Kolkata: Jan 1, 2026 is the date from when the 8th Pay Commission recommendations will come into effect. But the most important question on the lips of
every Central government employee is, what will be the arrears he/she will be entitled to. The response to this question will depend on how the arrears will be calculated. Let’s try to understand the following points in order to get an indication.
It could take several months for the consultations and discussion to be completed and recommendations drawn up and finalised. The process of report preparation, government approval, and budget provision can take a few months. Therefore, it is quite likely that the new salaries will be implemented by the end of 2026 or in 2027.
Employees will get full arrears
Every employee will get the full benefit of arrears, no matter how much the delay. Arrears will be calculated for the period from Jan 1, 2026 until the date of its actual implementation. Let’s take an example. Let’s assume that the Pay Commission’s recommendations are implemented in May 2027. It will mean that , employees will receive arrears from January 2026 to April 2027 or 15 months.
Formula to calculate the arrears
This holds the key to determining how much arrears one will get. The arrears formula is very simple. It takes the difference between the old salary and the new salary and then multiplies it by the number of months of delay.
For example, if the old salary is Rs 45,000 and the new one is Rs 50,000. The arrear will be calculated as Rs 5,000 × 15 months or Rs 75,000. One has to multiply the difference in monthly salary by the number of months for which arrears will be paid. The period of arrears will be detemined by the distance of the date of implementation from Jan 1, 2026.
An important point to note is that the arrears will include not only the basic salary, but also the difference in Dearness Allowance and other revised allowances. This means the actual arrears could be much higher than what will be indicated by the basic salary.
The 8th Central Pay Commission was constituted on November 3, 2025. It is being led by retired Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai. The Commission has been given 18 months to submit its report to the central government by May 2027. The report will contain recommendations on the fitment factor, salary structure, pension revision, and other key aspects. These recommendations will then be reviewed by the government and, if approved, implemented.
Actually the recommendations will have much wider impact than the present employees and pensioners of the government of India. State governments also pegtheir wahges according to this benchmark and so does PSUs.
