A muster roll is the statutory attendance register Indian labour law requires an employer to keep, recording who worked, when, and for how long. It’s one of the oldest compliance documents in Indian employment law, and it’s just been updated under the new Labour Codes.

What’s actually required now

The muster roll requirement traces back to the Factories Act, 1948, and has been carried forward and reshaped under the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, notified 8 May 2026, following the four Labour Codes coming into force on 21 November 2025. Under Section 50 of the Code on Wages and its rules, employers must maintain three related registers: an Employee Register (Form I), a Wage Register covering wages, overtime, advances, fines and deductions (Form IV), and an Attendance-cum-Muster Roll (Form IX), which can be maintained physically or electronically. The retention period has also changed: records must now be kept for 5 years from the date of the last entry, up from the earlier 3-year requirement.

Frequently asked questions

Can a muster roll be maintained digitally?

Yes, electronic maintenance is explicitly permitted under the current rules, which is one reason biometric and HRMS-based attendance systems have become the norm rather than a paper register.

Is the muster roll the same as a payslip?

No. A payslip is what an employee receives showing their own pay; a muster roll is the employer’s statutory attendance record covering the whole workforce, used as the source data that payroll and wage registers are built from.

Does every employer need to maintain a muster roll?

Coverage depends on the establishment’s size and category under the applicable rules, but it applies broadly across factories and most organised workplaces, not just large manufacturers.

See our Labour Codes state-by-state tracker for where implementation currently stands, and our HR and payroll compliance calendar for the filings this feeds into.