While there has been improvement in the minimum wage compared to the past, still 15.30 percent of the workers still do not receive the prescribed minimum wage. The Labor Audit carried out by the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions (Gefont) shows the issue of minimum wage still persists but compared to 2018, the number of workers who do not get the minimum wage has decreased. As per the Gefont Labor Audit, the trend of hiring trainee workers by industrial establishments is increasing. "Industrial establishments have been using 21 percent of trainee workers but they are not classified as the workers. This shows that a new form of labor exploitation is developing with more use of trainee workers," reads the report.

Of the 145 industrial establishments included in the labor audit, 65 percent are registered at the contribution-based Social Security Fund. However, only 56 percent of them have been depositing money from their workers in the fund.

The report also shows a rise in the number of Indian and other foreign workers in Nepal. According to the report, around 20 percent of industrial establishments have employed Indian and foreign workers. "Of them, 80 percent have not obtained official labor permits to employ foreign workers," said the report. When employing foreign nationals, a labor permit must be obtained from the Department of Labor and Occupational Safety. Even when Indian workers, who do not require labor permits to work in Nepal, are hired, they must be documented in the labor department. The report states that the companies did not follow the said policy. According to the report, the number of industrial establishments paying regular salaries has declined. Only 70.5 percent of industrial establishments are paying salaries within one month in 2022 compared to 83 percent in 2018. The report says the employers have not paid much attention to the medical insurance and accident insurance of their workers. According to the Labor Act, the employer has to provide medical treatment insurance of Rs 100,000 and accident insurance of Rs 700,000 for each worker. Of the industrial establishments included in the Labor Audit, only 44.75 percent of the industries have provided medical treatment insurance for workers and 40.45 percent have provided workers' accident insurance. While more industries are employing workers by signing formal labor contracts, the trend of using workers without labor contracts still continues. According to the report, 69.93 percent of establishments have labor contracts with workers. Only 55.93 percent of the companies used to employ workers through labor contracts in 2018. According to Gefont Vice President Ramesh Badal, the audit has highlighted that the overall implementation aspect of the service facilities provided to the workers as per the Labor Act is weak. "Workers have received minimum wages in the industries where there is a labor union," said Badal, adding, "Still 15.30 percent have not received the minimum wage which is sad."