Minimum Salary and Wages in Nepal — Current Rates from Shrawan 2082

Employers Cannot Contract Below Minimum Wage

The Labour Act prohibits an employer from entering into an agreement providing remuneration below the prescribed minimum.

Therefore:

Employee agreed to the lower salary

does not automatically make the arrangement lawful.

The statutory minimum overrides a lower contractual amount.

Monthly Minimum

The current monthly minimum is: NPR 19,550 comprising: Basic remuneration:

NPR 12,170 plus

Dearness allowance: NPR 7,380.

The distinction between: basic remuneration

and total remuneration matters because several statutory employment benefits are calculated by reference to basic remuneration.

Daily Worker

Minimum daily remuneration: NPR 754 comprising: Basic:

NPR 470

Dearness allowance: NPR 284.

Hourly Worker

Minimum hourly remuneration: NPR 101 comprising: Basic:

NPR 63

Dearness allowance: NPR 38.

Part-time Worker

For a part-time worker:

Minimum NPR 107 per hour.

Part-time employment is employment involving 35 hours or less per week under Section 10 of the Labour Act.

Tea-estate Workers

The NPR 19,550 general minimum does not apply to tea-estate workers.

The Department of Labour separately publishes minimum-remuneration material for tea plantations.

Use the separate operative tea-estate notice for a tea-estate worker. Do not apply the general non-tea rate table to that category.

Tea Estate Minimum Wage

resource rather than applying the ordinary national table indiscriminately.

Minimum Wage Is Not the Entire Employment Cost

The minimum remuneration does not eliminate the employer's other obligations.

Depending on the worker and applicable social-security framework, additional obligations can include:

• provident/social-security contribution;

• gratuity/social-security component;

• festival expense;

• annual grade increase;

• leave;

• overtime;

• insurance;

• other statutory benefits.

The Gazette notice itself makes clear that labour/social-security benefits continue in addition to minimum remuneration.

Annual Grade Increase

After completing: one year of service a worker is entitled to an annual grade increase of at least:

one-half day's basic remuneration per month

under Section 36.

This is separate from any future revision of the national minimum wage.

Festival Expense

Section 37 provides an annual festival expense equal to: one month's basic remuneration for the festival observed according to the worker's religion, culture or tradition.

This is not merely a discretionary Dashain bonus.

Where a worker has not completed a full year, proportional treatment under the Act should be applied.

Minimum Salary Example

Employee salary structure: Basic salary: NPR 12,170
Dearness allowance: NPR 7,380

Total: NPR 19,550

If the employer pays: Basic NPR 10,000
Allowance NPR 9,550

Total remains NPR 19,550.

The total may appear to meet the monthly minimum, but the employer should not automatically assume the statutory structure is compliant, because statutory benefits linked to basic remuneration can be understated where basic remuneration is artificially reduced.

Paying More Than Minimum

The minimum is only the legal floor.

Where:

• employment agreement;

• collective agreement;

• service rules; or

• established employment terms

provide a higher amount, the employer generally cannot reduce the employee to the national minimum merely because a lower statutory floor exists. Section 34 protects existing remuneration/benefits from improper reduction.

Salary Must Be Paid Regularly

The period between remuneration payments cannot ordinarily exceed: one month.

This means an employer should not accumulate several months' regular salary merely for administrative convenience.

Payroll Cost Checklist

For each worker, review:

• Basic remuneration

• Dearness allowance

• Total remuneration

• Annual grade

• Festival expense

• Overtime

• SSF/social security

• Leave pay

• Other contractual benefit

• Salary TDS

• Net payroll

Common Errors

Using the old NPR 17,300 minimum

Applying NPR 19,550 to tea-estate workers without checking their separate rate

Treating NPR 19,550 as the employer's total annual statutory employment cost

Ignoring annual grade

Treating festival allowance as discretionary

Artificially reducing basic salary while inflating allowances

Further guidance and practical checks

Minimum remuneration is the statutory floor, not the full employment-cost calculation. Employers should separately budget for statutory benefits, social security, overtime, leave and payroll taxes.