8th Pay Commission: When State Employees May See Salary Overhaul, What Fitment Factor To Expect
States may take around 1-3 years to implement the salary hike after the 8th Pay Commission's rollout, an expert said, citing the precedent.
With the central government employees and pensioners set to get a significant pay hike under the 8th Central Pay Commission, the spotlight has now shifted towards those employed by the state governments. There are questions related to whether they will get the same salary or pension hike as the central government employees, and when they can expect arrears.
As per the Centre, the recommendations of the pay commissions are generally implemented after a gap of every 10 years. "Going by this trend, the effect of the 8th Central Pay Commission recommendations would normally be expected from 01.01.2026,” an official release had stated on Oct. 28.
When State Employees Could See Salary Overhaul?
There is no statutory deadline for state governments to adopt the recommendations of the Central Pay Commission, Ramachandran Krishnamoorthy, Director, Payroll Services, Nexdigm, told The Economic Times.
Krishnamoorthy shared that while some states implement the revisions within a six-month to one-year period, others often take one-to-three years to do the same. This is usually because they "constitute their own state pay commissions to assess the fiscal impact and recommend suitable modifications," he added.
In Uttar Pradesh, the term of the 7th Pay Commission effectively ended on Dec. 31, 2025 — same as the term of the Central Pay Commission. This means state employees could be eligible arrears from Jan. 1.
Notably, employees and pensioners get arrears for the total period between the effective date and the actual date of implementation.
However, it is not mandatory for state governments to align their pay commissions with that of the central government. For example, Kerala had constituted 11th Pay Commission for salary revision, while it is the 7th in Karnataka.
What Fitment Factor To Expect
Will state government employees get the same salary revision as compared to their central counterparts? This can't be said for certain.
The revision in salaries and pensions is based on the fitment factor that is determined in relation to inflation.
Under the 7th Central Pay Commission, the fitment factor was 2.57. This meant that the existing basic wage under the 6th Pay Commission was multiplied by 2.57, or raised by 157%, to determine the new salary that came into effect from Jan. 1, 2016. However, the dearness allowance was reset to zero at the time, leading to a much lower effective pay hike.
While Uttar Pradesh used the same fitment factor, Punjab adopted a multiplication unit of 2.59 for revising salaries under the 6th Pay Commission, which was implemented in the state from Jan. 1, 2016.
