Labour Reforms in India is a broad concept referring to the process of modernizing and simplifying the country's complex legal framework governing the relationship between employers and employees. The most significant recent change is the consolidation of 29 central labour laws into four comprehensive Labour Codes.
The origin of this reform push is rooted in the complexity of the pre-existing laws, which included over 40 central and 100 state laws, often with archaic provisions and inconsistent definitions. The Second National Commission on Labour (2002) recommended integrating these laws into groups to simplify the system and enhance the ease of doing business while safeguarding workers' rights.
The four new Codes, which came into effect on November 21, 2025, are the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. The mechanism of the reform works by replacing and subsuming older acts like the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
Key provisions include the Code on Wages, 2019, which establishes a national floor wage and a uniform definition of "wages". The Code on Social Security, 2020, extends social security benefits like provident fund and gratuity to gig and platform workers for the first time. The Industrial Relations Code, 2020, raises the threshold for requiring a standing order from 100 to 300 workers. The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, permits women to work at night, between 7 PM and 6 AM, with their consent and mandatory safety measures.
The concept connects directly to the Concurrent List of the Indian Constitution, as both the Central and State governments can legislate on labour matters, meaning the Codes require state-level rules for full implementation. The reform has changed the legal landscape by replacing 29 central laws with four Codes, but the underlying principle of balancing worker welfare with economic flexibility remains the same.