‘Minimum wage can be segregated’

Bijendra Ahlawat

Tribune News Service

Faridabad, May 1

The Supreme Court has allowed segregation of components of minimum wages, overruling the official notification of not allowing segregation in the form of allowances.

Col S Kapoor (retd), executive director, Faridabad Industries Association (FIA), said the decision of the apex court pronounced on Monday upheld its claim that minimum wages could be segregated.

The FIA had filed a special leave petition last year against the decision of the High Court to turn down its claim. Sanjeev Khemka, FIA president, said the ruling was in the larger interest of the industry.

The state government had stated in its notification issued on October 21, 2015, that minimum wages were not permitted to be segregated into components.

SS Sorot, chairman, human resources and industrial relations panel, FIA, had described the notification as a hurdle in minimum wages implementation.

Industries had claimed financial losses in terms of paying provident fund to employees as basic minimum wage, including 40 per cent house rent allowance.

The HC had rejected the clause of automatic promotion of an unskilled worker to semi-skilled worker after five years of service.