Labour Reform in India: From Fragmentation to Codification

India’s labour laws have long remained a complex maze a tangle of 29 archaic legislations that not only confused compliance but left vast segments of workers outside the scope of social protection.

In a landmark move, the Government of India introduced four consolidated Labour Codes: the Code on Wages, the Code on Social Security, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, and the Industrial Relations Code. With this, India signaled a decisive shift in favour of both economic rationality and social justice.

These codes seek to universalize the right to minimum wages and timely payment, extend social security to unorganized and gig workers, ensure workplace safety, and simplify industrial relations.

Significantly, for the first time since independence, nearly 40 crore unorganized sector workers have been brought under a structured legal framework.

The idea is not just statutory it’s moral. It recognizes informal workers as legitimate contributors to national growth, deserving of legal recognition and entitlements.

The new framework also corrects long-standing deficiencies. By replacing the colonial-era ‘Inspector Raj’ with a transparent, web-based inspection system and reimagining inspectors as facilitators, the law promotes compliance without coercion.

Through digitization universal account numbers, centralized databases, and online filings the government envisions labour governance that is both humane and efficient.

One of the most progressive features is the provision for equal remuneration and protection for fixed-term employees, women, and inter-state migrant workers.

Women can now work night shifts with consent, provided safety measures are in place a bold yet necessary move to improve gender equity in the workforce.

Meanwhile, inter-state workers are given a legal identity, portability of ration cards, and annual travel benefits addressing their longstanding vulnerabilities exposed during the pandemic.

Critics argue that the codification process may dilute worker protections or centralize power away from unions. But a deeper reading shows the Codes uphold trade union rights while pushing for statutory recognition and streamlined dispute resolution.

Industrial tribunals are now mandated to deliver verdicts within a year a crucial step toward speedy justice.

While the real test lies in implementation, especially by State governments, the structural intent is unmistakable: to bring India’s labour ecosystem into the 21st century, without losing sight of its constitutional values.

In codifying compassion with compliance, the Labour Codes represent a rare moment in Indian legal reform — where simplicity, dignity, and economic pragmatism converge

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