Overview
- Draft rules for the Codes on Wages, Industrial Relations, Social Security, and Occupational Safety and Health are out for public comment, with 45 days for most rules and 30 days for the Industrial Relations Code.
- The uniform definition of wages counts basic pay, dearness allowance and retaining allowance and adds back allowances above 50% of total remuneration, a change that industry says could raise payroll costs by 1.5%–10%.
- The Labour Ministry clarified gratuity applies prospectively from November 21, 2025 and will be calculated on last drawn wages excluding items such as performance-linked pay, with ICAI advising firms to recognise higher liabilities in the Dec 31, 2025 quarter.
- The drafts prescribe a 48-hour workweek, double overtime pay, and detailed safeguards for women on night shifts, and they require appointment letters, digitised compliance and annual health checks in specified sectors.
- The Social Security rules recognise gig and platform workers with representation on a new National Social Security Board, and the Industrial Relations rules set up a Workers’ Reskilling Fund requiring 15 days’ wages per retrenched worker to be transferred within 10 days, while older rules stay in force until new ones are notified and national rollout depends on state notifications toward a planned April 1, 2026 start.