How Should We Restructure Wages After Maharashtra's Latest Minimum Wage and PF Amendments?

Minimum Wages Notification and PF Amendment

Recently, the Government of Maharashtra has released two MW notifications, i.e., Minimum Wages (Basic wages) notification for the period July '19 to December '19 and Minimum Wages DA (Special Allowance) for the period July '19 to December '19 for the shops & establishment category. After considering the Minimum wages notifications (Basic and DA), please advise whether we need to restructure wages as per the PF amendment issued in April '19 (Cases where Gross wages are higher than minimum wages).

Example Scenarios

1) The minimum wages for the Shops & Establishment category for an Unskilled employee is Rs. 12,623 (Basic - Rs. 11,632 + DA - Rs. 390 + HRA - Rs. 601), and his Gross wages till June '19 were Rs. 16,700.00. Kindly let me know how wages will be restructured in this case (PF amendment, HRA, and Attendance Bonus exempted from PF calculation).

2) In cases where Gross Wages are more than Rs. 25,000, do we need to restructure wages for such contractors? With respect to the Maharashtra DA notification for the July '19 to December '19 period, will this be applicable to other categories of Contractor staff as well because the DA mentioned in the Jan '19 to June '19 MW notification and the current DA notification are different.

Thanks & Regards,
Kamlesh Makwana
[Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons]

Minimum Wages Notifications in Maharashtra

Recently, the Government of Maharashtra has released two MW notifications, i.e., Minimum Wages (Basic wages) notification for the period July '19 to December '19 and Minimum Wages DA (Special Allowance) for the period July '19 to December '19 for the shops and establishment category. After considering the Minimum wages notifications (Basic and DA), please advise whether we need to restructure wages as per the PF amendment issued in April '19 (Cases where Gross wages are higher than minimum wages).

Example 1: Unskilled Employees

Minimum wages for the Shops and Establishment category for unskilled employees are Rs. 12,623 (Basic-Rs. 11,632 + DA-Rs. 390 + HRA-Rs. 601), and their Gross wages till June '19 were Rs. 16,700.00. Kindly let me know how wages will be restructured in this case (PF amendment, HRA, and Attendance Bonus exempted from PF calculation).

Example 2: Contractors with High Gross Wages

In cases where Gross Wages are more than Rs. 25,000, do we need to restructure wages for such contractors?

Applicability of DA Notification

With respect to the Maharashtra DA notification for the July '19 to December '19 period, will this be applicable to other categories of contractor staff as well? This is because the DA mentioned in the Jan '19 to June '19 MW notification and the current DA notification are different. Kindly clarify the above points.

Thanks and Regards,
Kamlesh Makwana
M- [Phone Number Removed For Privacy-Reasons]

Special Allowance and Minimum Wage Revision in Maharashtra

We are employees of the credit co-operative society in Pashan, Pune. The Board of Directors of our society has given us a special allowance as per the circular published by the Maharashtra Commissioner of Labour in January and July in Mumbai. This allowance falls under the shop and establishment category.

However, on July 24, 2019, the government revised the minimum wage for members working in the Shop and Establishment sector. Consequently, the special allowance was also revised on August 5, 2019. The circular mentions two amounts. The first amount is Rs. 4182 from July 1, 2019, to July 23, 2019, and the new amount is ₹390 from July 24, 2019, to December 31, 2019.

Following this, we requested our Board of Directors to merge the old special allowance into the basic pay, but they did not agree to this proposal. Could you please provide details showing that the Maharashtra government merged the consolidated ₹4182 special allowance into the basic pay during the revision of the minimum wage for Shop and Establishment category employees?

Please help.

Zonewise Minimum Wages for Maharashtra

Please find attached Excel sheets showing Zonewise Minimum Wages for Maharashtra for the period from 1st January 2020 to 30th June 2020 for all Scheduled Employments. If you prepare your payroll based on the attached workings applicable to your industry (e.g., Engineering, S&E, Automobiles, etc.), your problem will be solved.

Minimum Wages Display and Variable Allowance

Kamlesh: You may display Minimum Wages based on the category of Employee (Skilled, Semi-skilled, Unskilled). The excess amount you pay above the Minimum Wage can be shown as a Variable Allowance. Whenever the Minimum Wage increases, you can reduce the Variable Allowance and maintain the salary at INR 20K, 25K, 30K, etc.

PF Deductions

Regarding PF deductions exceeding Rs.15K, you can limit the contribution to the PF Ceiling amount of Rs.15K, including all allowances except HRA, Overtime, Bonus, etc.

Revised Salaries for Shops and Establishments

Anonymous (Pashan): You can pay salaries as per the revised Basic and Special Allowance applicable to Shops and Establishments effective from 24th July 2019, and your problem will be resolved.

Nautiyal: You can pay the revised salary as per the attached sheet and your Scheduled Employment.

Regards, Suresh