HR Law Hotline: The future of work: India’s unified Labour Code regime takes effect

The future of work: India’s unified Labour Code regime takes effect

This article was first published in lexology.com (November, 24, 2025).

Background

After years of deliberation and phased legislative reform, the four new Labour Codes, namely the Code on Wages, 2019 (“Wage Code”), the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (“IR Code”), the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (“OSH Code”), and the Code on Social Security, 2020 (“SS Code”), have been brought into effect by the Government of India vide several notifications dated November 21, 2025. The implementation of the Labour Codes, which consolidates 29 existing central labour laws into a cohesive and simplified framework, marks a landmark moment in India’s employment law landscape, ensuring greater uniformity in labour regulation, reduced compliance burden for employers, and a more balanced framework for industrial relations that supports ease of doing business while safeguarding worker rights. This article examines the transformative changes under the new Labour Codes and what they mean for employers navigating India’s evolving labour law framework.

Introduction

The implementation of the Labour Codes had been anticipated since their notification in the Official Gazette in 2019 and 2020, however, delays arising from the need for formulation of the rules at the state-level and prolonged stakeholder consultations posed challenges, culminating in their eventual enforcement on November 21, 2025. With the ushering of the Codes, the new regime is expected to have a wide-ranging impact on how organisations manage their workforce, compliance obligations, and employee relations.

For one, the Labour Codes introduce greater uniformity and clarity by redefining the concept of wages, expanding social security coverage, streamlining compliance and reporting mechanisms across sectors. At the same time, the Codes seek to provide greater procedural flexibility to employers in areas such as fixed-term employment, contract labour engagement, and industrial dispute resolution, while continuing to strengthen worker protections and social security entitlements.

As per the notifications issued by the Ministry of Labour and Employment on November 21, 2025, while all provisions of the IR Code and the OSH Code have been brought into effect, only select provisions of the Wage Code and the SS Code have been implemented at this stage. While draft rules under all four Codes had been published earlier, these are now being reviewed to reflect the current legal and economic environment. The Government has announced that the revised draft rules will soon be released for public consultation for a period of at least 45 days. Once the final rules are notified, the major provisions of the Codes will become fully operational.

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Authors

- Somya Bhargava, Kajol Pokkhriyal and Deepti Thakkar

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