Question 1

What are the four staff categories?

Accepted Answer

Category A is a person holding a post-graduate degree, an MBA in marketing, finance or human resources development, a company secretary qualification or an equivalent professional degree. Category B is any graduate, or an undergraduate with a diploma or certificate in stenography, computer applications or accountancy, or supervisory staff who must take independent decisions.
Category C is a person above matriculate but not a graduate, or an undergraduate holding a certificate in steno-typing, computer applications, data entry or accountancy, and expressly includes timekeepers, salesmen, assistants and storekeepers. Category D is any Class-IV employee, whether casual, through a contractor or on contract.

Question 2

Do I divide the monthly wage by 26 days or 30?

Accepted Answer

Both, for different purposes. The daily minimum wage is the monthly wage for that category divided by 26. But where a day's wages have to be deducted for an absence, the deduction is calculated by dividing the monthly wage by 30.
Using one divisor for both is a common payroll error and it works against the employee, so it is worth checking how your system is configured. The daily rate already includes the wage for the weekly or substituted rest day.

Question 3

Why is there no separate DA line?

Accepted Answer

Punjab publishes a single basic rate. The notification is explicit that these rates are basic minimum wages which employers are not permitted to segregate into components in the form of allowances.
Inflation is handled by a different mechanism. There is to be 100 per cent neutralisation of any rise or fall in the consumer price index number on a pro rata basis, with the adjustment made as prescribed under the Code on Wages, 2019 and the rules under it, at intervals and in the manner the Punjab Government prescribes.

Question 4

What do trainees get paid?

Accepted Answer

A trainee is paid 75 per cent of the wage for the category being trained for, or the unskilled minimum, whichever is higher. That applies for six months or the training period, whichever is shorter, after which the full category wage is due.
The notification closes the obvious loophole: no employer is permitted to engage an unskilled employee as a trainee or learner. An unskilled worker is paid the unskilled wage from day one.

Question 5

Are contractor and outsourced workers covered, and who is liable?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and the liability sits with you. Where workers are engaged through a contractor or service provider, the occupier or principal employer is personally responsible for ensuring the contractor pays the minimum rates.
The notification names the responsible parties widely: the occupier, manager, owner or principal employer of a factory or establishment under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, of shops and commercial establishments whether or not registered under the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, and of offices under State Government control.

Question 6

Can we deduct for meals and lodging?

Accepted Answer

In some trades, yes. For employees in hotels, restaurants, tea stalls, halwais, ahatas and taverns attached to wine and liquor shops, and for domestic workers in households, the minimum wage is 30 per cent lower where two meals, tea twice and lodging are provided.
Where two meals and tea twice are provided without lodging, the reduction is 10 per cent against the wage of an employee in the same category who receives no meals, tea or lodging.

Question 7

What if a job title is not listed in any category?

Accepted Answer

The notification anticipates this. Where an employee's trade or job is not specifically named under any category in this notification or in earlier ones, that employee is still paid the minimum wage of the category where the role can most accurately be placed.
If there is disagreement about the classification, the decision of the Authority appointed under Section 45 of the Code on Wages, 2019 is final. The notification also confirms there is to be no difference between the wages of men, women, transgender and disabled employees, and that establishments already paying above these figures are unaffected.

Category	Per month	Per day	★ Per hour
Unskilled	13,486.00	518.69	64.83
Semi-Skilled	14,383.00	553.19	69.14
Skilled	15,414.00	592.84	74.10
Highly-Skilled	16,601.00	638.50	79.81
Staff Category-A	19,431.00	747.34	93.41
Staff Category-B	17,510.00	673.46	84.18
Staff Category-C	15,786.00	607.15	75.89
Staff Category-D	14,406.00	554.07	69.25

Minimum Wages in Punjab 2026

Two things to check first

All Employments: Basic Minimum Rates by Worker and Staff Category

Download official notification

Frequently Asked Questions

Every state revises wages on its own calendar. Payroll has to keep up with all of them.