Minimum Wages in Himachal Pradesh (2026): Daily and Monthly Rates for Shops, Hotels, Factories and Construction

If you run a shop on Shimla's Lower Bazaar, a guesthouse in Manali, a pharma plant in Baddi or a road contract in Mandi, Himachal Pradesh's minimum wage notifications set the least you can pay. The state works differently from most: there is no half-yearly dearness allowance, rates are revised as a whole once a year, employers who give food and lodging have a lower floor, and tribal areas get 25% more. This page sets out the rates from the Labour Department's own notification of 24 June 2025 — still the latest when we checked on 9 October 2026 — with worked ₹ payroll, the draft 2026 state wage rules and the mistakes that lead to claims.

Quick answer

From 1 April 2025, the minimum wage for unskilled workers in all 19 scheduled employments in Himachal Pradesh is ₹425 a day or ₹12,750 a month (notification No. Shram(A)4-1/2024 dated 24 June 2025). Skilled workers in shops, hotels, engineering and construction get ₹14,790 a month.

• Highly skilled: ₹15,390 in shops and hotels; ₹17,640 in engineering and construction

• Lower rates where food, tea and accommodation are provided — ₹11,820 for unskilled shop staff

• 25% more in Scheduled Tribal Areas

• No VDA; no 2026 revision notified as of 9 October 2026

Himachal Pradesh minimum wages in force

Himachal Pradesh fixes minimum wages for 19 scheduled employments. On 4 April 2025 its Minimum Wages Advisory Committee approved an increase for every category in every one of them, and the government notified the new rates on 24 June 2025 with effect from 1 April 2025. The unskilled rate is the same everywhere — ₹425 a day — and rose from ₹400 a day in the 2024 notification. Rates for the other categories differ by employment.

All figures are monthly. The daily rates in the notification are one-thirtieth of these — ₹425, ₹449, ₹493 and ₹513 a day in shops, for example. Engineering units also have a clerical rate: cashiers, clerks, salesmen, typists and storekeepers get at least ₹13,680 (₹456 a day).

The other scheduled employments — agriculture, public motor transport, forestry industries, chemicals, tea plantations, establishments with a manufacturing process, hydro power projects, pharmaceuticals, hospitals and nursing homes, domestic workers, temples and dharamshalas, and toll barriers — have their own schedules in the same notification. Look up yours on the department's Minimum Wages page.

Himachal Pradesh minimum wage calculator

Zone / employment

Shops & commercial establishmentsEngineering industriesConstruction, roads & stone crushing

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)₹12,750

Daily rate₹425

Pay for 26 days₹12,750

Overtime at 2× (₹106.25/hour)₹0

Minimum gross pay this month₹12,750

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 April 2025; a claim under the Code on Wages must generally be filed within 3 years. Estimates only — check the order for your employment.

Rates where food and accommodation are provided

Shops, hotels and domestic work have a second column for employees who get food, tea and combined accommodation from the employer. The floor is lower because part of the pay is in kind.

Hotels use the same figures except for semi-skilled staff with benefits, who get ₹12,360 (₹412 a day). For domestic workers, the with-benefit rates are ₹10,770 for helpers, ayas, cleaners and watchmen, ₹11,190 for security guards and malis, and ₹11,880 for cooks and drivers, against ₹12,750, ₹13,470 and ₹14,790 without benefits.

Use the lower column only when you actually provide all three — food, tea and accommodation — to that employee. A Manali hotel that gives staff meals but no room should pay the full rate. Record the benefit in the appointment letter and on the salary slip, because the Code on Wages counts in-kind pay as wages only up to up to 15% of total wages.

The 25% uplift in tribal areas

Every 2025 schedule ends with the same note: a 25% increase applies over and above the minimum wages in the Scheduled Tribal Areas of Himachal Pradesh. These are the areas notified under the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution — Kinnaur and Lahaul and Spiti districts and the Pangi and Bharmour areas of Chamba district. Confirm with the district labour office if your site is on a boundary.

The uplift applies to the rate for the employment and category. An unskilled hotel worker in Kalpa must get at least ₹425 × 1.25 = ₹531.25 a day, or ₹15,937.50 a month. A skilled mason on a road project in Keylong must get ₹14,790 × 1.25 = ₹18,487.50 a month. Contractors who move crews from Shimla or Kullu into these districts for the summer working season often miss this: the rate follows the place of work, so it changes the day the crew crosses into the tribal area.

Which category is each job in?

The notifications define four skill levels. An unskilled employee does simple duties needing little or no independent judgment or previous experience, though familiarity with the workplace is needed. A semi-skilled worker does routine work of limited scope where the important decisions are made by others. A skilled employee works efficiently with considerable independent judgment and has a thorough knowledge of the trade. A highly skilled worker can also supervise the work of skilled employees.

The shop schedule names jobs in each category. Unskilled covers helpers, shop assistants, peons, sweepers, chowkidars, packers, loaders and porters. Semi-skilled covers head porters, cooks, assistant salesmen, waiters, non-matric clerks, telephone attendants and ITI certificate holders working outside their trade. Skilled covers drivers, carpenters, plumbers, salesmen, cashiers, matric clerks, receptionists, storekeepers, barbers and ITI holders working in their trade. Highly skilled covers graduate clerks, accountants, head cashiers, head cooks, electricians, foremen, supervisors and tailors.

Two features matter in practice. A clerk's category depends on education — non-matric clerks are semi-skilled, matric clerks skilled and graduates highly skilled — so check qualifications on file. And where a job isn't listed, the notifications say the worker must get at least the rate for the similar category with the same skill.

How Himachal revises its rates

Himachal Pradesh does not have a variable dearness allowance that moves twice a year. Instead the government revises the full rate, usually with effect from 1 April, after its advisory committee meets — but the notification can come months later. The 2024 revision (₹400 a day) was notified in September 2024 and the 2025 revision (₹425) in June 2025, both back-dated to 1 April. When we checked on 9 October 2026, the department's Minimum Wages page, last updated on 31 July 2026, listed no 2026 revision.

If a 2026 notification appears with effect from 1 April 2026, you will owe arrears for every month since then. Keep payroll ready to recompute, and put a small provision aside if your staff are paid at or near the floor.

For comparison, neighbouring Jammu and Kashmir has had flat daily rates since October 2022, with no VDA; see minimum wages in Jammu and Kashmir.

Himachal Pradesh minimum wages, 2024–26

1 Apr 2024

Unskilled ₹400 a day (notified September 2024)

4 Apr 2025

Advisory committee approves increase for all 19 employments

1 Apr 2025

Unskilled ₹425 a day (notified 24 June 2025)

29 Apr 2026

Draft Code on Wages (HP) Rules, 2026 published for objections

9 Oct 2026

No 2026 revision on the department's page

The draft Code on Wages (Himachal Pradesh) Rules, 2026

The Code on Wages, 2019 has applied since 21 November 2025, and existing notifications under the Minimum Wages Act continue until replaced. On 29 April 2026 the Department of Labour, Employment and Overseas Placement published draft Code on Wages (Himachal Pradesh) Rules, 2026 (No. LEP-A003/13/2025), inviting objections within 30 days. They take effect only after final publication in the Rajpatra, which we had not seen by 9 October 2026.

Three proposals would change how rates look. First, minimum wages would be fixed per day, with the hourly rate at one-eighth and the monthly rate at 26 times the daily rate — not 30 times, as now. Second, the state would set rates for four geographical categories — municipal corporation, municipal council, nagar panchayat and rural areas — instead of one statewide rate. Third, a technical committee led by the Labour Commissioner would re-sort occupations into the four skill categories. The draft also adopts Form V as the wage slip, issued on or before payment.

None of this changes what you pay today. But when final rules and a new rate notification arrive, expect different figures for Shimla and for rural Mandi, and a monthly figure that is 26 times a higher daily rate. The national floor wage under section 9 of the Code had not been notified either; the old advisory figure was ₹176 a day (advisory, 2017).

Worked payroll examples in ₹

Example 1 — a helper in a Shimla grocery shop, no benefits. Unskilled: ₹12,750.

• ESI (wages below ₹21,000/month): employee 0.75% ≈ ₹95.63; employer 3.25% ≈ ₹414.38
• EPF at 12% of wages (if covered): ₹1,530 each side
• Net pay ≈ ₹11,124.37

Example 2 — a fitter in a Baddi engineering unit. Fitter Grade-II is skilled: ₹14,790. ESI ≈ ₹110.93; EPF ₹1,774.80; net ≈ ₹12,904.27. Overtime under the Code is twice the normal rate of wages: ₹493 ÷ 8 × 2 ≈ ₹123.25 an hour, so 12 overtime hours add ₹1,479.

Example 3 — a chapati maker in a Manali hotel kitchen who lives in and eats on site. A chapatiman is semi-skilled in the hotel schedule; with food, tea and accommodation provided, the floor is ₹12,360. If she lived out and got only meals, the full ₹13,470 would apply.

Example 4 — an unskilled worker on a hydro project road in Kinnaur. With the 25% uplift: ₹12,750 × 1.25 = ₹15,937.50 a month. ESI ≈ ₹119.53; EPF ₹1,912.50.

Monthly minimum-wage check for a Himachal employee

Step 1

Find the employment's 2025 schedule

Step 2

Pick the category

unskilled to highly skilled

Step 3

Benefits column?

only if food, tea and lodging

Step 4

Tribal area?

add 25%

Step 5

Overtime at 2×

Step 6

Pay by the 7th with a wage slip

Daily-rated, part-time and contract workers

Much of Himachal's workforce is paid by the day — orchard hands in Shimla and Kullu during the apple season, porters and helpers on building sites, kitchen staff hired for the tourist months. The daily rate in the notification is the floor for each day worked, whether the worker is hired for a week or a whole season. Keep a daily attendance record for casual workers, because the wage register has to show days worked against the amount paid.

For part-time work, divide the daily rate by eight to get an hourly floor. An unskilled worker who helps in a Dharamshala café for four hours a day must get at least ₹425 ÷ 8 × 4 = ₹212.50 a day. Paying a flat ₹150 for "half a day" is below the minimum.

Contract workers are covered by the same schedules as direct employees. A security agency that supplies guards to a Solan hotel must pay its guards at least the security-services rate, and the hotel, as principal employer, is answerable under the Code if the agency doesn't. Ask contractors for monthly wage registers and proof of payment by bank transfer, and check that ESI and EPF are being deposited for the workers on your premises.

If a 2026 revision is notified

Because Himachal's revisions have been back-dated to 1 April in each of the last two years, it makes sense to plan for one now. If a notification arrives fixing, say, a new unskilled rate from 1 April 2026, the shortfall for each month from April onwards becomes payable. Work it out employee by employee: the new monthly rate for the category, minus what you actually paid, times the months worked. Employees who have since left are owed the difference too.

Pay the total as a separate "minimum wage arrears" line with the next wages. Arrears of basic wages are wages for EPF and ESI, so deduct and deposit both on the arrears in the month you pay them. Keep a sheet showing the calculation for each person; it is the first document a labour inspector or claims authority will ask for, and it protects you if a former employee later disputes the amount.

Employer duties under the Code on Wages

• 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.
• Equal pay — the notifications forbid different rates for men and women, or for adults and non-adults, doing the same or similar work.
• Piece rates — must give at least the time rate for the category.
• Records — keep employee, wage and attendance registers and issue a wage slip every period.

Himachal Pradesh minimum wage checklist

0/6

• Find your employment among the 19 schedules in the 24 June 2025 notification
• Classify each worker; check clerks' education (non-matric, matric, graduate)
• Use the benefits column only where food, tea and accommodation are all provided
• Add 25% in Kinnaur, Lahaul-Spiti, Pangi and Bharmour
• Pay overtime at twice the normal rate
• Watch the department's page and the Rajpatra for a 2026 revision and final wage rules

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Common mistakes Himachal employers make

Applying the benefits rate without all three benefits. The lower column needs food, tea and combined accommodation. Meals alone don't qualify.

Forgetting the tribal uplift. Seasonal crews in Lahaul and Spiti or Kinnaur are owed 25% more for every day worked there.

Treating all clerks alike. A graduate clerk in a shop is highly skilled at ₹15,390, not semi-skilled.

Using last year's rate. Payroll still on ₹400 a day has been underpaying since April 2025 — ₹750 a month for every unskilled worker.

Counting benefits towards the minimum. Employer EPF and ESI, bonus and overtime come on top of the minimum.

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. If a back-dated revision is notified, pay the arrears with the next wages and keep the calculation with your wage register.

Official links

• Minimum wages notification, 24.06.2025 (w.e.f. 01.04.2025)All 19 employments
• Labour Department — Minimum Wages pageCheck here for a 2026 revision
• Draft Code on Wages (HP) Rules, 2026
• Rajpatra (e-Gazette) — search notifications
• The Code on Wages, 2019 (India Code)

What to do next

Check every employee against the 2025 schedule for your employment, apply the benefits column and tribal uplift only where they truly apply, and keep an eye on the department's page for a 2026 revision and the final state wage rules. Then issue wage slips with our free salary slip generator and read how to make a salary slip. If you also employ people in neighbouring states, compare our Punjab, Haryana and Uttarakhand pages.

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 Himachal Pradesh in 2026?

The latest rates are those notified on 24 June 2025 with effect from 1 April 2025: ₹425 a day or ₹12,750 a month for unskilled workers in all 19 scheduled employments. Skilled rates are mostly ₹14,790 a month. No revision for 2026 was on the Labour Department's minimum wages page when we checked on 9 October 2026.

Is there a different minimum wage in tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh?

Yes. Every 2025 notification says a 25% increase applies over and above the minimum wages in the Scheduled Tribal Areas of the state. An unskilled worker there must get at least ₹531.25 a day or ₹15,937.50 a month.

What is the minimum wage for shop employees in Himachal Pradesh?

Where no benefits are given: unskilled ₹12,750, semi-skilled ₹13,470, skilled ₹14,790 and highly skilled ₹15,390 a month. Where the employer provides food, tea and accommodation, lower rates apply — ₹11,820 for unskilled staff.

Does Himachal Pradesh pay VDA on minimum wages?

No. Unlike many states, Himachal Pradesh does not add a variable dearness allowance every six months. It revises the whole rate, usually once a year with effect from 1 April, after a meeting of its Minimum Wages Advisory Committee. The 2024 rate was ₹400 a day and the 2025 rate is ₹425.

How is the monthly minimum wage worked out in Himachal Pradesh?

The 2025 notifications give both figures, and the monthly rate is the daily rate × 30 — ₹425 × 30 = ₹12,750. The draft Code on Wages (Himachal Pradesh) Rules, 2026 propose fixing wages per day and multiplying by 26 for a month, but those rules were still a draft when we checked.

What is the minimum wage in Baddi industrial units?

Factories in Baddi, Barotiwala, Nalagarh and Parwanoo follow the employment their work falls under — engineering industries, pharmaceuticals, chemicals or establishments with a manufacturing process. In engineering units the 2025 rates are ₹12,750 unskilled, ₹13,170 semi-skilled, ₹14,790 skilled, ₹17,640 highly skilled and ₹13,680 for clerks.

Sources & verification

Figures on this page were checked against the sources below when it was last reviewed on 9 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. Shram(A)4-1/2024 dated 24.06.2025 — revision of minimum wages in 19 scheduled employments w.e.f. 01.04.2025 (authoritative English text) — Department of Labour, Employment & Overseas Placement, Government of Himachal Pradesh · accessed 9 October 2026
2. 2.Department of Labour and Employment — Minimum Wages page (last updated 31 July 2026) — Department of Labour and Employment, Himachal Pradesh · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.Notification No. LEP-A003/13/2025 dated 29.04.2026 — draft Code on Wages (Himachal Pradesh) Rules, 2026 — Rajpatra (e-Gazette), Government of Himachal Pradesh · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.The Code on Wages, 2019 (No. 29 of 2019) — India Code, Legislative Department · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.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
6. 6.Latest Minimum Wages for Shops and Establishments in Himachal Pradesh (April 2025) — DCPSOL · accessed 9 October 2026
7. 7.Government announces implementation of the four Labour Codes (21 Nov 2025) — PIB — Ministry of Labour & Employment · accessed 9 October 2026