Published on: 23 November, 2025 13:35 IST

India’s labour codes underwent its most sweeping overhaul since Independence on 21 November 2025, when the Centre formally implemented the four labour codes on wages, industrial relations, social security, and occupational safety and health. These codes replace 29 separate laws, consolidating decades- old rules into a unified and modern framework.

The timing is significant. Between 2017–18 and 2023–24, India added more than 16 crore jobs, unemployment fell from 6% to 3.2%, and over 1.5 crore women joined the formal workforce. Yet this rapidly expanding labour market continued to operate under rules designed for a far different era.

The Four new Labour Codes introduced by

1. The Code on Wages, 2019
2. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020
3. The Code on Social Security, 2020
4. The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020

The 29 Existing Labour Laws which are being Replaced

A. Laws Replaced by the Code on Wages, 2019 (4 laws)

1. The Payment of Wages Act, 1936
2. The Minimum Wages Act, 1948
3. The Payment of Bonus Act, 1965
4. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976

B. Laws Replaced by the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (3 laws)

1. The Trade Unions Act, 1926
2. The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946
3. The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947

C. Laws Replaced by the Code on Social Security, 2020 (9 laws)

1. The Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923
2. The Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948
3. The Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952
4. The Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959
5. The Maternity Benefit Act, 1961
6. The Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972
7. The Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981
8. The Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996
9. The Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008

D. Laws Replaced by the OSH Code, 2020 (13 laws)

1. The Factories Act, 1948
2. The Mines Act, 1952
3. The Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Act, 1986
4. The Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1996
5. The Plantations Labour Act, 1951
6. The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970
7. The Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Act, 1979
8. The Working Journalists and Other Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 1955
9. The Working Journalists (Fixation of Rates of Wages) Act, 1958
10. The Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961
11. The Sales Promotion Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1976
12. The Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966
13. The Cine Workers and Cinema Theatre Workers Act, 1981

Gratuity After One Year & A New Wage Definition

A key change is the adoption of a uniform definition of wages, applicable across all labour regulations. This standardisation will reshape how companies structure salaries, allowances, and benefits—and will directly affect gratuity calculations.

Fixed-term employees—who form a large share of today’s workforce in IT, manufacturing, media, startups and project-based sectors—will now qualify for gratuity after just one year of service instead of five.

Calling the reform “a long-awaited structural reset,” Sudhakar Sethuraman, Partner, Deloitte India, notes that the codes bring consistency across wage structures and simplify compliance. Most states, he added, are likely to roll out implementation in phases.

Social Security for Gig & Platform Workers

For the first time, gig and platform workers—delivery agents, ride-hailing drivers, service-platform professionals, freelancers—have been formally recognised under labour law.

Aggregators must now contribute to a dedicated social-security fund that will finance insurance, health cover, disability protection, and old-age support for these workers. A new national database of unorganised workers will help track skills, employment histories, and ensure portability of benefits across states.

This marks one of India’s most significant expansions of welfare coverage in decades.

Women Can Now Work Night Shifts Across Sectors

Women will now be permitted to work night shifts in all sectors—including mining, manufacturing, logistics, and hazardous occupations—subject to consent and mandatory safety measures.

This opens access to higher-paying roles that were previously restricted and aligns India with global gender-equality norms.

Mandatory Annual Health Check-Ups

Industries like textiles, beedi manufacturing, plantations, media, dock work, and audio-visual production—earlier governed by fragmented safety rules- now fall under uniform protections.

Employers must provide free annual health check-ups for all workers aged 40 and above.

Simpler Compliance: Single Registration, Single Return

For employers, the most visible relief comes through compliance reform. The new system replaces dozens of registrations, licences and returns with a single registration, single licence and single return.

Inspections shift to a digital, risk-based model, redefining the inspector’s role from enforcement to facilitation.

Calling 21 November “a landmark date for employment laws,” Atul Gupta, Partner, Trilegal, emphasised the quiet but historic replacement of colonial-era statutes, with states now preparing to implement their respective rules and schemes.

What This Means for India’s Workforce

The four labour codes move India away from fragmented, colonial-era laws toward a unified, tech-enabled, modern labour system. They extend social protection to millions of unorganised and informal workers, bring fixed-term workers closer to parity with permanent employees, and expand ESIC coverage nationwide.

If implemented smoothly, the reforms promise:

• stronger workplace protections,
• wider benefit portability,
• clearer employer obligations, and
• a more predictable employment environment.

From gig workers and factory staff to IT employees, contract workers and migrant labourers, the impact will be far-reaching.

Why Trade Unions Opposing the Codes

Ten major trade unions aligned with opposition parties denounced the rollout as a “deceptive fraud” and demanded immediate withdrawal of the laws. Their joint statement argued that while the government has presented the codes as simplification, they also make hiring and firing easier and dilute long-standing protections.

Although the labour ministry conducted over a dozen consultations with unions since June 2024, union leaders say their objections were ignored. Nationwide protests are planned for Wednesday, continuing a five-year campaign against the reforms.