Shakespearean Legal Quandary Around The Definition of Wages: Should you Change your Salary Structure or Not?

The definition of “wages”, which is uniform across all four Labour Codes, is uncharacteristic of labour statutes. While the definition is pretty standard insofar as inclusion of certain components and exclusion of the others is concerned (and similar to the definitions under the erstwhile laws), the common definition of “wages” under the new regime introduces a conditional qualifier in the form of the first proviso. The effect of the qualifier is such that in case the exclusions were to cross the threshold provided for therein, the excess thereof would no longer be regarded as “exclusion” but would be included for the purposes of calculating “wages” under the Codes. It appears that a sense of alarm has been created and management across the board are running about in despair and clamour to tweak or alter their salary structures to insulate themselves from the infamous “50% clause”. The question of whether at all the same is possible or will yield any positive results is a vexed one. It would be imperative to start by...