Quick answer: There is no single legal rule. Indian employers use one of four divisors for a day's salary: calendar days (28 to 31), a fixed 30, a fixed 26 (excluding weekly offs) or the working days in the month (about 22 for a five-day week). The choice is a matter of policy, applied consistently. The law uses 26 in specific places: the monthly minimum wage is the daily rate × 26 under the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026, and gratuity is calculated on monthly wages ÷ 26.
"Is my salary for 26 days or 30 days?" usually comes up when a deduction for unpaid leave looks too high, when someone joins or leaves mid-month, or when an employer is setting up payroll for the first time. A full month's work always earns the full monthly salary; the divisor only matters when a month is part-paid. This guide explains the four methods, where the law actually requires 26, and works through the same salary under each method, including 31-day months, February and overtime. To run your own numbers, use the monthly salary calculator.
Is salary calculated for 26 days or 30 days?
Both are allowed. The Code on Wages, 2019 requires wages to be paid for each wage period, no longer than a month, and paid on time; it does not tell a salaried employer how to convert a monthly salary into a daily rate. That is left to the contract of employment, standing orders, a settlement or the employer's payroll policy. Good practice, and the safest position in any dispute, is a method that is written down, known to employees and applied the same way to everyone in the same category.
Courts have long accepted 26 as a sensible measure of a month's working days. In Jeewanlal (1929) Ltd v Appellate Authority [(1984) 4 SCC 356], the Supreme Court said a worker earns a full month's wages by working 26 days, not 30, and upheld calculating gratuity on that basis (judgment text).
The four ways to calculate salary per day
| Method | Per-day salary | Who commonly uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar days | Monthly salary ÷ days in that month (28 to 31) | Most offices and IT companies; follows the General Clauses Act meaning of a month |
| Fixed 30 days | Monthly salary ÷ 30, every month | Many small and mid-size employers; simple and the same every month |
| Fixed 26 days | Monthly salary ÷ 26, counting working days only | Factories, six-day-week establishments, wage-board and minimum-wage employers |
| Working days in the month | Monthly salary ÷ working days in that month (about 20 to 27) | Some five-day-week employers; gives a larger deduction per day of absence in a five-day week |
With calendar days and fixed 30, weekly offs and holidays are paid days: an employee absent on Friday and Monday may lose the weekend in between too, depending on the leave policy's "sandwich" rule. With fixed 26 and working days, only working days are counted, and the weekly offs are paid within the monthly salary.
Where the law uses 26 days
- Minimum wages: under the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026, minimum wages are fixed per day; the hourly rate is the daily rate divided by 8 and the monthly rate is the daily rate multiplied by 26, (PRS summary), with half a rupee or more rounded up and less ignored (SCC Online). State minimum wage notifications usually follow the same approach; Haryana, for example, derives its daily rate as the monthly rate divided by 26.
- Gratuity: 15 days' wages for each completed year, worked out as monthly wages ÷ 26 × 15 (see our gratuity guide).
- Overtime: the Code requires overtime at twice the normal rate of wages but does not fix how to derive an hourly rate for monthly-paid staff; many employers use a 26-day month and 8-hour day.
Retrenchment compensation is a reminder that the divisor depends on the provision. The Supreme Court held in Guru Jambheshwar University v Dharam Pal (2007) that, under the Industrial Disputes Act, "15 days' average pay" for each year of service meant half a month's average pay, and that the 26-day gratuity rule did not apply.
Example 1: two days of unpaid leave in a 31-day month
Monthly salary ₹30,000, with 2 days of loss of pay (LOP) in December 2026, a month with 31 days, 4 Sundays and 27 working days:
| Method | Per day (₹) | LOP deduction (₹) | Salary paid (₹) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calendar days (31) | 967.74 | 1,935 | 28,065 |
| Fixed 30 days | 1,000.00 | 2,000 | 28,000 |
| Fixed 26 days | 1,153.85 | 2,308 | 27,692 |
| Working days, six-day week (27) | 1,111.11 | 2,222 | 27,778 |
The same 2 days of absence cost between ₹1,935 and ₹2,308, a difference of almost ₹400. That is why the method should be in writing and applied the same way every month. You can compare these divisors in the monthly salary calculator.
Note that Code on Wages s.20(2) limits an absence deduction to the same proportion of wages as the days absent bear to the days the employee was required to work. In a 27-working-day month, ÷ 26 (₹2,308) exceeds that limit (₹2,222), so cap the 26-day rate at the month's actual working days.
Example 2: joining in the middle of the month
An employee on ₹30,000 a month joins on Friday 20 November 2026. November has 30 days and 5 Sundays (25 working days). From 20 to 30 November there are 11 calendar days, of which 9 are working days:
| Method | Days paid | November salary (₹) |
|---|---|---|
| Calendar days | 11 of 30 | 11,000 |
| Fixed 30 days | 11 ÷ 30 | 11,000 |
| Fixed 26 days | 9 × (30,000 ÷ 26) | 10,385 |
| Working days in the month | 9 of 25 | 10,800 |
Under calendar days and fixed 30 the two Sundays after joining are paid; under the working-day methods they are not counted, but each working day is worth more.
How to calculate salary for 27 or 28 days worked
"Days worked" here means paid days: days on duty plus paid leave, paid holidays and, under calendar or fixed-30 methods, weekly offs. The formula is always monthly salary ÷ divisor × paid days. On ₹30,000 in a 31-day month:
- 27 paid days, calendar method: 30,000 ÷ 31 × 27 = ₹26,129.
- 28 paid days, fixed 30: 30,000 ÷ 30 × 28 = ₹28,000.
- 24 days paid in a month with 26 working days, fixed 26: 30,000 ÷ 26 × 24 = ₹27,692.
It is often simpler to count the LOP days and deduct them (salary − per-day rate × LOP days); the result is the same as long as paid days plus LOP days equal the divisor for the month.
How salary works in 31-day months and February
Calendar days: the month's salary is the same in every month, but a day of LOP is worth less in a 31-day month (₹967.74 on ₹30,000) and more in February (₹1,071.43 in a 28-day month).
Fixed 30: a day is always ₹1,000. In February an employee absent for the whole month would lose 28 × ₹1,000 = ₹28,000 and still be paid ₹2,000 for no work; in a 31-day month, a full month's absence would be 31 days, more than 30. Payroll policies avoid this by counting the month's actual days for a full-month absence and never deducting more than the month's salary.
Fixed 26: months have between 24 and 27 working days, so the same anomaly arises: 27 working days of absence in December would be ₹31,154 on a ₹30,000 salary. Under s.20(2) the deduction cannot exceed the proportion of working days missed, so 27 days absent out of 27 is the full ₹30,000, not more.
Whichever method you use, state it in the appointment letter or policy, apply it to every employee in the same category, and keep the attendance record that supports each deduction. Deductions for absence must also be no more than proportionate to the working days missed (Code on Wages s.20).
The 26-day minimum wage rule
Because the monthly minimum is the daily rate × 26, a monthly-paid employee who works the whole month must receive at least 26 times the daily minimum wage, even though the month has 30 or 31 days: the weekly rest days are paid inside that figure. For example, the central-sphere rate for unskilled workers in construction, sweeping and cleaning, and loading and unloading in Area A from 1 October 2026 is ₹840 a day, so the monthly minimum is ₹840 × 26 = ₹21,840 (see our Central Rules guide).
Where the working week is shorter than six days, the Central Rules work from the hourly rate instead: the hourly rate (daily ÷ 8) is used to derive the minimum for each working day. Check your state's notification for the applicable rate and zone.
Overtime and leave encashment
For an employee whose wages (basic pay and dearness allowance, plus any allowances above the 50% limit) are ₹20,000 a month, a 26-day month gives a day's wage of ₹769.23 and an hourly rate of ₹96.15 (÷ 8). Overtime at twice the rate is ₹192.31 an hour. The overtime calculator does this for any salary.
Leave encashment follows the employer's leave policy, which commonly uses basic pay ÷ 30 or ÷ 26 per day of leave; the tax-free limit on retirement is a separate calculation (see the leave encashment calculator).
Which method should an employer choose?
- Check what already binds you: a wage settlement, standing orders, a state minimum wage notification or a long-standing practice can fix the divisor for you.
- Match the method to the work pattern: 26 or working days for six-day-week and hourly-paid workforces; calendar days or fixed 30 for salaried staff with weekly offs and paid holidays.
- Write it down in the appointment letter and payroll policy, including how weekly offs between leave days are treated and the cap on deductions.
- Apply it consistently to LOP, mid-month joining and exit, and arrears, and check that the result never falls below the minimum wage.
For the full monthly cycle, see our payroll process guide.
Related reading: Monthly salary calculator · Attendance calculator · Overtime calculator · Gross vs net salary · Gratuity guide
Set the divisor once and let the sheet do the rest. The Complete Indian Payroll Excel Workbook calculates paid days, LOP and pro-rata salary on calendar, 30-day or 26-day bases, with PF, ESI, PT and TDS.
Frequently asked questions
Is salary calculated for 26 days or 30 days?
Either can be correct. No law fixes one divisor for monthly salary; the employer's appointment letter, standing orders or payroll policy decides it, and the same method should be applied consistently. The law uses 26 in specific places, such as converting a daily minimum wage into a monthly rate and calculating gratuity, so the 26-day method is common in factories and among wage-board employers, while most offices use calendar days or a fixed 30.
How do I calculate salary for 26 days?
Divide the monthly salary by 26 to get the per-day rate, then multiply by the days payable, counting only working days (excluding the weekly off). For ₹30,000 a month, one day is ₹1,153.85, so 2 days of unpaid leave cost ₹2,308. Cap any deduction at the month's salary.
How is salary calculated for 31 days?
Under the calendar-day method, a 31-day month has 31 paid days and the per-day rate is the monthly salary divided by 31, so each day is worth a little less than in a 30-day month. Under a fixed 30-day or 26-day method the month's salary is the same whatever the month's length, and only the value of a day of absence changes.
Is salary calculated for 30 days or 22 days?
22 days is the working-day method for a five-day week: the monthly salary is divided by the number of working days in that month, typically 20 to 23. It gives the highest per-day rate and the largest deduction for absence, so it should be written into the policy before it is used.
What is the 26-day minimum wage rule?
Under the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026, the minimum wage is fixed per day, and the monthly minimum is the daily rate multiplied by 26, so the weekly rest days are paid for within the monthly figure. A monthly-paid employee who works the full month must receive at least 26 times the daily minimum wage.
What does 30 days in arrears mean?
Paying salary in arrears means paying for work after it is done, so a monthly salary for November is paid in early December, up to 30 days after the work began. Separately, arrears of salary means pay that was due earlier but paid later, for example after a revision with back effect. Under the Code on Wages, monthly wages must be paid before the end of the 7th day of the following month.
Position as of 14 November 2026. Based on the Code on Wages, 2019 and the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026, the Code on Social Security, 2020 (gratuity), Supreme Court rulings in Jeewanlal (1984) and Guru Jambheshwar University (2007), and common Indian payroll practice. Your employer's policy, standing orders or state rules may set a specific method. General information, not legal or tax advice.