Documents and records
Muster roll: the register an inspector asks a site to produce
A muster roll is the daily attendance register an employer keeps under labour rules, listing each worker by name with the days worked and the hours put in during a wage period. Registers of this kind are prescribed by the rules framed under acts such as the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970.
Last reviewed: September 2026
Also called: muster roll, muster register, hazri register
In plain English
It is the official daily list of workers and the days each one worked. Labour rules require certain employers to keep one and to produce it when an inspector asks.
How it works in detail
An inspection is the moment the roll gets read, and by then it is too late to write it. The register lists every worker engaged in the wage period with the particulars the rules ask for, the work each does, and a mark for each date showing present, absent or on leave. Hours worked and overtime hours usually sit alongside, because the wage register for the same period is built off those days.
Which register applies depends on the act your establishment falls under and on your state rules, and several acts prescribe a form of their own. A principal employer engaging contract labour carries duties even where the contractor keeps the roll for its own crew, so settle in writing who maintains what before the first wage period runs. Your consultant can tell you which forms and which retention period apply, because both differ by state.
A worked example
The setup
Suppose Bhaskar is on a site crew paid INR 545 a day. The roll for the wage period shows 22 days against his name, one entered on a date he was absent.
The calculation
INR 545 x 22 days = INR 11,990 as first written. Removing the day entered in error gives INR 11,990 - INR 545 = INR 11,445 for the 21 days actually worked.The result
Bhaskar is paid INR 11,445 for the period. The roll is corrected to 21 days, and the wage register for the period is redrawn on that corrected entry.
Common mistakes
- Writing the roll up at the end of the wage period from the supervisor's phone messages. Entries are meant to be made daily, and a register filled in one sitting reads that way.
- Assuming the contractor's roll covers the principal employer. Where an act places a duty on the principal employer too, a contractor's register alone leaves a gap. Ask your consultant.
- Treating a printed report from any software as the roll. Which register you keep, and in which form, is fixed by the rules that cover you, and a substitute is a different document.
How VTClock handles it
VTClock does not maintain a muster roll and its attendance record is not one. It records geofenced check-ins, and the month's salary and printable slips build from those days.
Frequently asked questions
Does a record kept in an app count as a muster roll?
No. The register you must maintain, the form it takes and how long you hold it are fixed by the rules under the act that covers your establishment, and a software record does not stand in for that document on its own. Keep the prescribed register, and use whatever attendance record you maintain to fill it accurately. Confirm the applicable form with your consultant.
Who keeps the muster roll when workers come through a contractor?
The contractor maintains the roll for the workers it supplies, and depending on the act and your state rules the principal employer carries obligations over those same workers. Settle it in the contract: name who writes the roll, who verifies it and where the original is held. Then have your consultant confirm what your own establishment has to keep separately.
What is the difference between a muster roll and a wage register?
The muster roll records attendance date by date for each worker in the wage period. The wage register records what was earned and paid for those days, including the rate applied, the days counted and the deductions made. One feeds the other, so a day corrected on the roll has to be carried into the register before wages go out.
Do I need a muster roll for a crew of eight on one site?
Coverage depends on the act, the number of workers engaged and your state rules, and the thresholds differ between them, so ask your consultant about your own establishment before assuming a small crew sits outside. Keeping a dated daily register costs nothing either way, and it settles wage arguments on site that otherwise turn into one person's word against another's.
Related terms
- Attendance registerAn attendance register is the day-by-day record of who was present, absent, late or on leave across a wage period.
- Daily wageA daily wage is an amount fixed for one day of work and paid for each day the worker actually attends.
- Minimum wagesMinimum wages are the lowest wage an employer may lawfully pay for a given kind of work, fixed by the appropriate government under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948 and carried forward...
- Payable daysPayable days are the number of days a monthly salary is spread across, and the number of days in a given month the employee is actually paid for.
- Overtime payOvertime pay is the extra amount an employer pays for hours worked beyond the normal daily or weekly hours fixed for a job.
- Salary slipA salary slip is the statement an employer gives an employee for one wage period, setting out what was earned, what was deducted and what was paid.
Modules that touch this
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