India’s labour landscape shifted on Friday as the government brought all four Labour Codes into effect, replacing decades-old laws with a uniform structure that reaches every corner of the workforce, from factory floors to app-based gig workers.
The Code of Wages, Industrial Relations Code, Code on Social Security and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code now stand in place of 29 separate laws.
Together, they redraw how wages are paid, how workers are protected, and how businesses operate.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the Codes “one of the most comprehensive and progressive labour-oriented reforms since Independence. It greatly empowers our workers. It also significantly simplifies compliance and promotes ‘Ease of Doing Business’.”
He said the Codes “will serve as a strong foundation for universal social security, minimum and timely payment of wages, safe workplaces and remunerative opportunities for our people, especially Nari Shakti and Yuva Shakti.”
They will, he added, “build a future-ready ecosystem that protects the rights of workers and strengthens India's economic growth. These reforms will boost job creation, drive productivity and accelerate our journey towards a Viksit Bharat.”
The new framework brings gig and platform workers into the social security net for the first time, mandates appointment letters for all employees, introduces a national floor wage and pushes gender-neutral provisions across workplaces. For women, the Codes allow night shifts with safety conditions.
Workers above 40 will get free annual health check-ups. ESIC coverage expands across India, with hazardous units brought in even if they have a single worker.
Labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on X: “Modi Government’s Guarantee: Dignity for Every Worker! From today, the new labour codes have been made effective in the country.” He said the Codes secure minimum wages for all, formal appointment letters for youth, equal pay for women, social security for 40 crore workers, gratuity for fixed-term employees after one year, and double wages for overtime. “These reforms are not just ordinary changes, but a major step taken by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for the welfare of the workforce. These new labour reforms are an important step towards a self-reliant India and will give new momentum to the goal of a developed India by 2047.”
For the first time, ‘gig work’, ‘platform work’ and ‘aggregators’ have been defined in law. Fixed-term employees will get benefits on par with permanent staff.
Aadhaar-linked universal account numbers will carry social-security benefits across states, crucial for migrant workers.
Plantation workers, journalists in electronic media, dubbing artists, stunt performers and others in digital and audiovisual fields come under the Codes as well.
A National Occupational Safety and Health Board will push uniform safety standards, while an Inspector-cum-Facilitator model aims to move inspections away from punitive practices.
The government says existing laws will stay in place as required during the transition, while consultations begin on detailed rules and schemes.
Social-security coverage, which stood at 19 per cent in 2015, has risen to over 64 per cent in 2025. The Codes are positioned as the next step in widening protections and cutting fragmentation in labour regulation.
India’s older labour laws were shaped between the 1930s and 1950s.