A register of wages is the employer’s period-by-period record of what each employee earned, what was deducted and what was actually paid. Under the Code on Wages, 2019 it no longer stands alone: the Central Rules, 2026 fold wages, overtime, advances, fines and deductions into a single prescribed format, Form IV.

What the current rules require

Section 50 of the Code makes every covered employer keep registers of persons employed, the muster roll and wages, in the manner prescribed. Rule 51 of the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 names three: the Employee Register (Form I), the Register of Wages, Overtime, Advances, Fines and Deductions for Damage and Loss (Form IV) and the Attendance Register-cum-Muster Roll (Form IX). Employers may keep them electronically or on paper, and they must be preserved for five years after the last entry. A wage slip in Form V goes to the employee on or before payment.

One catch on scope: the Central Rules bind only where the Central Government is the appropriate government. Most private offices, shops and factories sit under their state. Roughly ten states had final rules by late September 2026 and the rest were still in draft, so where your state has not notified, the older law’s registers generally keep running under the savings clauses. The implementation status page explains how to check.

Where the data comes from, and where it goes wrong

The wage register is downstream of attendance. Days worked and overtime hours come from the muster roll; rates come from the employee master; the totals should tie to the payroll run. The usual failures are mundane: a mid-month correction that changes the payslip but not the register, arrears paid in an off-cycle run that never reach the register, and paper registers signed for the whole month in one sitting. An inspector reads the register against bank payments, so any gap shows up fast.

Frequently asked questions

Is the register of wages the same as a payslip?

No. The payslip (Form V) is each employee’s own statement, while the register is the employer’s consolidated record for the whole workforce, kept for inspection.

Can I keep it only in the payroll system?

Rule 51 allows electronic maintenance, so a payroll system that can produce the prescribed layout and print or export it on demand is acceptable, as long as the figures match what was actually paid.

Does the old Payment of Wages Act register still apply?

The Payment of Wages Act, 1936 was subsumed into the Code. In a state that has not yet notified its Code rules, check the labour department before dropping the older formats.

If registers are still assembled by hand each month, a payroll software export is the practical fix, and the overview of statutory registers shows how the pieces fit.