Salary
n The concept of ‘salary’ goes back to the days of Roman Empire. The soldiers were given ‘Sal (Salt)’ as a regard for their services. With the passage of time, the mode has changed from salt to money. However, ‘salary’, in its conceptual and legal sense, remains a reward for the services rendered. The partners in a firm work for themselves. Not for any employer. They serve themselves. Not anybody else. They are nobody’s servants. They are their own masters. Thus, the salary drawn by the partners is only a different name for the share in profits.
Salary vs. Wages
n Conceptually there is no difference between salary and wages, both being a recompense for work done or services rendered, though ordinarily the former expression is used in connection with services of non-manual type while the latter is used in connection with manual services. It is further common knowledge that the compensation to the labourer or artisan could be a specified sum for a given time or service or a fixed sum for a specified work, i.e., payment made by the job, commonest example of the latter category being a piece-rated worker. In other words the expression ‘wages’ does not imply that the compensation is to be determined solely upon the basis of time spent in service, it may be determined by the work done, it could be estimated in either way. If conceptually salary and wages mean one and the same thing, then salary could take the form of payment by reference to the time factor or by the job done. In fact, in the case of salary the recompense could be determined wholly on the basis of time spent on service or wholly by the work done or partly by the time spent in service and partly by the work done. In other words, whatever be the basis on which such recompense is determined it would also be salary.
Due - Clause (a)
n The expression ‘due’ is followed by the qualifying clause ‘whether paid or not’ and it shows that there shall be an obligation on the part of the employer to pay the amount and a right on the employee to claim the same.
Allowed - Clause (b)
n The word ‘allowed’ is of wider connotation and any credit made in the employer’s account is covered thereby. The said expression in the legal terminology is equivalent to ‘fixed, taken into account, set apart, granted’. It takes in perquisites given in cash or in kind or in money or money’s worth and also amenities which are not convertible into money.
Paid, Due and Allowed
n The expression ‘paid’ takes in every receipt by the employee from the employer, whether it was due to him or not. The expression ‘due’ followed by the qualifying clause ‘whether paid or not’ shows that there is an obligation on the part of the employer to pay that amount and a right on the employee to claim the same. The expression ‘allowed’ is of a wider connotation and any credit made in the employer’s account is covered thereby.
Income
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