Question : Violation of Minimum Wages Act

(a)whether cases of violation of Minimum Wages Act, 1948 have been
reported/come to the notice of the Government during each of the last three years and the current year;
(b)if so, the details thereof along with the details of violators/defaulters reported in this regard and the reasons therefor;
(c)the number of employers against whom penal action has been invoked under the said Act during the said period, State/ UT-wise;
(d)the number of times minimum wages have been revised during the said period;
(e)the mechanism available with the Government to ensure minimum wages to workers/labourers and its timely revision by the Employers; and
(f)the other steps taken/being taken by the Government for effective implementation of the said Act across the country?

MINISTER OF STATE (IC) FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT
(SHRI SANTOSH KUMAR GANGWAR)

(a) to (f): The Minimum Wages Act, 1948 is implemented by the Centre as well as the States in respect of their respective jurisdiction. In the Central Sphere, the enforcement is secured through the Inspecting Officers of the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) commonly designated as Central Industrial Relations Machinery (CIRM) whereas the compliance in the State sphere is ensured through the State Enforcement Machinery. They conduct regular inspections and in the event of detection of any case of non-payment or under-payment of minimum wages, they advise the employers to make payment of the shortfall of wages. In case of non-compliance, penal provisions against the defaulting employers are invoked.
Contd..2/-
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No centralized data is maintained on the enforcement of the Act in the State Sphere. However, the data of inspections, amount of claims, action taken against defaulting employer under the Minimum Wage Act, 1948 in the Central Sphere for the last three years is at Annexure ‘A’.

The Basic rate of minimum wages for the scheduled employments in the Central sphere was last revised and notified on 19.01.2017. A component of minimum rates of wage, Variable Dearness Allowance (V.D.A.), was last revised on 01.10.2017.


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