House Rent Deducted From Minimum Wages.

My Client open a new Restaurant & Sweet shop in delhi & he pay minimum wages with house for stay.
Can he Deduct house rent from Staff salary. Kindly suggest me.

Friend

As far as question of deduction of the house rent from staff salary belongs, you can deduct the amount of the house rent accommodation provided by the employer subject to the condition of section 2 (d) of the Payment of Wages Act. The section is reproduced as under.

2 (d) deductions for house-accommodation supplied by the employer or by Government or any housing board set up under any law for the time being in force (whether the Government or the board is the employer or not) or any other authority engaged in the business of subsidising house-accommodation which may be specified in this behalf by the State Government by notification in the Official Gazette.

The housing accommodation is the additional amenities provided by the employer in addition to the minimum wages as fixed by the State Government, therefore employer is empowered to deduct for the house rent amount from the salary of the staff.

Regards

R B Rao

Advocate

I have a different perception in view of the exclusion clauses to the definitions of the term " wages " occurring in the Payment of Wages Act,1936 and the Minimum Wages Act,1948. Normally while HRA is explicitly included as a component of wages under the MW Act and impliedly under the PW Act, the value of any house accomodation is included in the exclusion clauses under both the enactments. Therefore, house rent can be deducted only when HRA is paid as an integral component of the minimum wages fixed by the respective Government..