Minimum Wages Act to Code on Wages, 2019: section map
Read this table as: the subject the old Act handled on the left, where that subject now lives in the Code on Wages, 2019 in the middle, and whether it survived intact, changed, or left the wage law on the right.
| Minimum Wages Act, 1948 provision or subject | Where it lives now in the Code on Wages, 2019 | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Duty to pay every worker at least the notified minimum wage (the Act's core promise) | Carried into the Code as the duty to pay not less than the minimum rate of wages (described in the Bill notes; no bracketed section supplied) | Unchanged |
| Government power to fix and revise minimum rates of wages for employments | Retained, but every State minimum rate must now sit at or above a Central Government floor wage and cannot be cut below it [COW Section 9] | Changed |
| What the minimum wage is built from: basic rate, cost of living allowance, cash value of concessions | Same three components restated [COW Section 7] | Unchanged |
| Minimum wages set for time work and piece work, and by the hour, day or month | Continued as a mechanism in the Code (Bill notes; no bracketed section supplied) | Unchanged |
| Procedure for fixing and revising minimum wages (committees, notification, periodic review) | Retained but harmonised into one national procedure (mechanism; no bracketed section supplied) | Changed |
| Advisory boards that advise on wage setting | Continued through a Central Advisory Board whose advice the floor-wage process may take [COW Section 9]; the standalone board provision was not supplied | Changed |
| Employer's duty to actually hand over the wages due | Code now also fixes statutory time limits for paying wages and final dues on exit [COW Section 17] | Changed |
| Coverage limited to notified scheduled employments only | Widened so the wage floor reaches workers generally, not only listed employments (mechanism; no bracketed section supplied) | Changed |
| Hours of a normal working day, weekly rest and overtime linked to minimum-wage work | Not part of the minimum-wage provisions supplied; working-hours and overtime scheduling now sit outside the Code on Wages under the labour-code system | Dropped |
New-code section numbers ([COW Section 7], [COW Section 9], [COW Section 17]) are grounded in the supplied Code on Wages, 2019 statutory text; rows marked mechanism rely on the Bill's notes with no bracketed section supplied. Old-act items are described by subject from the repealed Minimum Wages Act, 1948, without asserting old section numbers.
What changed
Four practical shifts matter most when the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 becomes part of the Code on Wages, 2019.
- National floor wage. Under the old Act, each appropriate Government fixed minimum rates on its own. The Code adds a floor wage set by the Central Government, and a State minimum rate may not fall below it. Where a State rate was already higher, the Code protects it and does not let it be reduced [COW Section 9].
- Statutory payment deadlines. The Code fixes when wages must actually reach the worker: at the end of the shift for daily workers, on the last working day of the week for weekly workers, and before the seventh of the following month for monthly staff. Final dues on removal, dismissal, retrenchment or resignation must be paid within two working days [COW Section 17].
- Wider reach. The old Act protected only workers in notified scheduled employments. The Code extends the wage floor to workers generally (mechanism; no bracketed section supplied).
- One national procedure and a restructured advisory layer. Fixing and revising wages is harmonised, and the floor-wage exercise may draw on a Central Advisory Board [COW Section 9] (the procedure and the standalone board are described as mechanisms).
What stayed the same
The Code keeps the spine of the old law intact, so the everyday obligation on employers does not disappear.
- The promise itself: no worker may be paid below the applicable minimum rate (mechanism; no bracketed section supplied).
- The make-up of the minimum wage is unchanged: a basic rate, a cost of living allowance, and the cash value of any concessions [COW Section 7].
- Wages are still set for time work and piece work, and reckoned by the hour, day or month (mechanism; no bracketed section supplied).
- State freedom to fix rates above the floor survives; the floor is a minimum, not a ceiling [COW Section 9].
What was dropped or newly added
Newly added on top of the old Act: the national floor wage [COW Section 9]; statutory wage-payment timing and the two-working-day exit-dues rule [COW Section 17]; and, folded in from equal-remuneration law, a gender pay-parity duty and a route to decide disputes about same or similar work (mechanisms; no bracketed section supplied).
Dropped or relocated out of the wage law: the scheduling side of the old Act, meaning hours of a normal working day, weekly rest and overtime arrangements, is no longer part of these minimum-wage provisions and now sits elsewhere in the labour-code system. The old fixed Schedule of scheduled employments also recedes as coverage becomes general (both flagged; not in the supplied bracketed text).
Transition traps for employers
Most compliance mistakes in the changeover come from carrying an old habit into the new frame. Watch these five.
- Stop treating the State rate as the last word. Compare the State minimum with the central floor wage and pay whichever is higher [COW Section 9].
- Payment timing is now a legal deadline, not a habit. Align the payroll calendar and full-and-final settlement to the Code's schedule; the two-working-day rule on exit catches slow offboarding [COW Section 17].
- Re-map who is covered. Roles once outside scheduled employments may now be in scope, so audit contractors, support staff and new job families (mechanism; flag).
- Watch the wages definition ripple. The Code's definition of wages feeds bases used across the labour codes for items such as provident fund, gratuity and bonus, so allowance-heavy CTC structures may need rework (flag; the wages definition itself is not in the supplied bracketed text).
- Refresh registers and inspection posture, which move to an Inspector-cum-Facilitator model under the Code (flag; not in the supplied text).
How to confirm
Treat this page as a map, not the territory. Open the Code on Wages, 2019 and its repeal schedule on indiacode.nic.in, confirm that the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 appears in the list of repealed Acts, and read the exact wording of the sections cited here [COW Section 7], [COW Section 9], [COW Section 17]. Cross-check the Central Rules notified on 8 May 2026 and any State rules before you change a payroll setting.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 still in force?
No. It is repealed. Minimum wages are now governed by the Code on Wages, 2019, which came into force on 21 November 2025, with Central Rules notified on 8 May 2026.
What is the new floor wage and how is it different?
It is a national baseline the Central Government fixes. A State minimum rate cannot be set below it, and a State rate that was already higher cannot be reduced to it [COW Section 9]. The old Act had no such central floor.
Did the parts that make up a minimum wage change?
No. The minimum wage still consists of a basic rate, a cost of living allowance and the cash value of any concessions [COW Section 7].
When must wages be paid under the new law?
By statutory deadlines: end of shift for daily workers, last working day of the week for weekly workers, and by the seventh of the next month for monthly staff, with final dues paid within two working days of exit [COW Section 17].
Move off the repealed acts cleanly
ZeniaHR runs payroll, PF, ESI, gratuity and registers on the new labour codes, so you are not maintaining rules from a repealed Act.
Book a demo