Sri Lanka's minimum-wage system started with the Wages Boards Ordinance No. 27 of 1941: each industry had its own Wage Board setting minimum wages for that trade — and that system still exists below the national floor.

In 2021 the National Minimum Wage of Workers Act created a single national minimum wage above the industry boards, and successive statutes have raised it. From 1 January 2026 the national minimum is Rs 30,000 per month or Rs 1,200 per day — the level this site checks against.

The law sets both Rs 30,000/month and Rs 1,200/day. They are alternatives, not additions: a worker paid by the month compares against Rs 30,000; a daily-paid worker converts their daily rate to a monthly equivalent and compares against the monthly figure too.

Converting relies on the working-days-per-year basis in your industry: 240 days (20/month) is common for office workers, 312 days (26/month) for six-day-week industries, 360 days (30/month) for daily-rated sectors. The Wage board converter does this for you and flags whether a rate meets the minimum.

Basic pay and regular payments count toward the minimum; overtime pay is added only where the statute or a board order says so. Practices vary by Wage Board order, so check the applicable order for your industry when drawing up an employment contract near the floor.

The national minimum is a floor, not a ceiling. Wage Board orders for garments, plantations, shops & offices and other industries may set higher rates for their sectors — and those rates are the applicable minimum within that industry, so always apply the higher of the two.

The check in these tools uses the national figures; an industry-specific check needs the current board order.

Paying below the minimum is an offence under the statutes, and the Labour Department enforces complaints. Records of wages paid, and the basis of calculation, must be kept. When the minimum rises (like the 1 January 2026 increase), existing contracts must be topped up — a contractual salary below the new floor is simply unenforceable.

If you hire on a daily basis, remember the cost is not just the daily wage: the employment cost picture is salary plus employer EPF 12% and ETF 3% where applicable.

Check rates with the Wage board converter, model total labour cost with the Employer cost tool, and read the full comparison of employment costs in the government vs private guide.