Key Terms & Concepts — UPSC Mains
Labour Codes 2025
"Four consolidated labour codes that replaced 29 colonial-era labour laws, effective 21 November 2025"
The Labour Codes 2025 refer to the four comprehensive labour legislation codes — Code on Wages (2019), Industrial Relations Code (2020), Social Security Code (2020), and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020) — that became effective on 21 November 2025 after prolonged implementation delays. These four codes consolidated and replaced 29 pre-existing central labour laws, many dating back to the colonial era. Key reforms include: recognition of gig and platform workers as a distinct employment category with social security entitlements; legalisation of fixed-term employment across all sectors; permission for women to work night shifts in factories (with employer-provided safety and transport); introduction of a National Floor Wage below which no state can set its minimum wage; restructured take-home pay (wages must constitute at least 50% of total remuneration, affecting PF and gratuity calculations); and simplified registration and compliance through a single-window digital portal. The codes apply uniformly across states, though states must frame rules for implementation.
Central to UPSC GS-2 (Polity — legislative reforms, governance) and GS-3 (Economy — labour markets, inclusive growth). The Labour Codes represent the most significant overhaul of India's labour law framework since independence. Questions may test the four code names, the number of laws replaced, specific reforms (gig worker coverage, fixed-term employment, women night shifts, national floor wage), and the constitutional basis (Labour is on the Concurrent List — Entry 22-24, Seventh Schedule).
- 1 Four codes — Wages (2019), Industrial Relations (2020), Social Security (2020), Occupational Safety (2020)
- 2 Effective 21 November 2025; replaced 29 central labour laws
- 3 Gig and platform workers recognised with social security entitlements for the first time
- 4 Fixed-term employment legalised across all sectors
- 5 Women permitted to work night shifts in factories (with safety and transport safeguards)
- 6 National Floor Wage introduced — no state minimum wage can fall below this floor
- 7 Wages must constitute at least 50% of total remuneration (impacts PF and gratuity calculations)
- 8 Labour is on the Concurrent List (Seventh Schedule, Entries 22-24)