HYDERABAD: Being paid the minimum wage that they are entitled to by law has become a pipe dream for many in State. Thousands of employees who belong to the service sector — especially the ones that are employed as security guards (chowkidars), domestic helps, and sales and marketing executives — are being denied minimum wages as per respective industry standards.
Shockingly, as per the figures put out by the labour department, there are 3,445 pending claims of flouting the Minimum Wages Act (1948) as on March 2018. During the year 2018-19, 103 claims regarding the same were filed after the labour department inspected 516 establishments. In other words, every third establishment inspected by officials has not been paying minimum wages to its workers.
Further, in most of the claims, the allegation of employees was that of being paid lower wages as compared to the prevailing Consumer Price Index (CPI) — a measure that examines price change in essential commodities and services that a consumer purchases.
As per guidelines, minimum wages are to calculated as per CPI at 1371 points. However, more often than not, employers do not comply with the same. “Service sector companies are the ones that flout the norms unabatedly. Security guards, sales and marketing people, domestic helps and housekeeping staff are the least-paid ones,” observed E Gangadhar, the joint commissioner for labour (Hyderabad). “It is not uncommon to have so many pending claims regarding minimum wages. In fact, the Minimum Wages Act is one of the most common laws that gets flouted,” he added.
The labour department conducts inspections at establishments twice a week — on Tuesdays and Fridays. Every time an inspection is held, at least 3 to 6 cases are booked against employers for not paying minimum wages, according to sources.
There are as many as 1,73,836 establishments that come under the Minimum Wages Act. More than 15 lakh workers are covered under the legislation. Considering that only very few employees raise claims, the magnitude of the problem could be bigger than it looks, officials observe.