Minimum Wage Compliance Checker
Check a salary structure against the minimum wage notified for your state, skill category and scheduled employment — and against the Code on Wages 50% rule, which pulls excess allowances back into wages.
Free · No sign-up · Nothing leaves your browser · Figures reviewed 22 September 2026
Your details
From your state's current notification for this scheduled employment and skill category.
HRA, conveyance, special allowance — everything outside basic and DA.
Below the minimum wage
₹3,000
Short by ₹3,000 a month — ₹115.38 a day.
The comparison
- Basic
- ₹10,000
- Dearness allowance
- ₹2,000
- Wages under the Code
- ₹12,000
- Notified minimum wage
- ₹15,000
- Shortfall
- ₹3,000
Minimum wage is tested against wages as the Code defines them — basic, dearness allowance and retaining allowance. Allowances stacked on top do not close a shortfall.
The 50% rule
- Total remuneration
- ₹30,000
- Half of it
- ₹15,000
- Excluded allowances
- ₹18,000
- Added back
- ₹3,000
- Wages after the add-back
- ₹15,000
Excluded allowances exceed half of total remuneration, so the excess is added back into wages — which raises the PF, gratuity and bonus base, not just this check.
Per day and per hour
- Daily wageOver 26 days
- ₹461.54
- HourlyOn an eight-hour day
- ₹57.69
There is no single minimum wage in India. It is set by state, by scheduled employment and by skill category, revised on a dearness-allowance cycle, and there is now a national floor wage underneath it. Always work from the current notification.
The government has published no computation methodology for the 50% add-back. Any implementation, including this one, is an interpretation — get yours signed off by someone who carries professional liability before you run payroll on it.
The 50% arithmetic does not replace the universality test from the 2019 Supreme Court judgment. An allowance paid universally, uniformly and ordinarily to everyone is part of basic wages even if the 50% sum passes.
This is an estimate for planning, not tax or legal advice. Statutory rates and thresholds are date-effective and change by notification — confirm against the current one before you run payroll or file.
There is no single minimum wage in India, so no honest tool can tell you what yours is. It is set state by state, for each scheduled employment and each skill category, revised on a dearness-allowance cycle, with a national floor wage underneath it. You take the figure from your current notification.
What a tool can do is the part people get wrong afterwards: testing it against the right base. Minimum wage is measured against wages as the Code defines them — basic, dearness allowance and retaining allowance. Allowances stacked on top do not close a shortfall, and if they exceed half of total remuneration, the excess is pulled back into wages anyway.
The 50% rule
Where the allowances excluded from wages exceed half of total remuneration, the excess is added back into wages. On a ₹30,000 package with ₹10,000 basic + DA and ₹20,000 of allowances, half of total is ₹15,000, the excluded allowances exceed it by ₹5,000, and wages become ₹15,000 rather than ₹10,000.
The rule is in force and binding. The government has published no computation methodology for it — the Central Rules do not define the mechanics, the compliance handbook has no worked example, and there is no rounding convention or treatment of variable-pay months. Every implementation in circulation, including this one, is an interpretation. Get yours signed off by someone who carries professional liability before you run payroll on it.
The universality test still applies
The 50% rule is a quantitative backstop. It sits alongside, and does not replace, the qualitative test from the Supreme Court's 2019 judgment: an allowance is part of basic wages if it is universally, uniformly, necessarily and ordinarily paid to all employees.
A component can pass the 50% arithmetic and still be pulled in by universality, and the burden of showing it is genuinely variable, output-linked or discretionary sits with the employer. Labelling something a special allowance does not make it one.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the minimum wage in India?
- There is no single figure. Minimum wages are fixed state by state, for each scheduled employment and skill category, and revised on a dearness-allowance cycle. There is now a national floor wage underneath the state rates. Always work from your state's current notification.
- Is minimum wage compared against gross salary?
- No, against wages as the Code on Wages defines them — basic, dearness allowance and retaining allowance. Allowances on top do not count towards meeting the minimum.
- What is the 50% rule in the Code on Wages?
- Where allowances excluded from the definition of wages exceed half of total remuneration, the excess is added back into wages. It raises the base for provident fund, gratuity, bonus and minimum-wage compliance in one move.
- Does the 50% rule mean everyone's PF goes up?
- No — that is a myth. Because PF is capped at ₹15,000, the add-back only bites where basic + DA was below ₹15,000 while total remuneration was materially higher. Anyone already at or above ₹15,000 basic sees no change.
About this tool
Built by the ViniOffice team. Figures and rules last reviewed 22 September 2026 against the statutory reference this team maintains. Indian statutory rates are date-effective and change by notification — confirm against the current one before running payroll or filing. This is an estimate for planning, not tax or legal advice. Statutory rates and thresholds are date-effective and change by notification — confirm against the current one before you run payroll or file.
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