India’s long-pending overhaul of labour laws has formally moved from draft to enforcement. The Centre has implemented the four labour codes, the Code on Wages (2019), Industrial Relations Code (2020), Code on Social Security (2020), and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code (2020, with effect from November 21, 2025.
Together, these codes repeal and consolidate 29 existing central labour laws into a single framework governing pay, industrial relations, welfare benefits and workplace safety.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, called the reform "one of the most comprehensive and progressive labour-oriented reforms since Independence."
What the government says the rollout is meant to do
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, speaking earlier this week in another context, framed the broader reform push as aimed at simplifying older compliance regimes and improving predictability for businesses while widening protections for workers. In the case of the labour codes, the government position, reiterated in the implementation note, is that consolidation will reduce fragmented rules and extend coverage to categories previously outside formal benefits.
The four codes, in plain English
1) Code on Wages (2019)
This code universalises the right to minimum wages and timely payment of wages across sectors, replacing the earlier system that linked minimum wages to notified 'scheduled employments.'
2) Industrial Relations Code (2020)
This code folds rules on trade unions, dispute resolution and conditions around layoffs/closures into one law, and aims to streamline industrial compliance through common definitions and processes.
3) Code on Social Security (2020)
This expands the legal architecture for social security, PF, ESIC and other welfare measures, and for the first time creates an explicit enabling framework for gig and platform workers to be brought under social security schemes.
4) OSHWC Code (2020)
This code merges multiple laws on workplace safety and working conditions into one set of standards, with a national framework for occupational safety and health.
Key changes flagged in the implementation package
Based on the notified framework and the government’s stated objectives, the rollout pushes several system-level shifts:
Minimum wage coverage for all workers and a national floor wage concept to prevent sub-minimum pay across states.
Formalisation tools such as mandatory appointment letters and clearer employer-employee documentation in most categories.
Wider social security net, including enabling provisions for gig and platform workers and improved portability of benefits.
Single or simplified registration/returns intended to reduce overlapping filings and inspections.
Expanded scope for women’s employment, including night shifts where safety conditions are met.
Several of the more granular sector-wise rules, such as exact contribution rates, operational thresholds and compliance formats, will still depend on subordinate rules and schemes notified by the Centre and states under each code.
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