Minimum Wages in Assam (2026): Monthly and Daily Rates for the 98 Scheduled Employments, Contract Workers and Tea Gardens

If you employ people in a Guwahati shop, a Jorhat hotel, a rice mill in Nagaon, a brick kiln in Tinsukia or a tea garden in Dibrugarh, Assam's minimum wage notifications set the floor for their pay. The state revises dearness allowance twice a year — but often months late, which leaves many payrolls running on old figures. This page sets out the rates in force from 1 January 2026, taken from the Labour Welfare Department's own notification of 17 June 2026, plus the separate rates for contract workers, domestic workers and tea gardens, worked ₹ payroll, the arrears you may owe and the mistakes that lead to claims.

Quick answer

From 1 January 2026, the minimum wage in Assam's 98 scheduled employments is ₹10,543.39 a month (₹405.52 a day) for unskilled workers, rising to ₹19,709.98 for highly skilled — basic plus VDA, under notification No. E-238621/703 dated 17 June 2026.

• Semi-skilled ₹12,257.43; skilled and clerical ₹15,322.74

• The same four rates apply to shops, hotels, factories, construction and every other listed employment

• Contract workers (different work): ₹11,850 unskilled; tea gardens ₹280 a day (Brahmaputra Valley)

• No VDA after 1 January 2026 on the department's site as of 16 October 2026

Assam minimum wages from 1 January 2026

Assam fixes one set of rates for all 98 scheduled employments. Its basic wages have been unchanged for years — ₹240 a day for unskilled, ₹280 for semi-skilled, ₹350 for skilled and ₹450 for highly skilled workers, which the notifications express as ₹7,200, ₹8,400, ₹10,500 and ₹13,500 a month — and every increase since then has come through variable dearness allowance (VDA). The notification of 17 June 2026 (No. E-238621/703) added the latest instalment with effect from 1 January 2026.

Unlike states such as Uttarakhand or Karnataka, Assam does not split rates by zone or town size. A shop assistant in Guwahati and one in Silchar have the same minimum. The daily rate in the notification is the monthly total divided by 26, so it already includes pay for the weekly rest day.

Assam minimum wage calculator

Zone / employment

Scheduled employmentsContract workersDomestic workers

Skill level / category

UnskilledSemi-skilledSkilledHighly skilled

Days worked in the month

Overtime hours

Actual wage paid (₹/month, optional)

Months underpaid

A full month is 26 working days; the daily rate is the monthly rate ÷ 26 where the order fixes only a monthly figure.

Monthly minimum (26 days)₹10,543.39

Daily rate₹405.52

Pay for 26 days₹10,543.39

Overtime at 2× (₹101.38/hour)₹0

Minimum gross pay this month₹10,543.39

Overtime is paid at twice the ordinary rate (daily rate ÷ 8 hours). Arrears assume the same shortfall in every month since the rates took effect on 1 January 2026; a claim under the Code on Wages must generally be filed within 3 years. Estimates only — check the order for your employment.

Which employments the rates cover

The notification groups the scheduled employments into three lists, but the rate table at the end applies to all of them. Broadly:

• Trade and services — shops and commercial establishments, eating houses, restaurants and hotels, small cooked-food sellers, private hospitals and pathological laboratories, coaching academies and English-medium and nursing schools, hair-cutting saloons, cinemas and film distribution, petrol pumps, LPG distribution, private transport, canteens and clubs, cleaners and tailoring.
• Manufacturing — bakeries, biscuit making, agarbatti, aluminium, agarwood, asbestos cement, beverages, beedi, brick making and kilns, bought-leaf tea factories, cement-based units, chemicals and pharmaceuticals, engineering including motor garages, flour, rice and oil mills, food processing, jewellery, ice factories and cold storage, jute, plywood, paper, pottery, saw mills, soap, sugar, tanneries and leather, among others.
• Other — agriculture, construction and maintenance of roads and buildings, stone breaking and crushing, forest contractors, fishing, horticulture, handloom, khadi and village industries, printing presses, poultry and dairy farms, small-scale industries, sericulture, municipalities and town committees, and casual or muster-roll workers in several government departments.

Unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled or highly skilled?

The scheduled-employment notification names the four categories but does not define them. The Labour Commissioner's contract-worker notification does, and its definitions are the ones inspectors in Assam use as a guide. Unskilled work involves simple operations needing little or no skill or experience. Semi-skilled work needs some skill picked up through experience on the job and is done under the guidance of a skilled employee; it also includes unskilled supervisory work, such as a head loader who directs a gang.

Skilled work calls for competence gained through experience or training as an apprentice or at a technical or vocational institute, and it includes clerical work — so a billing clerk, cashier or computer operator is skilled, not semi-skilled. Highly skilled work demands a high degree of perfection and full competence from intensive technical or professional training or long practical experience, and the worker takes responsibility for their own judgement: an experienced electrician who signs off installations, or an accountant who prepares the books.

Classify by what the person actually does, not the designation in the appointment letter. A "helper" who has been running a machine unsupervised for years is doing skilled work and is owed the skilled rate. When a worker's duties straddle two categories, pay the higher one; the cost is small next to an arrears claim.

Some employments have their own notifications and rates — private security agencies, sales promotion employees, loading and unloading of urea bags, domestic workers and tea plantations. Check the department's Minimum Wage Notifications page if your business is one of these.

How Assam's VDA works — and why arrears are common

VDA is fixed on the basis of 100% of the rise in the All-India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (2016=100). Each revision compares the average index for the latest period with the average for the period before. For the January 2026 revision, the average for June to December 2025 had risen 3.78 points (2.63%) over December 2024 to May 2025, and the VDA increase follows from that.

Until 2025 the revision dates were 1 June and 1 December. The June 2026 notification says the effective dates are being made uniform across all employments, and fixes 1 January 2026 for this round. If the pattern holds, the next revision would take effect from 1 July 2026, but nothing had been posted on the department's pages when we checked on 16 October 2026.

The bigger problem for employers is delay. The VDA effective from 1 June 2025 — a small rise of ₹10.08 a month for unskilled workers, taking the total to ₹10,354 — was notified only on 13 February 2026. The January 2026 VDA was notified on 17 June 2026. Both apply from their effective dates, not the date of notification, so an employer who waited for the notice before changing payroll owes the difference for the months in between.

Assam minimum wages, 2025–26

1 Jun 2025

VDA +₹10.08 (unskilled); total ₹10,354 — notified 13 Feb 2026

1 Jan 2026

VDA +₹189.36; total ₹10,543.39 — notified 17 Jun 2026

7 Mar 2026

Tea-garden wage raised by ₹30 from 1 April 2026

Jul 2026 onwards

Next VDA expected — not posted as of 16 October 2026

Contract workers: two different rules

The Labour Commissioner, Assam, separately notifies wages for contract workers who are not covered by the scheduled-employment rates and who do not do the same or similar work as the principal employer's own staff. For January to June 2026 the cumulative VDA is 57.92%, based on the All-India CPI-IW (2001 series) average of 424.80 for July–December 2025.

The same notification sets other conditions: piece rates must give at least the daily rate for an eight-hour day; overtime is paid at twice the ordinary rate beyond eight hours a day or 48 a week; a paid weekly rest day is due after six days' continuous work; and contract workers get paid holidays on 26 January, 1 May, 15 August and 2 October, up to seven festival holidays a year, and one day's annual leave for every 20 days worked.

Where a contract worker does the same or similar work as your direct employees, the rule is simpler: they must get the same wages and conditions. In practice, a contractor supplying unskilled helpers to a Guwahati warehouse should be paying at least the contract rate of ₹11,850 — which is above the scheduled-employment rate — unless the helpers do the same work as your own staff, in which case your own pay scale applies. The Code on Wages makes the principal employer answerable if the contractor underpays.

Tea garden wages

Tea plantation workers have their own wage, fixed on the advice of a separate Minimum Wages Advisory Board for tea plantation workers. According to PTI reports of a notification issued on 7 March 2026, the state allowed an interim increase of ₹30 a day from 1 April 2026, taking the minimum to ₹280 a day in the Brahmaputra Valley and ₹258 a day in the Barak Valley, in both estate and small tea gardens. The previous increase, of ₹18, took effect in October 2023.

The government describes this as an interim wage. The Chief Minister said stakeholders would probably have to sit again within six months because of the labour codes, so tea employers should expect another revision. Plantation employers also have obligations beyond cash wages — housing, medical facilities and rations among them — which are outside the scope of this page. We could not find the 7 March notification itself on the department's website; confirm the figure with your Assistant Labour Commissioner before relying on it.

Domestic workers

Assam has a separate minimum wage for domestic workers, revised by its own VDA notification (No. E-262925/14) from 1 January 2026:

So a part-time cook who works two hours a day for 26 days must get at least 2 × 26 × ₹48.66 = ₹2,530.32 a month. Households employing five or fewer domestic workers are exempt from the Code's register and wage-slip duties, but not from the minimum wage.

Monthly minimum-wage check for an Assam employee

Step 1

Is the job in the 98 employments?

Step 2

Pick the category

unskilled to highly skilled

Step 3

Apply the 1 Jan 2026 total

basic + VDA

Step 4

Overtime at 2×

Step 5

ESI / EPF / PT

Step 6

Pay by the 7th with a wage slip

Worked payroll examples in ₹ (from 1 January 2026)

Example 1 — a helper in a Guwahati grocery shop. Unskilled, full month: minimum gross ₹10,543.39.

• ESI (wages below ₹21,000/month): employee 0.75% ≈ ₹79.08; employer 3.25% ≈ ₹342.66
• EPF at 12% of wages (if the establishment is covered): ₹1,265.21 each side
• Net pay before professional tax ≈ ₹9,199.10

Example 2 — a billing clerk in a Dibrugarh pharmacy. Clerical work falls in the skilled/clerical category: ₹15,322.74. ESI ≈ ₹114.92; EPF ₹1,838.73; net before professional tax ≈ ₹13,369.09. Deduct Assam professional tax at the slab that applies to her salary — see our professional tax guide.

Example 3 — overtime for a skilled fitter in a Nagaon engineering workshop. The daily rate is ₹589.34. For an eight-hour day the hourly rate is about ₹73.67, and overtime under the Code on Wages is twice the normal rate of wages: about ₹147.34 an hour. Ten overtime hours in a month add about ₹1,473 to his pay.

Example 4 — arrears for a Jorhat hotel. A hotel that kept paying an unskilled kitchen helper the pre-June-2025 total of ₹10,343.95 until it updated payroll in July 2026 owes ₹10.08 × 7 = ₹70.56 for June to December 2025, plus (₹10.08 + ₹189.36) × 6 = ₹1,196.64 for January to June 2026 — ₹1,267.20 in all. Pay it as a separate "VDA arrears" line on the salary slip, with EPF and ESI on it.

Employer duties under the Code on Wages

The Code on Wages, 2019 has applied since 21 November 2025. Its savings clause keeps existing state notifications alive until the state issues new ones, which is why the June 2026 VDA notification still uses the old schedule of employments. The department's website lists draft Assam Wages Rules, 2021 and draft social security and industrial relations rules of 2026; we did not find final state wage rules there when we checked. The national floor wage under section 9 had not been notified either; the old advisory figure was ₹176 a day (advisory, 2017).

• Pay on time — monthly wages before the end of the 7th day of the next month; full and final settlement within 2 working days.
• Deductions — no more than 50% of wages of wages in total.
• Wage slips and registers — issue a wage slip every period and keep employee, wage and attendance registers.
• Contract labour — check that your contractor pays the notified rate; you are answerable if they don't.

Assam minimum wage checklist

0/7

• Confirm the job is in the 98 scheduled employments or has its own notification
• Classify each worker as unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled/clerical or highly skilled
• Pay at least the 1 January 2026 total — ₹10,543.39 for unskilled
• Work out arrears from June 2025 and January 2026 if payroll was updated late
• Check contract-worker rates with your contractor
• Tea gardens: ₹280 (Brahmaputra) / ₹258 (Barak) a day from 1 April 2026
• Watch labourcommissioner.assam.gov.in for the next VDA

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Common mistakes Assam employers make

Waiting for the notification. VDA applies from its effective date. The last two Assam VDA notices came about eight and five months after the dates they took effect.

Using the contract rate for direct staff, or the other way round. The scheduled-employment table and the Labour Commissioner's contract-worker table are different. Use the contract table only for contractor-supplied workers who don't do the same work as your own employees.

Classifying clerks as semi-skilled. Clerical workers sit with skilled workers in the ₹15,322.74 category.

Counting benefits towards the minimum. Employer EPF and ESI contributions, bonus, overtime and reimbursements are paid on top of the minimum, not as part of it.

Paying part-timers a daily rate. Pay part-time workers pro rata on an hourly basis — the daily rate ÷ 8 — or, for domestic workers, the notified hourly rate.

What happens if you underpay

A worker, a group of workers or a union can claim unpaid minimum wages under the Code on Wages within 3 years, and the authority can award the shortfall plus compensation of up to 10 times the claim. Paying below the minimum is an offence with a fine of up to ₹50,000 for a first offence and up to ₹1 lakh fine and/or 3 months' imprisonment for a repeat. Calculate arrears period by period at the VDA then in force, and keep the working with your wage register.

Official links

• VDA from 01.01.2026 — scheduled employments (No. E-238621/703)Labour Welfare Department, 17 Jun 2026
• VDA for contract workers from 01.01.2026
• VDA for domestic workers from 01.01.2026
• Minimum Wage Notifications pageCheck here for the next VDA
• The Code on Wages, 2019 (India Code)

What to do next

Update every scheduled employee to the 1 January 2026 rates, pay any arrears back to June 2025, check your contractors' rates, and keep an eye on the Labour Commissioner's notifications page for the next VDA. Then issue wage slips showing basic, VDA, arrears, overtime, ESI and EPF with our free salary slip generator, and read our guide to how to make a salary slip. If you also employ people in neighbouring states, compare our West Bengal page and the central minimum wages for central-sphere establishments such as oil and railway contractors. Starting a shop in Guwahati? See our Assam trade licence guide.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice — confirm on the official source or with a professional.

Frequently asked questions

What is the minimum wage in Assam in 2026?

From 1 January 2026, the minimum for the 98 scheduled employments is ₹10,543.39 a month for unskilled workers, ₹12,257.43 for semi-skilled, ₹15,322.74 for skilled and clerical, and ₹19,709.98 for highly skilled workers, including VDA. The Labour Welfare Department fixed these by notification No. E-238621/703 dated 17 June 2026.

What is the daily minimum wage in Assam?

The 17 June 2026 notification gives daily rates including VDA of ₹405.52 for unskilled, ₹471.44 for semi-skilled, ₹589.34 for skilled or clerical and ₹758.08 for highly skilled workers, effective from 1 January 2026. They equal the monthly rate divided by 26.

How often is VDA revised in Assam?

Twice a year, on the basis of 100% of the rise in the All-India CPI for industrial workers (2016=100). Until 2025 the dates were 1 June and 1 December; the June 2026 notification moved all employments to a common date of 1 January 2026. Notifications often come months late — the January 2026 VDA was notified on 17 June 2026 — so arrears are common.

What is the minimum wage for contract labour in Assam?

For contract workers who don't do the same work as the principal employer's own staff, the Labour Commissioner's notification for January–June 2026 sets ₹11,850 a month (₹395 a day) for unskilled, rising to ₹21,810 for highly skilled. Contract workers doing the same work as direct staff must get the same wages.

What is the daily wage of tea garden workers in Assam?

From 1 April 2026 the interim minimum is ₹280 a day in the Brahmaputra Valley and ₹258 a day in the Barak Valley, after a ₹30 increase notified on 7 March 2026, according to PTI reports. It covers estate and small tea gardens. The Chief Minister said the rates would be revisited as the labour codes take effect.

What is the minimum wage for domestic workers in Assam?

From 1 January 2026, a full-time domestic worker working nine hours must get at least ₹10,022.15 a month. Part-time workers get at least ₹42.18 an hour for sweeping, cleaning and washing, and ₹48.66 an hour for cooking, baby care or elder care.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 16 October 2026. Each rate and limit is stored once with its own official source and review date, and official update channels are monitored daily so changes are picked up. How we verify

1. 1.Notification No. E-238621/703 dated 17.06.2026 — VDA payable in scheduled employments w.e.f. 01.01.2026 — Labour Welfare Department, Government of Assam · accessed 9 October 2026
2. 2.Notification No. E-238621/700 dated 13.02.2026 — VDA w.e.f. 01.06.2025 — Labour Welfare Department, Government of Assam · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.VDA for contract workers w.e.f. 01.01.2026 (Memo ECF No. 412503/443-446) — Labour Commissioner, Assam · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.Notification No. E-262925/14 — VDA for domestic workers w.e.f. 01.01.2026 — Labour Welfare Department, Government of Assam · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.Minimum Wage Notifications and Draft State Rules for Labour Code pages — Labour Commissioner, Assam · accessed 9 October 2026
6. 6.Hike in Assam tea garden workers' daily wage by ₹30 from April 1 (PTI, 10 March 2026) — Outlook Business · accessed 9 October 2026
7. 7.The Code on Wages, 2019 (No. 29 of 2019) — India Code, Legislative Department · accessed 9 October 2026
8. 8.Gazette of India S.O. 5109(E) dated 17.09.2026 — wage ceiling of ₹25,000 for Chapter III of the Code on Social Security — Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India · accessed 9 October 2026