New labour codes define ‘wages’ — How this impacts your basic salary, pension, gratuity and EPF benefits, explained

The Indian government on 21 November consolidated 29 Labour Laws into four comprehensive Labour Codes, namely — the Code on Wages (2019), the Industrial Relations Code (2020), the Code on Social Security (2020) and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020). According to Sajai Singh, Partner at JSA Advocates & Solicitors, “Under the Code, “wages” now include basic pay; dearness allowance; and retaining allowance (if any). He added that since the code now limits the proportion of excluded components, if these exceed 50% of the employee’s total remuneration, they will be added back to the “wages” category. Read more