Business & Economics
India Finally Puts Four Consolidated Labour Codes Into Force
On 21 Nov 2025, New Delhi activated the long-delayed four labour codes passed in 2019-20, scrapping 29 legacy statutes and immediately standardising an 8-hour workday, minimum wages and universal social-security coverage across the country.
Focusing Facts
- The single framework merges 29 separate laws into the Code on Wages (2019), Industrial Relations Code (2020), Code on Social Security (2020) and OSH Code (2020), all effective nationwide from 21 Nov 2025.
- Industrial lay-off approval threshold jumps to 300 workers (from 100), altering dismissal rules for roughly 80% of India’s registered factories.
- For the first time, an estimated 12 million gig/platform workers are legally defined and earmarked for a contributory social-security fund (1-2 % of aggregator turnover, capped at 5 %).
Context
India has tried to untangle its colonial-era labour web before—most notably with the 1948 Factories Act and the piecemeal reforms following the 1991 liberalisation—but never in a single stroke that wiped away two-dozen laws. Like Japan’s 1947 Labour Standards Act, which post-war authorities used to balance worker rights with industrial expansion, the 2025 codes attempt to marry social protection with global-scale manufacturing flexibility. They signal a deep, century-long trend: the gradual formalisation of India’s overwhelmingly informal workforce (still ~80%) and a state shift from policing factories to brokering capital-labour compromise. Success or failure will ripple for decades—if the rules are enforced, they could nudge consumption, female labour participation and supply-chain relocation; if not, they may join the long list of well-meant statutes under-implemented since the 1881 Factory Act. Either way, they mark a rare moment when India bet that simplification, not subsidy, is the path to a 21st-century industrial economy.
Perspectives
BJP-aligned outlets
e.g., ANI, Asianet News Network — The rollout is a historic, worker-empowering reform that modernises colonial-era laws, strengthens women’s rights and builds a ‘self-reliant’ India championed by Prime Minister Modi. Coverage heavily amplifies government talking points while glossing over trade-union objections, reflecting an incentive to showcase BJP achievements ahead of elections. ( Asian News International (ANI) , Asianet News Network Pvt Ltd )
Left parties and national trade-union coalitions
quoted across national dailies — The four codes will erode hard-won worker protections, ease mass layoffs and amount to ‘modern slavery’ that chiefly benefits big business. Statements stress worst-case scenarios and ignore new social-security provisions, aligning with ideological opposition to market-oriented reforms and a need to mobilise street protests.
Business-focused national dailies
e.g., The Tribune, The Times of India — Consolidating 29 laws into four codes is a long-overdue step that simplifies compliance, attracts investment and extends minimum wages and social security to gig and informal workers. Reports foreground economic efficiency and investor sentiment while downplaying fears of easier hire-and-fire policies, mirroring corporate readership interests.