8th Pay Commission: Will central employees see a wage hike soon? Here is what union leader claims

Even though the central government is yet to announce the formation of the 8th Pay Commission, All India Railwaymen's Federation General Secretary, Shiv Gopal Mishra said that he is confident that wages would be hiked from January 1, 2026, according to a report by NDTV Profit.

However, there is no official announcement by the government on the same.

"I am confident that the recommendations of the 8th Pay Commission will be implemented from January 2026. But if there is any delay, then I am sure that the government would pay arrears to the employees," Mishra told NDTV Profit.

The report added that the statement carries significance as Mishra is the staff side secretary of the National Council-Joint Consultative Machinery, which is the official platform for communication between the government and its employees for resolving disputes.

"As the NC-JCM staff side secretary, I had written to the Union Cabinet Secretary requesting him that the government should form the 8th Pay Commission as the last pay panel was formed 10 years ago. They have assured us that they would look into our demand," NDTV quoted Mishra.

According to the report, Mishra claimed that the employee forum has held many meetings with former Union Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba and his successor TV Somanathan, requesting them to form the pay panel soon without any further delay.

No proposal under consideration with the government

Notably, the Ministry of Finance, during the budget session in July, stated in the Parliament that no proposal for the constitution of the 8th Central Pay Commission is under consideration with the government.

Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary, in a written reply, said in the Lok Sabha on July 22 that even though two representations have been received in June 2024 for constitution of the pay panel, the government has no such proposal under consideration.

“In order to compensate Central Government employees for erosion in the real value of their salaries on account of inflation, Dearness Allowances (DA) are paid to them and the rate of DA is revised periodically every 6 months on the basis of the rate of inflation as per the All India Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (AlCPl-lW) released by the Labour Bureau under M/o Labour & Employment” Chaudhary added.

According to the NDTV Profit report, Mishra said that the employee forum is not concerned about the government’s response in the Parliament. He added that while the Centre was not in favour of bringing back the Old Pension Scheme, it listened to the employees’ concerns and announced the Unified Pension Scheme offering assured minimum pensions.

Usually, pay commissions are formed once every 10 years in order to revise the salaries of central government employees. The 7th Pay Commission was formed by the Manmohan Singh-led Congress government on Feb 28, 2014 and the recommendations of the commission were implemented starting January 2016.

What is the fitment factor?

The fitment factor is the multiplication number that is used by the pay commission to calculate the salaries and pensions of government employees. The factor is multiplied by the earlier basic pay of the employees to arrive at the revised salaries. In the 7th Pay Commission, the fitment factor was 2.57 which resulted in the increase in minimum salaries of employees, bringing it to ₹18,000.

According to the report, the employee forum will be asking for a higher fitment factor after the 8th Pay Commission is announced.

"When we will submit a memorandum before the panel, we will certainly be demanding a higher rate of multiplication than the last time,” Mishra told NDTV Profit.

Mishra also said that the wages of central government employees are eligible for revision even before the new pay panel is constituted. The recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission suggested that the wages should be revised once the dearness allowance (DA) has crossed half of the basic salary, he added.

The report quoted him saying that the government increased the DA by 4% back in March, which brought the overall allowance to 50%, so the employee wages are already eligible for revision.