Forms I explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Forms I, IV and IX are the three registers an employer must keep under rule 51(1): the Employee Register, the Register of Wages, Overtime, Advances, Fines and Deductions for Damage and Loss, and the Attendance Register-cum-Muster Roll. This article describes what each form prints, field by field and column by column, so a payroll or HR team can set up an electronic or physical register to match. A payroll compliance audit can check the set-up against the forms.
Form I (rule 51(1)(i)) has 36 numbered fields about each employee, from employee code to remarks. Form IV (rule 51(1)(ii)) is a wide table: wage period, days worked, overtime, rate of wages, earnings, deductions, net payment, date of payment, fines and damage or loss. Form IX (rule 51(1)(iii)) is a monthly attendance grid with in and out times for each of 31 days, total days worked and overtime hours. Registers may be electronic or physical, and are preserved for five years after the last entry. These Rules apply where the Central Government is the appropriate Government; otherwise the State's own wage rules apply.
What the Rules require
Rule 51(1): the employer of all establishments to which the Code applies shall maintain under section 50(1), "electronically or in physical form in the formats appended to these rules", (i) the Employee Register in Form I; (ii) the Register of Wages, Overtime, Advances, Fines and Deductions for Damage and Loss in Form IV; and (iii) the Attendance Register-cum-Muster Roll in Form IX. Registers are preserved for five years after the date of last entry (rule 51(4)). See rules 51 and 52 and section 50.
All three forms open with the same block: name of the establishment, name of the employer, name of the owner, and the registration number of the establishment, with the note that the Labour Identification Number (LIN) shall be the registration number. Forms I and IV also ask for the PAN/TAN of the employer; Form IX asks "For the Month of".
Form I: Employee Register
Heading: "See clause (i) of sub-rule (1) of rule 51". The 36 fields:
| Group | Fields (numbers as printed) |
|---|---|
| Identity | 1 employee code; 2 name; 3 surname; 4 gender; 5 father's, mother's or spouse's name; 6 date of birth; 7 place of birth; 8 nationality; 9 education level |
| Employment | 10 date of joining; 11 designation; 12 category (HS/S/SS/US); 13 type of employment (P/T/FT/T/B); 14 details of posting; 15 pay; 16 promotion |
| Identifiers and benefits | 17 mobile number; 18 Universal Account Number (UAN); 19 PAN; 22 EPS/NPS; 23 ESIC IP number; 24 Aadhaar number |
| Nomination and family | 20 nominee ("to be filled on the basis of Nomination form"); 21 details of family |
| Bank | 25 bank account number; 26 bank; 27 branch (IFSC) |
| Address and records | 28 present address; 29 permanent address; 30 service book number |
| Exit and verification | 31 date of exit; 32 reason for exit; 33 mark of identification; 34 photo; 35 specimen signature or thumb impression; 36 remarks |
Footnotes decode the codes: category is (Highly Skilled / Skilled / Semi skilled / Unskilled), matching the skill grades defined in rule 2; type of employment is (Permanent / Temporary / Fixed Term / Trainee / Badli).
Drafting slip: the type-of-employment code is printed "P/T/FT/T/B", with "T" standing for both Temporary and Trainee. The footnote lists five types for the five letters. Choose a clear convention in your register (for example spelling out the type) so that the two are not confused.
Points to note. Field 20 (nominee) is filled from Form VII; see rule 45. The Form does not say which of the fields is mandatory, nor how often to update; the text is silent. It asks for personal data such as Aadhaar number and photograph; handle them with the care that data protection and your own policies require.
Form IV: Register of Wages, Overtime, Advances, Fines and Deductions for Damage and Loss
Heading: "See clause (ii) of sub-rule (1) of rule 51". The Form is a table of numbered columns, printed in three blocks.
Block 1: employee, period and rate
| Column | Particulars (as printed) |
|---|---|
| (1) | Sl. No. |
| (2) | Sr. No. in Employee Register / Employee Code |
| (3) | Name of the employee |
| (4) | Designation |
| (5) | Department |
| (6) | Duration of payment of wages (Monthly / Fortnightly / Weekly / Daily / Piece rated) |
| (7) | Wage period (From - To) |
| (8) | Total number of days worked during the wage period |
| (9) | Total overtime hours worked, or production in case of piece workers |
| (10) to (12) | Rate of wages: Basic, DA, Allowances |
Block 2: earnings and deductions
Under "Amount of wages earned" the Form prints Basic, DA, Allowances, Overtime and Total wages earned, columns (13) to (17). Under "Deductions" it prints EPF, ESIC, Society, Income Tax, Insurance, Advances, Recovery of Fine, Recovery on account of Damages / Losses, Total Deductions and Others, followed by "Net Payment", numbered (18) to (28).
Block 3: payment, fines, damage or loss
| Column | Particulars (as printed) |
|---|---|
| (28) | Date of payment |
| (29) | Receipt by employee / Bank transaction ID |
| (30) | Nature of acts and omissions for which fine imposed, with date |
| (31) | Amount of fine imposed |
| (32) | Damage or loss caused to the employer by neglect or default of the employee |
| (33) | Signature of Employer / Employer Representative* |
*Note: required in case the register is maintained physically.
Drafting slips. Column number (28) appears twice: Net Payment at the end of block 2 and Date of payment at the start of block 3. Also, "Others" is printed after "Total Deductions" in the heading row, which is an odd place for it. Set up your sheet from the printed headings and number the columns consistently.
How Form IV links to the Rules. Rule 19 requires the particulars of advance recovery to be recorded here; rule 51(2) puts fines and their realisations here; rule 51(3) puts deductions for damage and loss here. See rules 13 to 16, rules 17 and 18 and rules 19 and 20. Section 19(8) of the Code requires fines and their realisations to be recorded in a prescribed register; section 21(3) requires the same for damage or loss deductions.
Form IX: Attendance Register-cum-Muster Roll
Heading: "See clause (iii) of sub-rule (1) of rule 51"; "For the Month of".
| Column | Particulars (as printed) |
|---|---|
| (1) | Sl. No. |
| (2) | Employee Code |
| (3) | Name |
| (4) | Designation |
| (5) | Shift |
| (6) | Place of work / Section / Department |
| (7) | Date and time of attendance: for each date 1 to 31, "In" and "Out" Time, with Signature |
| (8) | Total number of days worked |
| (9) | Total number of overtime hours worked |
| (10) | Brief details of tour or assignment outside the work place, if any |
| (11) | Signature of Register keeper* |
*Note: required in case the register is maintained physically.
Form IX is the record from which the "days worked" and "overtime hours" in Form IV, and the weekly-hours checks under rules 5 and 6, are drawn. It has a column for the shift, which is useful for the night-shift counting in rule 7.
What the Forms do not say
The Forms fix no time for making entries, do not say who the "register keeper" is or how electronic registers are authenticated, and there is no form for the section 50(2) notice.
Need help setting up the three registers?
Registers are only useful if they tie together: the employee in Form I, the days in Form IX and the wages in Form IV. Our payroll compliance audit team can map your HR and payroll data to these Forms and set up retention for five years.
Key takeaways
- Form I: 36 fields on each employee, with the LIN as registration number.
- Form IV: wage period, days, overtime, rates, earnings, deductions, net payment, date of payment, fines and damage or loss.
- Form IX: monthly in and out times for 31 days, total days worked and overtime hours.
- Electronic or physical registers are allowed; physical ones carry signature columns.
- Form IV carries a repeated column number (28) and Form I's type-of-employment code repeats "T".
- Keep registers for five years after the last entry.
Read next
- Rules 51 and 52: registers and wage slip
- Forms V, VI and VII: wage slip, composition and nomination
- Forms II, III and VIII: claim application, appeal and notices
- Section 50: records, returns and notices
Disclaimer: Based on the Code on Wages, 2019 (as enacted) and, where noted, the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 343(E), 8 May 2026), as on 1 October 2026. The Code is in force from 21 November 2025; State Governments make their own rules for establishments where the State is the appropriate Government, and wage rates are notified separately. Verify the current position before acting.