Inquiry Regarding 2025-2026 Minimum Wage Guidelines for Karnataka Shops and Establishments

Dear Team,

I am interested in the minimum wage guidelines for Karnataka Shops and Establishments for the fiscal year 2025-26.

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

The minimum wage guidelines for Karnataka Shops and Establishments are governed by the Karnataka Shops and Establishments Act. However, for the fiscal year 2025-26, the specific minimum wage rates have not been released yet.

They are usually updated annually, and the rates are determined by factors such as the cost of living, economic conditions, and the nature of work. It's recommended to stay updated with the notifications from the Department of Labour, Karnataka. You may follow these steps to stay updated:

1. Visit the official website of the Department of Labour, Karnataka. http://labour.kar.nic.in/labour/home.htm
2. Check the 'Notifications' or 'Circulars' section regularly for any updates related to minimum wages.
3. Subscribe to their newsletter if available so you can receive updates directly in your email.
4. You can also consider hiring a labor law compliance service. They will ensure that your business is always compliant with the latest laws and regulations.

Please note that not adhering to the minimum wage guidelines can lead to severe penalties including fines and imprisonment. So, it's crucial to stay updated with the latest guidelines and ensure compliance at all times.

Fixing the Minimum Wages for each scheduled employment is an administrative process. But for each financial year there will not be separate fixation but wages fixed for a particular industry will be in force at least for five years. However, there will be periodic revision in one of the component of the minimum wages and it is called variable dearness allowance or VDA. When some states like Tamil Nadu revise the VDA annually some states revise it half yearly or even quarterly. This is only adjustment of dearness allowance based on the consumer price index. The basic wages will remain remain unchanged till it is revised after consulting with the stake holders which will include the representatives of the employers.

In order to know what are the basic rates of wages applicable to employees in the shops and commercial establishments you have to visit the website of the labour department and get the notification. Then you have to find out the VDA applicable after taking the CPI (Consumer Price Index) of the region or cities. There may be different scheduled employment under the broad category of shops and commercial establishments. For example, an IT company may have separate notification, hotels may have another notification and so on.