Do we need to consider the maximum working days as 26 only (not 30/31)? Should we not include weekly offs with working days? Is it correct that the number of payable days is 26 (not 30/31)?

Weekly Rest According to AP CLRA Act

The AP CLRA Act states:

8. Weekly Rest: Every workman employed by the Contractor shall be allowed a holiday with wages for one whole day each week. However, this rule does not apply to any workman whose total period of employment in the week, including any day spent on authorized leave, is less than six days.

Note: Substituted with effect from 8-4-92 vide Notification No. D 3/64745/80, published on page 112 of R.S. to Part II, A.P. Gazette, dated 8-4-1982.

If we do not show the weekly off rest with working days, the Labour officer might ask why we are not paying wages for weekly offs. If the Labour officer asks, what should we say?

We are considering the number of payable days as the total days in a month. Therefore, we are showing the number of payable days as all days (the total number of days in a month).

Please clarify the above points.

Thanks and Regards,

Thirumurugan

I really appreciate your inquisitiveness, though it reminds me of the proverb "Curiosity killed the cat." Don't get offended, please, because I was also like you at the beginning of my career. In fact, this is a sign of your progress towards honing your intellectual skills. However, we should always bear in mind that even the right answer to a hypothetical or academic question may not be appropriate, as it will not have the right effect on the situation.

When you have the rates of wages statutorily fixed by month with a specific guideline for daily-rate conversion, you have to simply follow it when the occasion arises. In such a situation, mathematical precision has to give way to the logical conclusion based on the principle of the statutory guideline.

In this backdrop, I'll hold your first calculation as correct.

Filling up forms or registers is not a matter of ritualistic restrictions. For example, if the form stipulates that the number of days actually worked has to be marked, and in a particular month the total number of working days is 27, there is no harm in filling the column as 27/27, or in the case of a workman absent for 2 days, as 25/27. It is only a matter of practical convenience based on the situation.

By the way, let me complete the above proverb by adding the less-frequently used rejoinder: "Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back!"

Hope you are satisfied...

The fact that AP declares monthly wages means you need to divide monthly wages by the number of days in the month, whether it is 30, 31, 29, or 28. The payment of wages for WOs depends on the factory or establishment rule that is applicable to you.

For absent days, the principle of "no work, no wages" is applicable.

Just check holidays declared under Factories or Establishment Act & rules applicable to you. Wages have to be paid for such days.

Understanding Holiday and Weekly Closure Rules

Where a specific set of holidays or weekly closures is not displayed under any specific rule, such as the Shops and Establishment Act, Mines Act, or Factory Act, the number of days is taken as 26 per month.

If there is any specific registration under the above acts and the days of weekly off are displayed on the notice board, then the number of days would be the full calendar month, and these displayed "off days" are paid holidays as per the respective act.

Regarding festive leaves, these are calculated as paid holidays and included in the monthly wages.