Uttar Pradesh Labour Law Compliance Guide for Employers, 2026 Edition

The four Labour Codes replaced 29 central laws and came into force on 21 November 2025. Labour is a concurrent subject, so each state still has to notify its own rules before the Codes fully apply locally.

Uttar Pradesh is further ahead than most states on this front. UP has notified final rules under all four Codes. The Uttar Pradesh Code on Wages Rules were notified on 12 August 2026 under notification 1377/XXXVI-03-2026-1901341, following a draft issued on 10 March 2026. UP is one of only a handful of states with final rules in place across all four Codes, so employers here cannot treat the Codes as something still to come.

UP is an unusual state to run payroll in, because two of the deductions employers normally expect do not exist here at all.

1. No Professional Tax in Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh does not levy Professional Tax. There is no state law requiring you to deduct PT from salaries, no PT registration, no return, and no payment. If your payroll software is showing a PT line for a UP employee, it's misconfigured.

The catch is multi-state employment. If the same company also employs people in Maharashtra, Karnataka, or Gujarat, PT applies to those employees, because the obligation follows the state where the employee works rather than where your head office sits.

2. No Labour Welfare Fund in Uttar Pradesh

UP has no Labour Welfare Fund Act in force for private establishments. There is no LWF deduction, no half-yearly remittance, and no LWF return. Sixteen states plus Chandigarh do levy LWF, and UP isn't among them, alongside Rajasthan and Bihar.

3. UP Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1962

Formally the Uttar Pradesh Dookan Aur Vanijya Adhishthan Adhiniyam, 1962, this is the state law that most offices, shops, and commercial establishments in UP sit under, and it's the registration a new business is most likely to miss.

• Register with the Chief Inspector within three months of commencing business.
• Renew the registration certificate as prescribed, and update it when your details change.
• Follow the Act's rules on opening and closing hours, weekly closure, and public holidays.
• Maintain the prescribed registers and records, and display the certificate at the establishment.

4. Uttar Pradesh Minimum Wages

UP notifies minimum wages across 74 scheduled employments, covering everything from plastics and plywood to dairy, private hospitals, and educational institutions. The variable dearness allowance moves twice a year, tracking the All India Consumer Price Index.

These monthly rates apply from 1 April 2026 under Order No. 374/36-2-2026-2041256 dated 17 April 2026, which replaced the February 2026 notification. A fresh VDA revision is due from 1 October 2026 but had not been notified as of 6 October. Rates differ by skill level and by scheduled employment, so confirm the schedule your activity actually falls under.

Central Laws Applicable in Uttar Pradesh

With no PT and no LWF, compliance in UP is mostly central law plus the Shops Act. The pieces that matter most to a small employer are these:

• EPF, where the wage ceiling rose from ₹15,000 to ₹25,000, effective 17 September 2026.
• ESIC, on a ₹21,000 monthly wage ceiling, with the employee at 0.75% and the employer at 3.25%.
• TDS on salary, with Form 138 each quarter (formerly Form 24Q) and Form 16 each year.
• Payment of Bonus, Payment of Gratuity, and the Maternity Benefit Act.
• POSH, where an internal committee is mandatory once you reach 10 employees.

There's no PT or LWF line in that calendar, which is the single biggest difference between running payroll in UP and running it in Maharashtra or Karnataka.

Noida and Greater Noida carry IT, electronics, and shared service centres. Lucknow is services and government-facing business. Kanpur is leather and manufacturing. Ghaziabad and Meerut cover light engineering, and Agra is footwear. Each of those activities can sit on a different scheduled employment, so two businesses on the same street can owe different minimum wages.

Niyuk runs payroll and statutory compliance for small and mid-sized employers across UP, including companies whose staff sit in Noida while the founders are somewhere else entirely. That means Shops Act registration and renewals, EPF and ESIC filings, TDS returns, and keeping your wage floor correct every time the VDA moves.

UP looks simpler than most states on paper, and in one real sense it is, since two deductions fall away entirely. The real risk sits elsewhere: the Shops Act registration deadline, the twice-yearly wage revision, and the fact that UP has already notified rules under all four Labour Codes while many employers elsewhere are still waiting for their state to act.

Is Professional Tax applicable in Uttar Pradesh?

No. Uttar Pradesh does not levy Professional Tax, so there's no PT deduction, registration, or return for employees working in the state. PT still applies to any of your employees based in states that do levy it.

Does Uttar Pradesh have a Labour Welfare Fund?

No. UP has no Labour Welfare Fund Act in force for private establishments, so there's no LWF contribution or return. This is different from neighbouring states such as Haryana and Delhi, which both levy it.

Has Uttar Pradesh notified its labour code rules?

Yes. UP has final notified rules under all four Labour Codes. The Code on Wages Rules were notified on 12 August 2026, which puts UP ahead of most states, where the rules are still at draft stage.

When do minimum wages change in Uttar Pradesh?

Twice a year, with the variable dearness allowance revised effective 1 April and 1 October. The current rates apply from 1 April 2026 under the order dated 17 April 2026, and a new VDA revision is due from 1 October 2026.

Do I need Shops Act registration for a small office in Noida?

Yes. Registration under the UP Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1962 is required within three months of commencing business, and it applies to offices and commercial establishments, not just retail shops.