Govt moves to make labour codes fully operational from April 1 as draft rules near release

The four new labour codes are likely to be fully operational from April 1, 2026, as the Labour Ministry has begun enforcement of the rules under the notified law.

The four labour codes—Code on Wages, 2019, Industrial Relations Code, 2020, Code on Social Security, 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020—were notified on November 21.

For enforcing a law, the government needs to notify the rules under that to operationalise the legislation. Before that, the central and state governments are required to pre-publish the draft rules for public feedback.

Addressing the CII IndiaEdge 2025 event, Labour and Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said draft rules under the four labour codes will be pre-published shortly.

He said that earlier, the central and state governments had pre-published draft rules, but that was a long time ago, and now there is a need to bring the draft rules back in sync with the present times.

A senior official explained that after pre-publishing the draft rules, the government will give 45 days for public comments before finalising those for final notification.

The official also explained that the government intends to enforce the rules for operationalisation of the four codes from April 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Replying to queries during a session at the conference, the Minister explained that the working hours remain 8 per day under the new codes, which will replace 29 fragmented laws with a unified, modern framework.

YourStory had earlier reported that the codes will also require companies to formalise appointments for all categories of workers, introduce stricter payroll discipline, and align wage structures with the single-definition wage formula, prompting startups to reassess salary structures and statutory contributions.

He further explained that the new framework provides the worker with the option of overtime, which is an international practice.

The Minister also highlighted the government's intent to meet the target of providing social security to 100 crore workers by March 2026, up from the existing 94 crore in the country. As YourStory previously noted, the reforms formally bring gig and platform workers into the welfare framework, requiring digital record-keeping and contributions to dedicated worker funds.

The social security coverage had expanded from 19% in 2015 to over 64% in 2025.

Since labour is a concurrent subject, state and central governments will have to notify the rules under the four codes to enforce these fully across the country.

The enforcement of the codes will mark the next transformative step, broadening worker protection, easing business operations, and promoting a pro-worker labour ecosystem. YourStory earlier reported that the rollout also raises compliance expectations for founders, strengthening due diligence norms around contracts, exits, payroll timelines, and documentation, with investors increasingly assessing governance and labour compliance readiness.

The Minister also highlighted various provisions of the labour codes, like mandatory appointment letter, free health check-up for workers of the age of 40 years and above, equal work, equal pay and equal opportunity for women for work in different shifts.

The government has separately detailed several women-centric reforms under the codes, including mandatory representation on grievance committees, expanded maternity benefits, consent-based access to night or hazardous work with safety provisions, crèche requirements for establishments with 50 or more employees, and options for work-from-home after maternity leave, as YourStory earlier reported.

(With inputs from PTI)