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Section 10: Wages of employee who works for less than normal working day

The Code on Wages, 2019 (Act No. 29 of 2019) • Official Statutory Text & Plain English Practice Guide

Statutory Mandate
Chapter II: Minimum Wages
Competent Labour Forum
Act No. 29 of 2019
Section 9 All 67 Sections of Code on Wages, 2019 Section 11

Legal Commentary & Landmark Judgments: Section 10

Section 10 guarantees payment of a full normal working day's minimum wage to an employee who works for less than the number of hours constituting a normal working day, provided such shortfall is caused by the employer's failure to assign work and not by the employee's unwillingness to work.

  • Full Day Minimum Wage Guarantee: Ensures that a worker reporting for duty and willing to work is entitled to receive the full daily minimum wage, protecting labor from involuntary idle hours and arbitrary fractional wage cuts.
  • Negative Proviso for Employee Default: Section 10 proviso clarifies that full daily wages shall not be payable if the failure to work was caused by the employee's own unwillingness or refusal to work, rather than the employer's omission.
  • Burden of Proof on Employer: Places the evidentiary onus on the employer to establish through contemporaneous attendance registers or punch records that the employee voluntarily refused or abandoned work during the shift.
Key Landmark Precedents:
  • Workmen of the Food Corporation of India v. Food Corporation of India (1985) 2 SCC 136: The Supreme Court held that where employees are ready and willing to work and place their services at the disposal of the management, the employer cannot deny full wages on the pretext of operational lull or failure to allocate work.
  • Kalinga Tubes Ltd. v. Their Workmen (1969) AIR 1969 SC 90: The Supreme Court ruled that operational shutdowns or mechanical breakdowns without statutory lay-off declaration cannot disentitle workers from receiving their full daily wage entitlement for days they reported for duty.
Courtroom Practice & Strategic Litigation Guidance:

In industrial inspections or wage recovery claims, employers can defeat Section 10 claims only by producing signed gate passes, electronic biometric departure logs, or documented written refusals demonstrating that the worker voluntarily departed early. If an establishment faces power failure, raw material scarcity, or machine breakdown, wages cannot be docked unless a formal statutory lay-off is declared under the Industrial Relations Code.

Section 9 All 67 Sections of Code on Wages, 2019 Section 11