DoPT Says No Automatic Double Overtime Pay Under New Wage Code

Hourly OTA rates for eligible central government employees were last prescribed through an Office Memorandum on 19 March 1991, the government said. That 1991 order lays out the payment framework and provides for compensatory leave when overtime is required. The same instructions say overtime should generally be avoided through proper work organisation and, where unavoidable, must be authorised by the competent authority.

For gazetted employees, the question is different. The Lok Sabha had specifically asked whether overtime allowance should be extended to them. The government's response announced no such extension. Gazetted employees currently cannot treat Section 14 as a blanket provision creating an OTA entitlement.

Kirti Jha, the Mint reporter who covered the story, wrote that the wage code's two-times provision should not be interpreted as an automatic revision of existing central government OTA rates. She noted that any change in rates or an extension to excluded categories would require a separate government decision.

The practical takeaway for central government employees is that the existing OTA rules still apply. Eligibility depends on category and service rules, not just the Code on Wages. The March 1991 Office Memorandum remains the operative document for how overtime is paid and when.

A change in OTA rates or an expansion of coverage to gazetted staff would need a fresh order from the government. No such order has been issued.