Rule 21: Payment of bonus to contractual employee

Rule 21 — Governs payment of bonus to contractual employee, including the statutory trigger, entitlement or payment conditions stated in the provision. Key operative text: Where in an establishment, the employees are employed through a contractor and the contractor fails to pay the bonus under section 26, the company or firm or association or other person as referred to in the proviso to section…

Full notified rule textG.S.R. 343(E), 8 May 2026Source checked: 20 August 2026

Rule status

Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 were finally notified under G.S.R. 343(E), 8 May 2026. The Central Rules must be read with the Code and any later amendment/corrigendum.

Official Gazette

Open the notified Rules ↗

Finin2min analysis — operative rule mechanics

Operative clauses

Where in an establishment, the employees are employed through a contractor and the contractor fails to pay the bonus under section 26, the company or firm or association or other person as referred to in the proviso to section 43 shall, on the written information of such failure given by the employees or any registered trade union or unions of which the employees are members and on conﬁrming such failure, pay minimum bonus to the employees.

Provisos / explanations

No proviso/explanation was separately extracted from this rule.

Thresholds & timelines

No explicit day/month/year/hour/percentage/rupee expression was detected in this rule text.

Mapped Code sections

Section 26 Section 43

Full notified text — Rule 21

English rule text transcribed from the final official 2026 Gazette PDF; layout is normalised for web reading. The Gazette controls.

21. Payment of bonus to contractual employee.- Where in an establishment, the employees are
 employed through a contractor and the contractor fails to pay the bonus under section 26, the company
 or firm or association or other person as referred to in the proviso to section 43 shall, on the written
 information of such failure given by the employees or any registered trade union or unions of which the
 employees are members and on conﬁrming such failure, pay minimum bonus to the employees.

Application and evidence

Primary statutory test — Where in an establishment, the employees are employed through a contractor and the contractor fails to pay the bonus under section 26, the company or firm or association or other person as referred to in the proviso to section 43 shall, on the written information of such failure given by the employees or any registered trade union or unions of which the employees are members and on conﬁrming such failure, pay minimum bonus to the employees.
Code Section mapping — 26, 43. Read the mapped provision together with this text rather than treating the concordance as a substitute for it.
Evidence file — retain facts and records proving the role/status of: Employee / worker, Trade union.

Cross-references & prescribed forms

Sections cited/mapped

Section 26 Section 43

Forms

No form is directly mapped in the current rule register.

Worked example

An employer configuring payroll for payment of bonus to contractual employee should first identify the employee and wage period, then apply the exact provision and any linked rule. The system rule should be tested against a sample payslip and bank/payment record. A text point to test is: “Where in an establishment, the employees are employed through a contractor and the contractor fails to pay the bonus under section 26, the company or firm or association or other person as referred to in the proviso to section 43 shall, on the written information of such failure ” Reconcile the mapped Code Section(s) 26, 43.

Illustrative only. Use the exact notified rule, prescribed form and competent authority.

Q&A — Rule 21

What is Rule 21 of the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026?

What does Rule 21 require or permit?

A principal operative clause extracted from the notified rule is: “Where in an establishment, the employees are employed through a contractor and the contractor fails to pay the bonus under section 26, the company or firm or association or other person as referred to in the proviso to section 43 shall, on the written information of such failure given by the employees or any registered trade union or unions of which the employees are members and on conﬁrming such failure, pay minimum bonus to the employees.” Read it with all sub-rules and provisos below.

Does Rule 21 contain a proviso or explanation?

No standalone proviso or explanation was extracted from this rule text. Check the complete rule below for clause-level conditions.

What deadline, period, percentage or amount appears in Rule 21?

No explicit day/month/year/hour/percentage/rupee expression was detected in this rule text.

Which Code sections are linked to Rule 21?

The current concordance maps Rule 21 to Section(s) 26, 43.

When did Rule 21 come into force?

The final Central Rules were notified as G.S.R. 343(E), 8 May 2026; Rule 1 states that the Rules come into force on publication. Check any later amendment or corrigendum before reliance.

Primary sources

Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 — official Gazette PDF ↗

Code on Wages, 2019 — India Code ↗

Source check: 20 August 2026.

Jurisdiction note: This is the Central Rule corpus. Check State rules/notifications where the State Government is the appropriate Government and check later Gazette amendments before acting.