Minimum Wages in Kerala (2026): Shop, Hotel and Security Rates, District DA and How to Find Any Employment

Kerala is the hardest state in India to give a single minimum wage figure for. The state has fixed separate minimum wages for around 90 employments, each with its own grades and pay scales, and the dearness allowance changes with a price index for each district. A shop assistant in Kochi, one in Thiruvananthapuram and one in a Wayanad village are all on the same basic wage, yet their legal minimum differs by more than ₹1,000 a month. This guide works through the employments most small businesses fall into — shops and commercial establishments, hotels and restaurants, and private security — using the Labour Commissionerate's notifications and the latest district price indices, then shows how to work out the rate for any other employment.

Quick answer

In Kerala's shops and commercial establishments, the basic monthly wage runs from ₹8,280 (Grade E — sweepers, office attenders) to ₹9,330 (managers) under G.O.(P) No.196/2016/LBR dated 21 December 2016. Add DA of ₹26 for every point the district price index is above 240, plus ₹200 a month in municipal and corporation areas. On the August 2026 index, a shop assistant in Kochi must get at least ₹14,230 a month.

• Each of around 90 employments has its own notification — use the latest one marked Final

• DA uses your district's index from the Department of Economics and Statistics, published monthly

• Daily rate = monthly wage ÷ 26; service weightage adds 5–15% of basic after 5 years

• A draft revision for shops (3 February 2026) is pending — not yet in force

How Kerala sets minimum wages

Under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 — now replaced by the Code on Wages, 2019, which keeps existing notifications in force — Kerala added employment after employment to its schedule and fixed rates for each through a separate Government Order. The Labour Commissionerate's minimum wage page lists them alphabetically, from agricultural operations and aluminium products to tile factories and toddy shops, with each notification's year and whether it is preliminary or final. In 2025 and 2026 the government added gymnasiums (by G.O.(P) No.108/2025/LBR dated 17 December 2025) and the automobile industry to the schedule, and published proposals for paint manufacturing, private hospitals, private security and shops.

Every notification has three moving parts:

1. Basic wage for each job, often in grades, sometimes as a pay scale with increments.
2. Dearness allowance (DA) — a rupee amount for every point the Consumer Price Index for the employee's district headquarters is above a base figure.
3. Extras that vary by employment — urban special wage, service weightage, uniform, washing or night allowances, food.

Unlike most states, Kerala does not issue a half-yearly VDA order. The Department of Economics and Statistics (DES) publishes district price indices every month and certifies them for the Minimum Wages Act. Employers apply the DA formula in their notification to the latest index for their district. If you are unsure which month's index your district labour officer expects you to use, ask; the safe course is to use the most recent published month.

Kerala shops & establishments at a glance

₹8,700

Shop assistant (Grade C) basic

per month, statewide

₹5,330

DA in Ernakulam

August 2026 index

₹200 a month

Urban special wage

municipality / corporation

₹14,230

Shop assistant total, Kochi

Which notification applies depends on what your business does, not on its size or registration. A textile showroom, a mobile phone shop, a pharmacy's sales counter, a lodge and a chit fund office are all in the shops notification; a garment unit, a printing press or a private hospital has its own. Where a business does two things — a bakery that also runs a café, say — each group of workers follows the notification for the work they actually do, and the safer choice in doubtful cases is the higher rate. Contract workers placed with you by an agency are covered by the notification for the employment they work in.

Shops and commercial establishments: basic wages by grade

The current notification is G.O.(P) No.196/2016/LBR dated 21 December 2016, published as S.R.O. No.785/2016 in the Kerala Gazette Extraordinary on 24 December 2016, when the rates took effect. It covers shops, commercial establishments, lodges, chitties and kuries, hotels, canteens and restaurants, plus (in a second schedule) courier services, DTP centres, internet cafés, catering services and houseboats. Most of its categories share six grades:

The notification also says that employees not covered by Categories B to F of Schedule I are paid the Category A (general shops) rates, so a shop job that isn't listed elsewhere falls into the grade structure above rather than outside it.

On top of the basic wage and DA, the notification adds:

• Urban special wage of ₹200 a month for employees working in municipality or corporation areas.
• Service weightage — 5% of basic after 5 years with the same employer, 10% after 10 years and 15% after 15 years.
• Daily and piece rates — daily-rated workers get ₹1 a day of DA per point above 240; piece-rated workers get the daily DA for eight hours, pro-rated for shorter days.

Kerala minimum wage calculator

Zone / employment

Shops — Ernakulam municipal areaShops Grade C — municipal area by districtHotels & security — Ernakulam

Skill level / category

Grade SpecialGrade AGrade BGrade C (shop assistant)Grade DGrade E

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)₹14,860

Daily rate (monthly ÷ 26)₹571.54

Pay for 26 days₹14,860

Overtime at 2× (₹142.89/hour)₹0

Minimum gross pay this month₹14,860

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

DA by district — the August 2026 index

The shops notification ties DA to the Consumer Price Index for the district headquarters on the 1998-99=100 series, at ₹26 a month per point for every point above 240. DES now compiles indices on a 2011-12=100 base, but under G.O.(MS) No.34/2015/LBR it also publishes "estimated" indices on the old 1998-99 base, using a linking factor for each centre, precisely so that older wage notifications can still be applied. The latest release when we checked, dated 22 September 2026, covers August 2026.

The table applies the shops formula to each district's August 2026 index and shows the resulting total for a Grade C shop assistant working in a municipal or corporation area (basic ₹8,700 + DA + ₹200 a month). In a panchayat area, deduct the ₹200.

DES also publishes separate indices for Punalur, Mundakayam and Chalakudy, which some older notifications name as centres. Indices move by a few points most months — Ernakulam rose from 441 in July to 445 in August — so the DA changes by roughly ₹100 a month. For any other grade, swap in that grade's basic wage: in Ernakulam's municipal area, a Grade B salesman or accountant must get ₹14,440, a Grade D peon or watchman ₹14,020 and a Grade E sweeper ₹13,810.

Use the centre for the district where the employee actually works, not where your head office is. A firm with branches in Kochi, Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram therefore has three different DA figures every month for the same grade. Older notifications, such as the 2017 security one, refer to the Munnar and Meppadi centres for Idukki and Wayanad "until separate indices are published"; DES now publishes Idukki and Wayanad indices directly, but confirm with your district labour office which centre it applies for those two districts.

Hotels, canteens and restaurants

Hotels, canteens and restaurants sit in Category D of the same 2016 notification, with lower basic wages but the same DA and urban special wage:

• Special grade (manager): ₹8,230
• Grade A (accountant, cashier, head cook, steward, tea maker, sweet maker): ₹8,040
• Grade B (cook, supplier, waiter, pantryman, store keeper, driver, clerk): ₹7,850
• Grade C (room boy, kitchen mate, mason, plumber, assistant store keeper, head watchman): ₹7,660
• Grade D (gardener, watchman, general worker, cleaner, helper, sweeper): ₹7,470

The notification also says that employees in this category must be provided with food in addition to the minimum wage. In Kochi, a hotel helper's cash minimum on the August 2026 index is ₹13,000 plus meals. Star hotels have their own notification (2022), so check that list if you run a classified hotel.

Private security services

Security agencies follow G.O.(P) No.38/2017/LBR, published on 12 May 2017. Instead of flat grades it gives pay scales with increments: an unarmed security guard starts at ₹10,170 (scale 10170-200-11170-250-12420), an armed guard at ₹11,570, a head guard at ₹12,230 and a supervisor at ₹12,580. DA is ₹26 for every point the district index is above 250 — a higher base than shops — so in Ernakulam on the August 2026 index an unarmed guard's minimum is ₹15,240 a month.

The notification adds a uniform allowance of 10% of basic pay a year for supervisors, head guards and guards, a washing allowance of ₹100 a month for the same staff, ₹20 for each night duty and ₹100 a month for guards posted at mobile towers. Service weightage is an extra increment for every five completed years. A draft revision published in February 2025 proposes an unarmed guard's scale starting at ₹17,880 with DA of ₹60 for every point above 165 on the 2011-12 series; it was still listed as preliminary when we last checked on 16 October 2026.

How to find the minimum wage for any other employment

Because each employment has its own notification, the reliable method is to work it out from the two official sources:

Working out a Kerala minimum wage from the official sources

1. 1

   Find your employment

   Open the Labour Commissionerate's minimum wage notifications page and find your employment in the alphabetical list — for example Printing Press, Garment Making, Medical Shops, Private Hospital or Electronics Industry.

   Minimum wage notifications
2. 2

   Use the latest final notification

   Each employment shows several years. Use the newest one marked Final (or with no label); a Preliminary one is only a proposal.

   Tip: If an employment is newly added to the schedule with no rates fixed yet — like gymnasiums in 2025 — the Code on Wages still requires a fair minimum; use the closest comparable schedule and take advice.

3. 3

   Note the formula

   From the notification, note the basic wage for the job, the DA base index, the series (1998-99=100 or 2011-12=100), the rupee rate per point, and any urban wage, weightage or allowances.

4. 4

   Get the district index

   On the Department of Economics and Statistics portal, open the latest month and read your district centre's index in the matching series.

   DES Consumer Price Index
5. 5

   Calculate and record

   DA = (index − base) × rate per point. Add basic, DA and extras; divide by 26 for the daily rate. Keep the working with your wage register.

The 2026 draft revision for shops

On 3 February 2026 the Labour and Skills Department published a preliminary notification proposing to replace the 2016 shops rates. The proposal, gazetted on 5 February with two months for objections, would change the structure in three ways:

• Wages by establishment size — separate basic wages for establishments with 1–3, 4–20, 21–50 and more than 50 workers. Grade E would range from ₹15,039 in the smallest shops to ₹21,390 in the largest; Grade A from ₹16,170 to ₹23,000.
• DA on the new index series — ₹60 a month per point above 165 (2011-12=100), using the 2011-12 indices directly.
• Higher urban wage — ₹300 a month in municipal and corporation areas, and hotels, canteens and restaurants brought into the main shops schedule.

As an illustration, a Grade E worker in a Kochi shop with three staff would get ₹15,039 + (219 − 165) × ₹60 + ₹300 = ₹18,579 on the August 2026 index — about 35% more than today's ₹13,810. These are proposals, not law. When we last checked, on 16 October 2026, the Commissionerate still listed the 2026 shops notification as preliminary, so the 2016 rates apply. Budget for the change, and watch for a final notification.

Worked payroll examples in ₹ (August 2026 index)

Example 1 — a shop assistant in Kochi. Anjali is a Grade C shop assistant in an Ernakulam textile shop, within the corporation.

• Basic ₹8,700 + DA ₹5,330 + urban ₹200 a month = ₹14,230
• ESI (below ₹21,000/month): employee 0.75% ≈ ₹106.73; employer 3.25% ≈ ₹462.48
• EPF at 12% of wages on ₹14,230: ₹1,707.60 each from her and you
• Net ≈ ₹12,415.67 before any half-yearly profession tax

Example 2 — an accountant in Kozhikode with six years' service. Grade B basic ₹8,910, Kozhikode DA ₹5,954, urban wage ₹200, plus 5% service weightage on basic (₹445.50): minimum ₹15,509.50.

Example 3 — a sweeper in a village shop in Wayanad. Grade E basic ₹8,280 + DA ₹4,992, no urban wage: ₹13,272. The daily rate for casual work is ₹13,272 ÷ 26 ≈ ₹510.46.

Example 4 — an agency security guard in Ernakulam. Starting basic plus DA comes to ₹15,240, plus ₹100 washing allowance, ₹20 for each night shift and a yearly uniform allowance of about ₹1,017. A guard doing 10 night shifts gets at least ₹15,540 for the month before the uniform allowance.

Example 5 — overtime. Overtime under the Code on Wages is twice the normal rate of wages. For Anjali, the daily rate is ₹14,230 ÷ 26 ≈ ₹547.31, the hourly rate at eight hours ≈ ₹68.41, and each overtime hour at least ₹136.83.

Monthly minimum-wage check for a Kerala employee

Step 1

Find employment's latest final G.O.

Step 2

Grade → basic wage

+ service weightage

Step 3

District index → DA

latest DES month

Step 4

+ urban wage / allowances

as the G.O. says

Step 5

ESI / EPF / PT

Step 6

Pay by the 7th with wage slip

Kerala under the Code on Wages

The Code on Wages, 2019 came into force on 21 November 2025. Section 69 keeps Kerala's existing notifications in force until they are replaced, so the 2016 shops notification and the 2017 security notification still bind. The Labour Commissionerate's home page lists draft Kerala rules under the Code. The national floor wage under section 9 had not been notified when we checked; Kerala's lowest rates are far above the old advisory National Floor Level Minimum Wage of ₹176 a day (advisory, 2017).

The Code's main payroll duties apply: pay monthly wages before the end of the 7th day of the next month, settle final dues within 2 working days, keep total deductions within 50% of wages, pay men and women equally, and issue wage slips. Kerala also runs a Wage Protection System for paying wages through banks, and employers deduct profession tax for local bodies in two half-years — see our professional tax due dates.

Kerala minimum wage checklist

0/8

• Identify the employment and its latest Final notification
• Map each employee to a category and grade; jobs outside Categories B–F use Category A
• Take your district's latest DES index and recompute DA when it changes
• Add the ₹200 urban wage in municipality and corporation areas
• Add service weightage after 5, 10 and 15 years
• Give hotel staff in Category D their meals
• Pay agency guards the security notification's allowances
• Track the 2026 draft shops revision and the 2025 security draft

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Common mistakes Kerala employers make

Using one statewide figure. Payroll systems often hard-code a single DA. Because the index differs by district, a Thiruvananthapuram branch on Ernakulam's DA would underpay by more than ₹900 a month.

Freezing DA. The DA moves with the monthly index. Check the DES portal at least quarterly and recompute.

Skipping the urban wage and weightage. The ₹200 urban special wage and 5–15% service weightage are part of the minimum, not optional extras.

Treating a draft as final. The February 2026 shops proposal and February 2025 security proposal are not in force. Don't cut pay to, or advertise, draft figures.

Ignoring daily-rated rules. Casual workers paid by the day get the daily rate — the monthly total divided by 26 — and their DA is ₹1 a day per point above 240 under the shops notification. Paying a flat "market rate" for casual helpers during festival seasons is a common source of claims.

What happens if you underpay

Workers or unions 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. Underpayment 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 you find a shortfall, recompute each month with the index that applied then, pay the difference as arrears and keep the working.

Official links

• Kerala Labour Commissionerate — minimum wage notificationsAll employments, final and preliminary
• Shops & Commercial Establishments — G.O.(P) No.196/2016/LBR
• Private Security Services — G.O.(P) No.38/2017/LBR
• DES Kerala — monthly Consumer Price Index by district
• Draft shops revision, 3 February 2026
• The Code on Wages, 2019 (India Code)

What to do next

Look up your employment's latest final notification, set each employee's grade, and recompute DA from your district's newest index. Then generate wage slips that show basic, DA, urban wage, weightage and deductions on separate lines with our free salary slip generator. If you also employ people across the border, compare Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and read the 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 Kerala in 2026?

Kerala fixes minimum wages separately for around 90 scheduled employments. In shops and commercial establishments, a shop assistant (Grade C) has a basic wage of ₹8,700 a month, plus dearness allowance linked to the district price index and a ₹200 a month urban special wage. On the August 2026 index that totals ₹14,230 in Kochi and ₹15,166 in Thiruvananthapuram.

How is dearness allowance calculated on Kerala minimum wages?

Each notification links DA to the Consumer Price Index for the district headquarters published by the Department of Economics and Statistics. For shops it is ₹26 a month per point for every point above 240 on the 1998-99=100 series. With Ernakulam's August 2026 index at 445, the DA is (445 − 240) × ₹26 = ₹5,330.

Why are Kerala minimum wages different in each district?

The basic wage is the same statewide, but the DA uses the price index for the employee's district headquarters, and those indices differ. In August 2026 they ranged from 432 in Wayanad to 500 in Kasargod, so a shop's DA ranged from ₹4,992 to ₹6,760 a month.

Is Kerala revising the minimum wage for shops in 2026?

Yes, a draft is pending. A preliminary notification dated 3 February 2026 proposes basic wages from ₹15,039 up to ₹23,000 depending on grade and establishment size, with DA of ₹60 a month per point above 165 (2011-12=100). The Labour Commissionerate still listed it as preliminary when we last checked on 16 October 2026, so the 2016 rates apply until a final notification.

How do I find the minimum wage for my employment in Kerala?

Open the Labour Commissionerate's minimum wage notifications page, find your employment in the alphabetical list, and use the latest notification marked Final. Note its basic wage for the job, the DA base index, series and rate per point. Then take your district's latest index from the Economics and Statistics portal and work out the DA.

What is the minimum wage for a security guard in Kerala?

Private security services are covered by G.O.(P) No.38/2017. An unarmed guard's basic scale starts at ₹10,170 (scale 10170-200-11170-250-12420), with DA of ₹26 for every point above 250. In Ernakulam on the August 2026 index that gives ₹15,240 a month before washing, uniform and night allowances.

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.Minimum wages notifications — list of scheduled employments (final and preliminary) — Labour Commissionerate, Government of Kerala · accessed 9 October 2026
2. 2.G.O.(P) No.196/2016/LBR dated 21.12.2016 (S.R.O. No.785/2016) — minimum wages in Shops and Commercial Establishments — Labour and Skills Department, Government of Kerala · accessed 9 October 2026
3. 3.Consumer Price Index numbers for August 2026 — No.DES/816/2026-P3(1) dated 22.09.2026 — Department of Economics and Statistics, Government of Kerala · accessed 9 October 2026
4. 4.G.O.(P) No.38/2017/LBR dated 09.05.2017 (S.R.O. No.256/2017) — minimum wages in Private Security Services — Labour and Skills Department, Government of Kerala · accessed 9 October 2026
5. 5.Preliminary notification No.LBRD-E1/107/2023-LBRD dated 03.02.2026 — revision of minimum wages, Shops and Commercial Establishments (Kerala Gazette Extraordinary, 05.02.2026) — Labour and Skills Department, Government of Kerala · accessed 9 October 2026
6. 6.Preliminary notification No.LBRD-E1/43/2024-LBRD, February 2025 (Kerala Gazette Extraordinary, 5 March 2025) — revision of minimum wages, Private Security Service — Labour and Skills Department, Government of Kerala · accessed 9 October 2026
7. 7.The Code on Wages, 2019 (No. 29 of 2019) — India Code, Legislative Department · accessed 9 October 2026