Minimum Wages in Jharkhand (2026): Area A, B and C Rates with VDA, and Worked Payroll

If you employ people in Jharkhand — a helper in a Ranchi wholesale shop, a fitter in an Adityapur ancillary unit, a cook in a Deoghar hotel or a mason on a site near Dumka — the state's minimum wage notification sets the least you can pay. Jharkhand has one set of rates for all scheduled employments, split into three areas and four skill levels, and revises the dearness allowance twice a year. This page gives the rates in force from 1 October 2026, taken from the Labour Department's notification of 15 October 2026, with the area list, the VDA method, worked payroll in rupees, and the mistakes that cost employers arrears and penalties.

Quick answer

From 1 October 2026, Jharkhand's minimum wage for an unskilled worker in Area A is ₹523 a day (₹13,586 a month), including an 11.65% VDA, under notification No. 2/MW-2071/2010 (Part-3) L&T-1603 dated 15 October 2026. Area B pays ₹498 and Area C ₹475 a day for unskilled work.

• Four categories: unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled & clerical, highly skilled

• Area A highly skilled: ₹833 a day / ₹21,656 a month

• Basic rates fixed from 11 March 2024; VDA revised from 1 April and 1 October

• October 2026 VDA notified on 15 October 2026; next revision due from 1 April 2027

Jharkhand minimum wage rates from 1 October 2026

The table reproduces the rates in the notification issued by the Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development Department under section 6 of the Code on Wages, 2019 (No. 2/MW-2071/2010 (Part-3), L&T-1603, dated 15 October 2026), which was posted on the Shramadhan portal on 16 October 2026. Each figure is the basic minimum wage fixed from 11 March 2024 plus the variable dearness allowance payable from 1 October 2026.

The notification applies the same rates to all scheduled employments, so a shop, a hotel, a factory and a construction site in the same area pay the same minimum for the same category. Clerical staff — clerks, typists, accountants, data-entry operators — are grouped with skilled workers.

Notice that the monthly figures are not exactly the daily figure × 26. The monthly rate is the monthly basic plus a rounded 11.65%, while the daily rate is the daily basic plus a rounded 11.65%: ₹523 × 26 is ₹13,598, twelve rupees more than the printed monthly figure. Pay monthly-rated staff at least the monthly figure and daily-rated workers at least the daily figure for each day worked.

Jharkhand minimum wages at a glance (from 1 October 2026)

₹523

Unskilled, Area A, per day

incl. VDA

₹13,586

Unskilled, Area A, per month

₹475

Unskilled, Area C, per day

11.65%

VDA on basic

Jan–Jun 2026 index

Jharkhand minimum wage calculator

Zone / employment

Area AArea BArea C

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)₹13,586

Daily rate₹523

Pay for 26 days₹13,586

Overtime at 2× (₹130.75/hour)₹0

Minimum gross pay this month₹13,586

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 October 2026; a claim under the Code on Wages must generally be filed within 3 years. Estimates only — check the order for your employment.

Area A, B and C: where each rate applies

Jharkhand classifies places, not employments, into three areas. The classification was agreed at the Jharkhand Minimum Wages Advisory Board meeting on 11 October 2023 and is printed as Schedule-1 of the notification.

• Area A — Ranchi Municipal Corporation, Chas Municipal Corporation, Dhanbad Municipal Corporation, Deoghar Municipal Corporation, Hazaribagh Municipal Corporation, the Jamshedpur notified area, Mango Municipal Corporation, Jugsalai Nagar Parishad and Adityapur Municipal Corporation.
• Area B — the areas of all other urban local bodies (municipal corporations, nagar parishads and nagar panchayats) in the state's districts, other than those named in Area A. District towns such as Giridih, Medininagar, Dumka, Chaibasa and Gumla fall here.
• Area C — every other part of the state, which covers villages, block headquarters outside a nagar panchayat, and most mining and forest areas.

The area follows where the employee actually works. A Ranchi-based distributor whose delivery staff are stationed at a godown in Ormanjhi (outside the municipal corporation) can pay those staff the Area C rate, while staff at the Ranchi office must get Area A. Industrial areas like Adityapur are in Area A because the municipal corporation is named; for units in industrial areas outside these bodies, check the local body before applying a lower rate.

How Jharkhand's VDA is calculated

Jharkhand revised its basic minimum wages from 11 March 2024 on the Advisory Board's recommendation, taking the All-India Consumer Price Index average for January to June 2023 — 386 points on the 2001=100 series — as the base. Every six months the department works out how far the index has moved above 386 and pays that percentage of the basic wage as VDA.

For the rates from 1 October 2026, the department took the All-India CPI for industrial workers (2016=100) for January to June 2026: 148.6, 148.5, 149.1, 149.9, 150.8 and 151.9. The total is 898.8 and the average 149.8. Multiplying by the link factor 2.88 converts it to 431.42 on the old series, rounded to 431. That is 45 points above 386, an increase of 11.65%. The VDA amounts are then rounded to whole rupees with the Advisory Board's consent — ₹468 × 11.65% is ₹54.52, printed as ₹55.

Six months earlier the same sum gave 10%: the July–December 2025 average of 147.5 converted to 425, 39 points above the base. So the October 2026 rise comes entirely from the higher VDA percentage; the basic rates are unchanged since 11 March 2024.

The notification makes three further points. VDA rises or falls with the index, but if the index falls below the level at which rates were fixed, the minimum wage is not reduced. The VDA based on the July–December average is payable from 1 April, and the one based on January–June from 1 October. And the revised basic rates apply to all establishments.

The timing matters for payroll. The October 2026 notification is dated 15 October 2026, the April 2026 one 25 May 2026, and the October 2025 one (No. 2724) 3 November 2025. Payment is still due from the effective date, so a half-year often starts with some arrears for employers who wait for the order.

How Jharkhand's Area A unskilled rate reached ₹523

11 Oct 2023

Advisory Board agrees area classification and revised basic rates

11 Mar 2024

Revised basic rates in force — Area A unskilled ₹468 a day

1 Oct 2025

VDA notified on 3 Nov 2025 — Area A unskilled ₹502 a day in the main table

1 Apr 2026

10% VDA, notified 25 May 2026 — Area A unskilled ₹515

1 Oct 2026

11.65% VDA, notified 15 Oct 2026 — Area A unskilled ₹523

1 Apr 2027

Next VDA, based on the July–December 2026 index

Daily rates, monthly pay, weekly rest and part-time work

The notification says monthly rates are converted to daily by dividing by 26, and daily rates to monthly by multiplying by 26. It also says the rates already include payment for the weekly day of rest. So a monthly-paid employee who works six days a week and takes Sunday off must get the full monthly figure, and you cannot pay a daily-rated worker for 30 days at a reduced rate to arrive at the same total.

Work on the weekly rest day is paid as overtime at the rate laid down in rule 25 of the Minimum Wages Rules, 1951 as adopted in Jharkhand, and the Code on Wages fixes overtime at twice the normal rate of wages. For an unskilled Area A worker the daily rate of ₹523 gives an hourly rate of about ₹65.38 over eight hours, so an overtime hour is at least ₹130.75.

For part-time work, divide the daily rate by eight hours and pay for the hours worked. If someone works four hours a day as a cleaner in an Area B office, the minimum is ₹498 ÷ 8 × 4 = ₹249 a day.

The notification also requires that men and women doing the same or similar work are paid at the same rate.

The previous half-years and what changed

From 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2026 the rates carried a 10% VDA under notification No. 742 dated 25 May 2026. Area A paid ₹515 unskilled, ₹540 semi-skilled, ₹712 skilled and clerical and ₹821 highly skilled a day (₹13,385, ₹14,043, ₹18,504 and ₹21,336 a month). From 1 October 2026 the rise is ₹8 a day (₹201 a month) for unskilled work in Area A and ₹12 a day (₹320 a month) for highly skilled work. In Area C the unskilled daily rate goes from ₹468 to ₹475.

The October 2025 public notice (under notification No. 2724 dated 3 November 2025) covered 90 scheduled employments and printed two tables. In the main table, Area A rates were ₹502 unskilled, ₹527 semi-skilled, ₹694 skilled and clerical and ₹800 highly skilled a day (₹13,050, ₹13,692, ₹18,042 and ₹20,802 a month). The second table had lower figures — ₹478 a day for unskilled work in Area A.

The 2026 notifications print a single table that applies "in all employments". If your business was still paying from the lower October 2025 table, the gap to today's rate is much larger — ₹45 a day for an unskilled Area A worker — so recheck your scheduled employment against the 2024 revision notifications on the Shramadhan downloads page.

Jharkhand vs neighbours — unskilled minimum per day

Jurisdiction	Unskilled rate	In force from	Structure
Jharkhand — Area A	₹523	1 October 2026	Same for all employments; 3 areas; VDA as % of basic
Bihar (statewide)	₹436	1 April 2026	No zones; VDA in rupees
Odisha (statewide)	₹478	1 October 2026	Revised 1 April and 1 October
West Bengal — Zone A (shops)	₹406	1 July 2026	Varies by employment and zone
Central sphere — construction, Area A	₹840	1 October 2026	Central establishments, mines and their contractors only

Jharkhand — Area A

Unskilled rate

₹523

In force from

1 October 2026

Structure

Same for all employments; 3 areas; VDA as % of basic

Bihar (statewide)

Unskilled rate

₹436

In force from

1 April 2026

Structure

No zones; VDA in rupees

Odisha (statewide)

Unskilled rate

₹478

In force from

1 October 2026

Structure

Revised 1 April and 1 October

West Bengal — Zone A (shops)

Unskilled rate

₹406

In force from

1 July 2026

Structure

Varies by employment and zone

Central sphere — construction, Area A

Unskilled rate

₹840

In force from

1 October 2026

Structure

Central establishments, mines and their contractors only

Worked payroll examples in ₹ (from 1 October 2026)

Example 1 — a helper in a Ranchi shop. Sunil loads and packs goods in Ranchi, so he is unskilled in Area A and paid monthly. His minimum gross is ₹13,586.

• ESI (wages below ₹21,000/month): employee 0.75% ≈ ₹101.90; employer 3.25% ≈ ₹441.55
• EPF at 12% of wages (if covered): ₹1,630.32 each from him and you
• Net pay ≈ ₹13,586 − ₹101.90 − ₹1,630.32 = ₹11,853.78

Example 2 — a data-entry operator in Giridih. Clerical work is in the skilled-and-clerical category, and Giridih is an urban body outside Area A, so Area B applies: ₹17,911.

• ESI: employee ≈ ₹134.33; employer ≈ ₹582.11
• EPF: ₹2,149.32 each
• Net ≈ ₹15,627.35

Example 3 — a daily-rated mason in a village site. A mason is skilled; a site outside any urban body is Area C. For 22 days the minimum is 22 × ₹657 = ₹14,454.

Example 4 — overtime in Adityapur. An unskilled worker in an Adityapur unit works 10 overtime hours in a month. Overtime is at least 10 × ₹130.75 = ₹1,307.50, on top of ₹13,586. Overtime does not count towards meeting the minimum.

Example 5 — October arrears. The October 2026 notification is dated 15 October 2026. A Dhanbad shop that had already worked out October pay for an unskilled helper at April's ₹13,385 owes ₹201 more for October (₹13,586 − ₹13,385), payable with the next wages and shown as arrears on the wage slip. A daily-rated unskilled worker in Area A is owed ₹8 for every day worked from 1 October (₹523 − ₹515).

State rates vs central-sphere rates in Jharkhand

Jharkhand has a large central-sphere workforce: coal and other mines, central public sector undertakings, railways and the contractors who work for them. For these, the "appropriate government" under the Code on Wages is the Central Government, and the central-sphere rates fixed through the Chief Labour Commissioner apply — see our guide to central minimum wages. Those rates are well above the state's.

A private business that is not under central control — a shop, a hotel, a private factory, a transport company — follows the state notification, even if it sells to a central PSU. The test is who controls the establishment, not who the customer is. If you supply contract labour to a mine or a central PSU, you must pay the central rate for that deployment while paying the state rate to staff in your own office.

Employer obligations under the Code on Wages

The Code on Wages, 2019 came into force on 21 November 2025. The Jharkhand notification says it is issued under section 69(2) of the Code and will remain in force until orders are issued under section 7(2). The national floor wage under section 9 had not been notified when we checked; the old advisory floor of ₹176 a day (advisory, 2017) is far below Jharkhand's rates.

• 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 in total.
• Contract labour — the principal employer is answerable if a contractor pays less than the minimum.
• Registers and wage slips — keep wage and attendance records and issue a slip each wage period.
• Professional tax — Jharkhand levies professional tax on salaries; enrolled employers deposit employee deductions within 15 days after each quarter. See our professional tax due dates guide.

Jharkhand minimum wage checklist

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• Place each workplace in Area A, B or C using Schedule-1
• Put clerks, typists and data-entry staff in the skilled-and-clerical category
• Apply the 1 October 2026 rates — monthly for salaried staff, daily for daily-rated
• Pay October 2026 arrears if October wages were worked out at the April rates
• Use central rates for any staff deployed at mines or central PSUs
• Watch Shramadhan for the April 2027 VDA and pay arrears from 1 April
• Collect wage registers and challans from manpower contractors

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Common mistakes Jharkhand employers make

Waiting for the order before paying. The VDA is due from 1 April and 1 October. Because the notice usually appears weeks later, budget for arrears and pay them promptly once it is out.

Placing a unit in Area C because it is "outside the city". Jamshedpur, Adityapur and Mango are all Area A, and every nagar panchayat is Area B. Check the local body, not the distance from the city centre.

Treating clerks as semi-skilled. Jharkhand groups clerical staff with skilled workers. A data-entry operator in Area A must get at least ₹18,782.

Multiplying the daily rate by 30. The notification uses 26 working days, with the rest day already paid. Paying a monthly worker daily rate × 26 when absent days are deducted at monthly ÷ 30 can leave them below the minimum per day worked.

Counting benefits towards the minimum. Employer EPF and ESI contributions, bonus, overtime and reimbursements are 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. 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. Jharkhand's Shramadhan portal records inspections, and inspection reports can be viewed by establishments online.

If you discover an underpayment, calculate it period by period at the rate then in force — October 2025 to March 2026 at the October 2025 rates, April to September 2026 at the April 2026 rates, October 2026 onwards at the current rates — and pay it as a separate line with the calculation kept on file.

Official links

• Notification L&T-1603 dated 15.10.2026 — VDA from 01.10.2026Hindi and English text, area schedule, rates for Areas A, B, C
• Notification No. 742 dated 25.05.2026 — VDA from 01.04.2026 (previous)
• Shramadhan — Downloads (all minimum wage notifications)Check here for the April 2027 VDA
• The Code on Wages, 2019 (India Code)

What to do next

Map each workplace to Area A, B or C, apply the 1 October 2026 rates, settle any October arrears, and check the Shramadhan downloads page from April 2027 for the next VDA notice so you can pay arrears from 1 April. Then issue wage slips showing the rate, days worked, overtime, ESI and EPF with our free salary slip generator. If you also employ people across the border, compare our Bihar and West Bengal pages, or Chhattisgarh next door, and read our Code on Wages guide for the wider rules.

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 Jharkhand in 2026?

From 1 October 2026, an unskilled worker in Area A (Ranchi, Dhanbad, Jamshedpur and the other listed corporations) gets at least ₹523 a day or ₹13,586 a month. In Area B (other urban bodies) it is ₹498 a day, and in Area C (the rest of the state) ₹475 a day. The rates include VDA.

How is VDA calculated in Jharkhand?

Jharkhand pays VDA as a percentage of the basic wage fixed from 11 March 2024. The January–June 2026 All-India CPI average of 149.8 (2016=100) is converted to 431 on the old 2001 series, which is 45 points or 11.65% above the 386 base. So every basic rate gets an 11.65% VDA from 1 October 2026, rounded to whole rupees.

Which areas are in Area A, B and C in Jharkhand?

Area A covers Ranchi, Chas, Dhanbad, Deoghar, Hazaribagh, Mango and Adityapur municipal corporations, the Jamshedpur notified area and Jugsalai nagar parishad. Area B is every other urban local body — municipal corporations, nagar parishads and nagar panchayats — in the remaining districts. Area C is everywhere else.

What is the monthly minimum wage in Jharkhand?

From 1 October 2026: Area A — ₹13,586 unskilled, ₹14,253 semi-skilled, ₹18,782 skilled and clerical, ₹21,656 highly skilled. Area B and C rates are lower. The notification converts monthly to daily by dividing by 26 and daily to monthly by multiplying by 26.

Has Jharkhand announced minimum wages from October 2026?

Yes. Notification No. 2/MW-2071/2010 (Part-3) L&T-1603 dated 15 October 2026 declares an 11.65% VDA payable from 1 October 2026; it was posted on the Shramadhan portal on 16 October 2026. Area A unskilled rises from ₹515 to ₹523 a day. If you paid October wages at the April rates, pay the difference from 1 October as arrears. The next VDA, based on the July–December 2026 index, is due from 1 April 2027.

Do coal mines in Jharkhand follow state minimum wages?

No. Mines, central public sector units and other establishments under the Central Government follow the central-sphere rates fixed by the Chief Labour Commissioner, not the state notification. Contractors working for those establishments also follow central rates. Private shops, factories and businesses in Jharkhand follow the state rates on this page.

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 under section 6 of the Code on Wages, 2019 — VDA w.e.f. 01.10.2026 (No. 2/MW-2071/2010 (Part-3) L&T-1603 dated 15.10.2026) — Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development Department, Government of Jharkhand · accessed 16 October 2026
2. 2.Notification — VDA w.e.f. 01.04.2026 (No. 2/MW-2071/2010 (Part-3) Sr. 742 dated 25.05.2026) — Labour, Employment, Training and Skill Development Department, Government of Jharkhand · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.Aam Suchna — daily and monthly minimum wages with VDA w.e.f. 01.04.2026 — Director, Minimum Wages, Jharkhand (Office of the Labour Commissioner, Ranchi) · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.Aam Suchna — minimum wages with VDA w.e.f. 01.10.2025 (notification No. 2724 dated 03.11.2025) — Director, Minimum Wages, Jharkhand · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.Shramadhan — Downloads (minimum wage and VDA notifications 2015–2026) — Labour Department, Government of Jharkhand · accessed 9 October 2026
6. 6.Shramadhan — Comprehensive Labour Management System (home) — Labour Department, Government of Jharkhand · accessed 9 October 2026
7. 7.The Code on Wages, 2019 (No. 29 of 2019) — India Code, Legislative Department · accessed 9 October 2026