A wage claim under section 45 of the Code on Wages 2019 is filed by the worker, their registered union or the Inspector-cum-Facilitator, normally within three years, before an appointed authority. The employer has to prove the dues were paid. The authority can add compensation of up to ten times the claim, and an unpaid order is recovered as arrears of land revenue. For contract labour, the bill can reach the site.
Who can file, and for what
Three parties can file, and one application can cover a whole crew. Section 45(4) names the employee, a registered trade union the employee belongs to, and the Inspector-cum-Facilitator. Section 45(5) allows a single application for any number of employees in an establishment, and rule 49(1) of the Wages (Central) Rules 2026 ties that to claims about the same wage period or the same incident of discrimination.
Section 2(l) of the Code lists the contractor as an employer, so a contract worker's application can name the contractor as the opponent. Form II, the application itself, sets the claim out by head:
| Head in Form II | What the application states |
|---|---|
| Below the minimum wage | The shortfall per day and the period |
| Weekly days of rest | The daily wage not paid and the period |
| Overtime | The period not paid at overtime rates |
| Unpaid wages | The period not paid |
| Deductions | Deductions contrary to the Code, in an annexure |
| Minimum bonus | The accounting year not paid |
Some matters run elsewhere. A dispute over fixing bonus, or over eligibility for it, is treated as an industrial dispute under section 46. Section 57 bars a civil suit for minimum wages, deductions, wage discrimination or bonus where the sum is the subject of a section 45 claim or could have been recovered under the Code.
The three-year limit
The application goes in within three years of the date the claim arises, and the authority can accept it later if sufficient cause is shown. That is much longer than the Acts the Code replaced allowed:
| Law | Time limit | Counted from | Late filing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum Wages Act 1948, s.20(2) | Six months | The date the amount became payable | On sufficient cause |
| Payment of Wages Act 1936, s.15(2) | Twelve months | The date of the deduction, or the date wages were due | On sufficient cause |
| Code on Wages 2019, s.45(6) | Three years | The date the claim arises | On sufficient cause |
Two points stay open. The Code does not say how that date is fixed for a shortfall repeated month after month. And section 69(3) applies section 6 of the General Clauses Act to the repeal, so whether a shortfall from before the Code took effect on 21 November 2025 takes the old limit or the new one is a question for the site's own counsel.
The practical effect is on records. Rule 51(4) of the Central rules keeps registers for five years after the last entry, which outlasts the filing window, but the registers for a contract crew sit with the contractor. A site that changes contractors can face a claim about a period whose records have left with the outgoing one.
Where the claim is heard
It depends on the appropriate government, and under section 2(d) that is the State for any establishment outside the central list. Most private factories and warehouses in Tamil Nadu fall on the State side.
| Central sphere | State sphere | |
|---|---|---|
| Covers | Central Government establishments, railways, mines, oil fields, major ports, air transport, telecommunication, banking and insurance companies, central public sector undertakings, and their contractors (s.2(d)(i)) | Any other establishment (s.2(d)(ii)) |
| Authority for Tamil Nadu | Regional Labour Commissioners (Central) in Chennai Region (S.O. 2452(E), 12 May 2026) | The authority the State appoints under s.45(1) [VERIFY: Tamil Nadu notification under the Code] |
| Appeal goes to | Deputy Chief Labour Commissioners (Central) in Chennai Region (S.O. 2453(E), 12 May 2026) | The appellate authority the State notifies [VERIFY: Tamil Nadu notification under the Code] |
| Procedure | Wages (Central) Rules 2026, r.49 and r.50 | Draft Code on Wages (Tamil Nadu) Rules 2022, r.42 and r.43 |
No final Tamil Nadu rules under the Code had been found when this was written [VERIFY: Tamil Nadu Gazette, whether the 2022 draft has been finalised]. The State's Labour Department lists Regional Deputy Commissioners of Labour as the authorities for Payment of Wages claims, and section 69(2) keeps appointments under the repealed Acts in force so far as they are not contrary to the Code, until replaced. A site facing a State-sphere claim should confirm the office with its regional labour office [VERIFY: whether those appointments are still being used for section 45 claims].
What happens at the hearing, and on appeal
The employer is summoned once to answer with everything it has, and it carries the burden of proving payment. The Central rules set the sequence:
- Filing. Form II goes to the authority, manually or electronically, with the documents the form specifies (r.49(1)).
- Notice. The authority serves the employer electronically or by speed post in Form VIII (r.49(2)). The form says the date is "appointed for the final disposal of the application", so witnesses and documents come on that day.
- Absence. If the employer or its representative does not appear, the authority may decide the application ex parte (r.49(3)). If the applicant does not appear, without reasonable cause shown in advance, it may dismiss the application (r.49(4)).
- Evidence. The authority has a civil court's powers to take evidence, enforce attendance and compel documents (s.45(7)). Section 59 puts the burden of proving that dues were paid on the employer, where the claim is for non-payment, short payment or unauthorised deductions.
- Order. The authority determines the claim and may add compensation of up to ten times it, "having regard to the circumstances" (s.45(2)). It is to try to decide within three months, which the Code frames as an endeavour rather than a deadline.
Tamil Nadu's draft rule 42 prescribes Form II and is silent on notice and default. With the burden where section 59 puts it, the employer's answer is its paper:
- The registers. Employee Register (Form I), Register of Wages (Form IV) and Attendance Register-cum-Muster Roll (Form IX), under rule 51(1).
- Wage slips. Form V, issued on or before payment (r.52).
- Proof of credit. Bank credit records, and the electronic intimation of the amount paid that section 55(2) of the OSH Code 2020 requires the contractor to send the principal employer.
- Exit papers, with care. A signed full-and-final form may show what was paid. Section 60 makes void any agreement by which an employee gives up an amount due under the Code, so far as it would remove or reduce the liability to pay it.
The appeal: ninety days, and a deposit first
Any person aggrieved by the order can appeal within ninety days, and an employer has to deposit before the appeal is admitted. Section 49(1) sets the period and lets the appellate authority accept a late appeal on sufficient cause. That authority is an officer at least one rank above the one who decided the claim (s.49(2)), and it too works to a three-month endeavour (s.49(3)).
Under rule 50(1) of the Central rules the appeal goes in Form III, electronically or by speed post, and "no appeal by an employer shall be admitted unless at the time of preferring the appeal, the appellant has deposited the claim amount with the appellate authority". Form III lists the amount awarded and the compensation awarded separately, and the rule does not say whether compensation is part of the deposit. Tamil Nadu's draft rule 43 has no deposit condition. Counsel should read the order early, because the ninety days run from its date.
What it can cost, and how far it reaches the site
The order can be many times the wages, and the site can end up paying the wages. Ten times is a ceiling, not a tariff. The arithmetic below is an illustration of that ceiling, not a typical outcome.
| Illustration: 20 workers, ₹75 a day short, 26 days a month, 6 months | Amount |
|---|---|
| Claim determined (20 × ₹75 × 26 × 6) | ₹2,34,000 |
| Maximum compensation (10 × the claim) | ₹23,40,000 |
| Maximum order | ₹25,74,000 |
Four provisions decide who ends up paying:
- Recovery. If the employer does not pay, the authority issues a certificate of recovery to the Collector or District Magistrate of the district where the establishment is located, who recovers it as arrears of land revenue (s.45(3)). Dues under an appellate order go the same way (s.49(4)).
- The proprietor. Under section 43, where an employer fails to pay, the proprietor of the establishment in which the employee is employed is responsible.
- The principal employer. Section 55(3) of the OSH Code makes the principal employer liable for a contractor's unpaid or short-paid wages, with recovery from the contractor by deduction or as a debt. Rule 98(8) of the OSH (Central) Rules 2026 gives the site fifteen days to pay and adds recovery from a security deposit it holds.
- The licence security. Section 55(4) lets the government order unpaid wages paid from the contractor's security deposit, after the inquiry in rule 99.
Section 55(3) speaks of wages. Whether a site's exposure extends to compensation ordered under section 45(2), and how far section 43 reaches a principal employer, the Code does not spell out; the site's own counsel decides the specific case.
A claim also sits alongside the penalties, not in place of them. Paying less than is due carries a fine of up to ₹50,000 under section 54(1)(a), and a repeat within five years up to three months' imprisonment or ₹1 lakh. The chance to comply before prosecution in section 54(3) covers other contraventions and record-keeping lapses, not short payment.
How Velura Services helps
When a wage question is raised on one of our crews, we start from the records a claim turns on: the wage register, wage slips, attendance and bank credit proof, which we reconcile each month and share with the site in the evidence pack. If there is a shortfall, we work it out by worker and period and correct it through payroll. We tell the site about any claim notice we receive, and hand records over at a contractor changeover.
Sources
- The Code on Wages, 2019 (Act 29 of 2019), Gazette text hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Sections cited: s.2(d), s.2(l), s.43, s.45, s.46, s.49, s.54, s.57, s.59, s.60, s.69. Opened and read.
- Wages (Central) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 343(E) dated 8 May 2026, mirrored copy of the Gazette. Published as the Code on Wages (Central) Rules; title corrected by G.S.R. 629(E) dated 15 July 2026. Rules cited: r.49, r.50, r.51, r.52; Forms II, III and VIII. Opened and read [VERIFY: against the e-Gazette original].
- S.O. 2452(E) dated 12 May 2026, Ministry of Labour and Employment. Section 45(1) authorities, central sphere. Opened and read.
- S.O. 2453(E) dated 12 May 2026, Ministry of Labour and Employment. Section 49(1) appellate authorities, central sphere. Opened and read.
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act 37 of 2020), Gazette text hosted by DGFASLI. Sections cited: s.55(2) to (4). Opened and read.
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 345(E) dated 8 May 2026, mirrored copy of the Gazette. Rules cited: r.98(8), r.99. Opened and read [VERIFY: against the e-Gazette original].
- Code on Wages (Tamil Nadu) Rules, 2022 (draft), G.O. Ms. No. 36, Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary No. 214, 11 April 2022, copy hosted by PRS India. Rules cited: r.42, r.43, Form II. Opened and read. Draft only.
- Minimum Wages Act, 1948, hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment. Section cited: s.20(2). Opened and read. Repealed by s.69(1) of the Code.
- Payment of Wages Act, 1936, s.15(2). Read at Indian Kanoon; the Ministry and India Code copies did not open [VERIFY: against the India Code text]. Repealed by s.69(1) of the Code.
- Payment of Wages Act page, Tamil Nadu Labour Department. Regional Deputy Commissioners of Labour as authorities. Opened and read.
- Additional FAQs on Labour Codes, as on 16 March 2026, Ministry of Labour and Employment. Date of implementation, 21 November 2025. Opened and read.