New Labour Laws: Where The New Codes Stand on Labour Protection?
Introduction
On November 21, 2025, India implemented four new labour laws that consolidate the earlier twenty-nine central laws, some of which were archaic. This has impacted labourers and workers across different fields in multiple significant ways. This article aims to determine where the new labour codes stand on labour protection based on an analysis of significant changes. To begin, we should know how “work” is judged.
Protection of labourers
For the same purpose, this article will rely on one of the most expansive frameworks, the ILO Decent Work Measurement Framework. However, this framework has arguably around 100 parameters. Therefore, for the sake of simplification, we will rely on its 10 substantive elements: rights at work, employment opportunities, adequate earnings, working time, work-life balance, a safe environment, social security, dialogue, equality, and work stability. 9 out of these 10 elements are directly related to labour protection. In the next section, we will examine whether the relevant significant change enhances or diminishes these elements.
To make a simple judgment on the protection of labourers, we can’t directly analyse the law as it deals with a plethora of dimensions, making the analysis as well as the result complex. So, we analyse the “work” the law will produce.
New Labour Laws: Analyzing Key Changes
We will review each relevant change, one law at a time.
Codes on Wages
It enhances equality by giving a broad definition of wages. Improves social security by setting a requirement of at most 50% deductions on total pay, requiring a mandatory wage slip, and a time limit for wage payment. Enriches work-life balance by explicitly limiting working hours. These factors are directly contributing to better labour protection, in accordance with ILO standards.
The Code on Social Security
This expands labour protection by extending coverage to unorganised, gig, and platform workers. Improves social security by providing national registration, dedicated social security funds, and mandatory contributions by aggregators. Enhances work stability by granting fixed-term employees parity with permanent workers in matters such as gratuity and by widening EPFO and ESIC coverage across sectors and hazardous occupations. These measures directly contribute to stronger labour protection, in line with ILO standards.
The Industrial Relations Code
This code strengthens labour protection by expanding the definition of a worker to include supervisory employees, sales promotion employees, and working journalists, provided they are paid below a specified wage threshold. Improves equality by bringing more categories of workers within collective labour protections. Supports work stability by consolidating multiple industrial laws into a single framework. These changes modestly contribute to labour protection in line with ILO standards.
However, the code weakens labour protection by limiting workers’ ability to organise, negotiate, and resist adverse employment decisions. Dilutes work stability by introducing fixed-term employment, which allows employers to hire workers for shorter periods without long-term security. Reduces protection against arbitrary job loss by raising the threshold for prior government approval for layoffs, retrenchment, and closure from 100 to 300 workers.
Furthermore, it restricts dialogue by extending stringent notice requirements for strikes to all establishments and by expanding the definition of strike to include mass casual leave, reducing workers’ collective bargaining power. Centralises negotiation by recognising only majority unions or councils, which marginalises smaller unions and weakens plural representation. These measures shift labour law from protecting workers’ rights toward regulating industrial peace, departing from core ILO principles of dialogue, work stability, and rights at work.
The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code
The code strengthens labour protection by expanding workplace rights and safety obligations. Enhances equality by allowing women to work night shifts with consent and mandatory safety measures, and by widening the definition of inter-state migrant workers to include those directly employed by employers. Improves rights at work by mandating appointment letters that clearly state wages, designation, and social security details. Supports a safe working environment by requiring free annual health examinations and the establishment of safety committees in large establishments. These measures collectively contribute to better labour protection in accordance with ILO standards.
However, the OHS weakens labour protection by expanding the scope of contract labour. Reduces work stability by raising the threshold for applying contract labour norms and by permitting contract labour even in core activities of establishments. These changes increase flexibility for employers at the cost of employment security, departing from ILO principles of work stability and dialogue.
Government’s Stance
The government justifies the new labour codes by citing economic and workforce changes. The Ministry states outdated laws were meant for a different industrial era and are now unsuitable, especially with unorganised, gig, and platform work rising. The law consolidation aims to reduce state fragmentation, standardize rules, and extend rights and social security to previously excluded workers. Meanwhile, the government also seeks to ease compliance burdens for employers, enhance business efficiency, and encourage investment through simplified registration, higher thresholds, and flexibility to promote industrial peace and growth.
Conclusion
While the assessment under the ILO framework is asymmetrical in favour of stronger labour protection on paper, the codes also demonstrate an effort to balance worker welfare with economic growth. The laws appear broadly labour-friendly in design, but this balance means that their actual impact will depend on how they are implemented and enforced in practice.
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