As is conspicuous from a bare reading of the definition of “wages”, which is pari materia across the four Codes, the exclusions are not to be regarded as “wages”. However, under certain circumstances, the payments made towards certain exclusions are to be taken into consideration while calculating “wages”. The first proviso to the definition of “wages” under the Code states that, for the purposes of calculating “wages”, in case the payments (exclusions) made to the employee under sub-clauses (a) to (i) (statutory bonus; amenities; employer PF contributions; conveyance/travel allowance; special payments arising out of employment; HRA; remuneration paid in compliance of award/settlement; overtime allowance; and commission) exceed 50% (or the percentage which the Central Government might notify in the future) of all the remuneration calculated under the clause, then the amount which exceeds such 50% will be deemed as “remuneration” and will accordingly be added as “wages”.
The wording of the...
