The Ministry of Labour and Employment has pre-published draft rules on the four labour codes covering wages, industrial relations, social security, and occupational safety, health and working conditions. This significant development seeks stakeholder feedback on regulations that will reshape India's labour landscape and represents a critical milestone in making the new labour laws fully operational across the country.

Four Labour Codes Framework

The draft rules pertain to four key legislative frameworks that will transform India's labour ecosystem:

The government has set an ambitious target to operationalise all four codes simultaneously from April 1, 2026, ensuring uniform implementation across the nation.

Stakeholder Consultation Process

The ministry has established specific timeframes for collecting feedback from various stakeholders:

This consultation process ensures that industry concerns and practical implementation challenges are addressed before the final rules are notified.

Industry Response and Implementation Pathway

Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General of CII, welcomed the development, stating that "the release of the draft rules under the four Labour Codes marks a key step in operationalising India's labour reforms." He emphasised that the rules will help industry prepare with confidence, simplify compliance, and support sustainable growth while strengthening worker protections.

Union Labour & Employment Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had earlier indicated at CII IndiaEdge 2025 that draft rules would be pre-published shortly. The minister noted that while both central and state governments had previously pre-published draft rules, there was a need to bring them in sync with present times.

Social Security Expansion Goals

The government has set an ambitious target of providing social security coverage to 100.00 crore workers by March 2026, up from the existing 94.00 crore workers. This represents a significant expansion from the social security coverage that grew from 19.00% in 2015 to over 64.00% in 2025.

Key Provisions and Worker Benefits

The labour codes introduce several progressive provisions designed to enhance worker protection and rights:

Implementation Framework

Since labour is a concurrent subject under India's constitutional framework, both the Centre and state governments must notify rules under the four codes for complete enforcement across the country. States are currently in the process of formally publishing their respective rules to ensure synchronized implementation.

The enforcement of these codes is expected to mark a transformative step in India's labour ecosystem, broadening worker protection while easing business operations and promoting a pro-worker environment nationwide.

India's labour and employment ecosystem underwent a decisive transformation in 2025, marked by comprehensive regulatory reforms, declining unemployment rates, and expanded social protection coverage. The Ministry of Labour and Employment reported significant progress across multiple fronts, combining legislative modernization with improved market indicators and enhanced digital welfare systems.

Implementation of New Labour Codes

A landmark development was the government's implementation of four Labour Codes effective November 21, 2025. These comprehensive reforms consolidated India's labour framework by subsuming 29 existing labour laws into streamlined legislation.

The new framework introduced several modernization measures designed to simplify compliance and enhance worker protection. Key features include uniform definitions across statutes, web-based inspection systems, and a shift towards facilitation through Inspector-cum-Facilitators. The codes streamlined administrative processes through single registration, licensing and return mechanisms, while incorporating provisions for compounding and decriminalisation of first-time offences.

Significantly, the framework mandates non-discrimination policies, including specific protections for transgender persons. The codes also expand employment opportunities for women, permitting work across all sectors and night shifts with prescribed safety measures.

Unemployment Rates Reach Multi-Month Lows

Employment indicators showed substantial improvement throughout 2025, with Periodic Labour Force Survey data revealing sustained declines in unemployment rates. The overall unemployment rate for persons aged 15 and above dropped to 4.8% in November 2025, down from 5.4% in October, representing the lowest level recorded since April.

Other labour market indicators demonstrated strengthening trends. The Labour Force Participation Rate increased to 55.8% in November, marking a seven-month high, while the Worker Population Ratio improved to 53.2%. These gains reflected higher workforce engagement and employment absorption, supported by improvements in rural employment, rising female participation, and gradual recovery in urban labour demand.

Expanded Social Protection and Digital Infrastructure

Social protection coverage experienced significant expansion during 2025, with India achieving second place globally and extending coverage to 64.3% of the population. This milestone reflected the government's sustained efforts to broaden welfare access across demographic segments.

The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation implemented major digital enhancements to improve service delivery and accessibility. Key upgrades included auto-settlement of claims up to ₹5.00 lakh, implementation of a centralised pension system, and face authentication-enabled Universal Account Number activation.

The Employees' State Insurance Corporation expanded its operational footprint substantially, extending coverage to 713 districts nationwide. Hospital bed capacity increased to 87,715 in FY2024-25, enhancing healthcare access for covered workers.

Employment Facilitation Initiatives

Employment facilitation programs gained significant momentum throughout 2025. The National Career Service portal demonstrated strong performance, hosting 9,785 job fairs that resulted in 1.58 lakh selections. The e-Shram portal achieved a major milestone, crossing 31.42 crore worker registrations.

A dedicated module for platform workers was launched during the year, successfully onboarding 14 aggregators. This initiative addressed the growing gig economy segment and provided formal recognition for platform-based employment.

These comprehensive developments positioned 2025 as a transformative year for India's labour market, combining legislative reform with improving employment trends and an expanded welfare framework within an increasingly digitised system.