Kerala minimum wages for medical shops and pharmacies

Pharmacies, chemists and drug stores, notified as their own sector rather than as shops.

Rules last verified 2026-10-01

This is an information tool, not advice. It screens the words you give it and states its confidence. It does not determine which scheduled employment applies as a matter of law, and it does not show a rate, because no Kerala minimum wage rate has been verified at source for this site.

This identifies which notification applies. It does not show the rate. No Kerala minimum wage rate is held on this site, because the notifications are image-only scans and the VDA is notified separately and late — publishing a basic wage without its dearness component would understate what an employer owes. Once you know the scheduled employment, read the rates from its notification, then take them to the arrears calculator.

Describe the work

The work actually performed matters more than the job title. Where you have both, give both.

Job titleWhat the establishment doesWhat the person actually does, in one sentenceSkill level, if you know itEmployment typeDistrictWhich local body area is the workplace in?Kerala does notuse “Zone I” and “Zone II”. Some sectors split the basic wage between Municipal/Corporation areas and the rest; others use a flat urban add-on. The notification for your sector will say which.

What this sector’s notification fixes

· A basic wage by grade, commonly including a qualified pharmacist category distinct from counter staff.
· An area classification.

Grade structure: Grade letters — commonly Special Grade and Grades A to E.

What decides the grade inside this sector

· Whether the person is a registered pharmacist, which is normally a separate and higher category.
· The level of responsibility for the outlet, where a manager is a distinct category.

Have these in front of you when you read it

· The job title as it appears in your appointment letter or offer, not the title people use day to day.
· What the establishment actually does — its principal activity, not the activity of the unit the person works in.
· The work the person actually performs, in one sentence, in plain words.
· The registration status of any pharmacist on the staff, because it is the usual grade determinant.

Commonly confused with

Kerala notifies these sectors separately, and classification disputes are almost never about the rate — they are about which sector a worker falls in. These are the distinctions that decide it.

Medical Shops and Pharmacies vs Shops and Commercial Establishments

The distinction is the principal business of the outlet. A general store that sells some medicines is a shop; an outlet whose business is dispensing is a medical shop. Where an establishment runs both under one registration, the staff should be classified by the work they actually do.

Medical Shops and Pharmacies vs Private Hospitals and Ayurvedic Establishments

A hospital's in-house pharmacy is usually part of the hospital. A pharmacy business that merely operates near or inside a hospital but is separately constituted is a medical shop.

What to do next

1. Open the notification index below and find the current notification for this sector.
2. Read the grade or skill category that matches the work, and the area classification it is notified by.
3. Note the current basic wage and the current VDA, with the notification number and date.
4. Take those figures to the Kerala minimum wage and VDA arrears calculator to cost any gap month by month.

Notification index Have GHR classify your staff

Other sectors

Back to the finder · source: Kerala Labour Commissionerate, Minimum Wage Notifications index, lc.kerala.gov.in/en/minimum-wage-notifications — 266 notifications across 80-plus sectors. The names and grade structures recorded here are as the Commissionerate heads each sector; NO RATE is recorded, because the notifications are image-only scans and a misread rate is worse than no rate.

Important — please read before relying on this

This calculator is a self-help information tool. It is not legal, tax, accounting, payroll or other professional advice, and it is not an opinion of any kind. GHR Consultancy is not acting for you, and no adviser, client, fiduciary or other professional relationship is created by using it.

The tool and everything it produces are provided as is and as available, without any representation, warranty or guarantee of any kind, express or implied, including as to accuracy, completeness, correctness, reliability, fitness for a particular purpose or freedom from error. GHR does not represent that the statutory position stated is current, complete, or applicable to your establishment.

The output is not a compliance certificate, clearance, approval, verification, audit or determination of any kind. It must not be relied upon and must not be used as a substitute for advice from a qualified professional. GHR assumes no duty of care to you or to any other person in respect of it. Any reliance you place on it is entirely at your own risk.

In particular, it does not:

determine which scheduled employment applies as a matter of law;
show any notified rate, because no Kerala minimum wage rate has been verified at source for this site;
assert which area or zone a district falls in — that is set out in each notification, not in one statewide instrument;
take account of an award, settlement or collective agreement that may set a higher floor; or
constitute advice or a classification of any particular worker.

The position stated on this page is stated as at 2026-10-01. Statutory positions change, sometimes with retrospective effect, and GHR does not undertake to update this page. Do not assume it reflects the law at any later date.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, GHR Consultancy and its partners, employees and agents exclude all liability for any loss, damage, cost or expense of any kind — including indirect or consequential loss, loss of profit, and any regulatory, statutory or contractual consequence — arising out of or in connection with the use of, or reliance on, this tool or anything it produces, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), statute or otherwise.

If you need a determination for your establishment, that is a separate professional engagement and the only basis on which GHR can advise you. Obtain professional advice before acting on anything shown here.

These terms are governed by the laws of India, and the courts at Kerala have exclusive jurisdiction.