India brings four labour codes into force, promising reforms amid sharp opposition

India on 21 November 2025 implemented four consolidated labour codes that the government says will modernise decades-old workplace laws, expand social security and simplify compliance —a move welcomed by employers but denounced by trade unions and the opposition as harmful to workers’ rights.

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN Our SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The four statutes are: the Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code.

They replace 29 central labour laws and mark the most sweeping rewrite of Indian labour law in decades. The Labour Ministry and the government’s press office framed the reform as a step to create a “future-ready” workforce, to rationalise complex rules and to extend benefits such as minimum wages, formal appointment letters and wider social security coverage.

The new framework standardises rules across states and across sectors while introducing a set of specific changes intended to increase flexibility for employers and protections for certain categories of workers.