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The Centre’s new labour codes merge 29 laws, enable work from home by mutual agreement, ensure universal minimum wages, gender equality, and expand social security.
New Labour Codes
The Centre has given clarity on work from home, the mode of culture that has become popular post covid-19 period, through new labour codes. According to the codes, the government says work from home can be utilized on a mutual agreement between employee and employer in service sector. Moreover, it offers flexibility to women as well.
With the four major labour codes becoming effective from November 21, the India government has merged 29 old laws into one simple, modern framework, marking the biggest and historic overhaul into the country’s workforce system in decades. New four labour codes are aimed at ensuring compliance, streamlining enforcement, and modernising outdated laws. These will help ensuring better wages, wider social security coverage and improved health-related protections for workers across sectors.
The four comprehensive labour codes are made up of 29 old labour laws – namely, the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.
Important Provisions of this codes are:
1. Universal Minimum Wages: The Code establishes a statutory right to minimum wages for all employees across both organized and unorganized sectors. This also introduces a floor wage provision that will be set up the Government based on minimum living standards, with region-wise variation.
2. Gender Equality in Employment: Employers will not discriminate on the basis of gender, including transgender identity, in recruitment, wages, and employment conditions for similar work.
3. Fixed Term Employment (FTE): The eligibility of gratuity has been reduced to one-year from five-year earlier for direct, time-bound contracts with full parity in wages and benefits.
4. Expanded ESIC (Employees’ State Insurance) Coverage: ESIC now applies pan-India, eliminating the criteria of “notified areas.” Establishments with fewer than 10 employees may voluntarily opt in with mutual consent of employers and employees. Coverage would be mandated for hazardous occupation and extended to plantation workers.
5. Inclusion of Gig and Platform Workers: New definitions are included- “aggregator,” “gig worker,” and “platform worker” to enable social security coverage. Aggregators to contribute 1- 2% of annual turnover (capped at 5% of payments to such workers).
6. Expanded Definition of Dependents: Coverage extended to maternal grandparents and in case of female employees it also includes dependent parents-in-law, broadening family benefit access.
7. Working Hours & Overtime: Normal working hours capped at 8 hours/day and 48 hours/week. Overtime allowed only with worker consent and paid at twice the regular rate.
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst…Read More
Varun Yadav is a Sub Editor at News18 Business Digital. He writes articles on markets, personal finance, technology, and more. He completed his post-graduation diploma in English Journalism from the Indian Inst… Read More
November 25, 2025, 06:48 IST
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