Supreme Court: Contractual staff must get at par wages

Supreme Court: contractual staff must get wages at par with regular staff

The Supreme Court said in a verdict on Wednesday that Contractual staff is entitled to wages at par with permanent employees that bring relief to lakhs of employees working on contractual basis in government departments and agencies.  The Supreme Court bench headed by Justice JS Khehar based its judgment on the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’. It said that the rule constitutes a clear right vested in every employee whether engaged to work on a regular or temporary basis.

The Supreme Court’s verdict came on the petitions filed by contractual workers of the Punjab government. The employees moved the SC after the Punjab and Haryana high court denied them the pay-scale entitled to regular employees. The court said that the principle of ‘equal pay for equal work’ must be followed in India as it was a signatory of International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The bench said that an employee engaged in a work, cannot be paid less than another, who performs the same duties and responsibilities. It also stated that the principle of equal pay for equal work would be applicable to all the concerned temporary employees, to vest in them the right to claim wages, at par with the minimum pay-scale of permanent government employees, working at the same post.