Rights of Inter-State Migrant Workers Under India's Labour Codes

Your entitlements as an inter-state migrant worker, across seven heads

This table covers the seven heads a worker usually asks about. It states only what the supplied labour code text supports. Where the text has no migrant-specific rule, or no rule at all, the cell says so instead of guessing. Items that depend on a Government notification are flagged in the caption.

Sources are the supplied labour code provisions. Cells reading 'not stated in supplied text' are not covered by the supplied text and must be checked against the rules or your state's notification. Rule-set items (daily breaks and spread over, overtime rate, gratuity amount, PF and ESI figures, the grievance form) are fixed by Government notification, not by the code text shown. No figure here is invented; illustrative numbers appear only in the worked-example section and are labelled there.

What your employer must give you

You crossed a state line for work. The law supplied here does not set out a separate, migrant-only list of rights, so the protections below are the common worker rights, and they are yours in full.

Your pay must arrive on a fixed clock, not whenever the employer chooses [COW Section 17]:

Deductions from your pay are allowed only where the Code permits them. If you are made to hand a payment to your employer or their agent, that counts as a deduction from your wages too, so watch for cuts that are dressed up as something else [COW Section 18].

Your working day should not go beyond eight hours of work. The breaks and the spread over inside that day are fixed by a Government notification, not by the text on this page, and the supplied text does not set an overtime rate, so confirm that figure separately [OSH Section 25].

After five years of continuous service you are owed gratuity: on retirement, resignation, reaching superannuation, the end of a fixed-term contract, or a notified event. That five-year condition is waived if you die or are disabled, and on death your gratuity is paid to your nominee, or to your heirs if you named none [SS Section 53]. The gratuity amount itself is set by rules and is not stated in the supplied text.

• Monthly pay: before the seventh day of the next month.
• Weekly pay: on the last working day of the week, before your weekly holiday.
• Fortnightly pay: before the end of the second day after the fortnight.
• Daily pay: at the end of your shift.
• On exit (dismissed, retrenched, resigned, or the place closes): your wages within two working days. The appropriate Government may set a different time limit in some cases.

What to do if you are denied

If your pay is late, cut without a proper reason, or your gratuity is refused, you do not have to accept it. Start by putting your claim in writing to your employer and keeping a dated copy, together with any proof you hold.

If writing does not fix it, you can take an individual grievance to the Grievance Redressal Committee described in the next section. Watch the clock: your right to file is tied to the date the problem arose, and the window is one year [IR Section 4].

• Keep proof: payslips, your appointment or contract letter, bank statements, and attendance or duty records.
• Put your complaint in writing and keep a dated copy of what you sent.
• Act within one year of the date the problem arose.

Where to complain: authority, form and time limit

The complaint route in the supplied law is the Grievance Redressal Committee. It exists in an industrial establishment that employs twenty or more workers, and it is meant for individual grievances like yours [IR Section 4].

Who can file: any aggrieved worker. When: within one year from the date the cause of your dispute arose. How long it takes: the committee may complete its proceedings within thirty days of receiving your application, and it decides by majority.

The committee is made up of equal numbers from the employer's side and the workers' side, with no more than ten members in total, and women workers must be represented in at least the same proportion as they make up of the workforce.

The exact application form and the manner of filing are prescribed by the rules. The supplied text does not print a form number, so ask your establishment or check your state's rules for the prescribed form.

If your workplace is not an industrial establishment with twenty or more workers, this particular committee may not exist there. In that case, check what other route your state provides.

Where to check your state

Many of the exact numbers that matter to you are set by Government notification, not fixed in the code text itself: your daily breaks and spread over, the overtime rate, the gratuity amount, and any PF or ESI thresholds. States notify their own rules and can set their own limits.

Because you work in a state you may have moved into, confirm your position under that state's notified rules. Your state labour department is the place to verify the current figures and the prescribed grievance form before you rely on them.

A worked example (illustrative figures only)

The numbers below are made up to show how the timing works. They are not statutory amounts, and you should not quote them as the law.

• Say your last working day is the 10th of the month. Your final wages are due within two working days, so by roughly the 12th, counting working days. (Illustrative dates.)
• Say you are paid monthly for August. Your August wages are due before the 7th of September. (Illustrative month.)
• Say you complete five years and one month of continuous service and then resign. You cross the five-year line, so gratuity is owed; the amount itself is fixed by rules and is not shown here. (Illustrative tenure.)

Frequently asked questions