Notified on November 21, 2025, the four labour codes replace 29 older laws and bring major changes to take-home salary, minimum wages, working hours, gig-worker protection, gender parity and fixed-term employment. While many welcome the clarity, unions warn the new system could weaken hard-won labour rights.
A lot of people are curious about the new rules, and there’s a lot of confusion around them. What do the new codes mean for employees, and what does it change for companies? Let’s break it down clearly.
India used to have 29 central laws on labour—too many and too confusing. In 2020, the government tried to streamline this by introducing four major labour codes: the Code on Wages 2019, Industrial Relations Code 2020, Social Security Code 2020, and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020.
One major change involves take-home salary. The new code says your basic pay must make up 50% of your package. So, if your package is ₹10 lakh a year, your basic pay must be ₹5 lakh. This reduces in-hand salary but boosts contributions to social security schemes like the provident fund.
The Codes also guarantee a minimum wage to all workers—organised, unorganised, digital and audio-visual. Electronic media journalists, dubbing professionals, and stunt performers will now get comprehensive benefits. A national Floor Wage will be set, while states will fix rates above it.
Timely payments are now mandatory: daily workers must be paid at the end of their shift, weekly workers before their weekly holiday, and monthly workers within seven days of the next month.
Working hours have been fixed between 8 and 12 hours a day, with a 48-hour weekly limit. Overtime must be paid at twice the regular wage.
Gig workers such as delivery boys and cab riders will now be included under social security. Platforms like Uber or Swiggy will contribute 1–2% of turnover to a social security fund.
The Codes push for gender parity by reiterating equal pay and allowing night shifts for women with their consent and safety arrangements.
Workers above 40 years are entitled to one free annual health check-up. A new category—fixed-term employees—will now receive gratuity after one year, unlike the five-year requirement for regular employees.
However, not everyone is convinced. Critics argue that the Social Security Code does not guarantee universal coverage, and that the Codes legalise permanent temporariness and easier hire-and-fire. They say the historic eight-hour working day is being diluted and that the Codes promote union-free workplaces in the name of Ease of Doing Business.
This remains the core of the debate as India enters a new era of labour regulation.