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India’s biggest labour-law reform in seven decades is now fully live: from 21 November 2025, all four Labour Codes operate together, folding roughly 44 central labour laws into four consolidated statutes. For commerce and competitive-exam students this is the single most examinable reform in Indian labour law — it modernises everything from minimum wages to gig-worker social security in one sweep.

This hub post gives you the full architecture: how the consolidation was designed, what each code contains, what they replace, and the numbers examiners love. Deeper dives on the older acts it absorbs are linked throughout — the Factories Act, our gratuity guide and the EPF Act explainer.

The Big Picture: 44 Laws Into 4 Codes

The consolidation logic came from the Second National Commission on Labour and a 2015 government plan to simplify compliance.

1. The design. Four codes now govern wages, industrial relations, workplace safety and social security — replacing a web of overlapping century-old statutes.
2. The gain. One registration, one licence and common definitions replace multiple filings, cutting disputes and improving ease of doing business.
3. The enactment years. The Wage Code passed in 2019; the other three codes passed together in September 2020.
4. The long wait. All four codes needed central plus state rules, so full commencement took years — arriving on 21 November 2025.

Code on Wages, 2019

The first code passed — and the one that touches every single worker, organised or not.

1. Identity. Act No. 29 of 2019, passed by Lok Sabha on 30 July and Rajya Sabha on 2 August 2019, assented 8 August 2019.
2. What it replaces. The Payment of Wages Act 1936, Minimum Wages Act 1948, Payment of Bonus Act 1965 and Equal Remuneration Act 1976.
3. Universal coverage. Minimum wages and timely payment of wages now cover the entire workforce — all sectors, no wage ceiling, organised and unorganised alike.
4. Floor wage. The Centre fixes a national floor wage; states cannot set minimum wages below it.
5. Equal pay. Gender-neutral equal remuneration is retained and strengthened across all employments.

Industrial Relations Code, 2020

The most debated code — it redraws how unions, employers and strikes interact.

1. Identity. Act No. 35 of 2020, passed 22–23 September 2020 in the two Houses, in force from 21 November 2025.
2. What it replaces. The Trade Unions Act 1926, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946 and the Industrial Disputes Act 1947.
3. Negotiating union. A union with 51% membership becomes the sole negotiating union; otherwise a council of unions with 20% combined membership is formed.
4. Strike rules. Workers must give 14 to 60 days’ notice before striking; concerted “mass casual leave” by over half the workforce now counts as a strike.
5. Flexibility threshold. Standing orders, layoff and retrenchment rules now apply only to establishments with 300 or more workers, up from 100.

OSH Code, 2020

The safety code merges the widest range of old laws — thirteen of them — into one workplace rulebook.

1. Identity. Act No. 37 of 2020 (Bill No. 122 of 2020), passed with the other 2020 codes and in force 21 November 2025.
2. What it replaces. Thirteen statutes, including the Factories Act 1948, Mines Act 1952, Contract Labour Act 1970, Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act 1979 and the Building and Construction Workers Act 1996.
3. Factory definition. A factory now means 20 workers (10 with power), widened from the old 10-and-20 thresholds.
4. Women at night. Women are permitted night shifts with their consent and adequate facilities, a landmark change detailed in the Factories Act.
5. One licence. A single registration and licence regime replaces multiple registrations across the thirteen repealed laws.

Code on Social Security, 2020

The most future-facing code — it takes social security beyond salaried employees to gig and platform workers for the first time.

1. Identity. Act No. 36 of 2020 (Bill No. 121 of 2020), with section 142 in force since May 2021 and full operation from 21 November 2025.
2. What it replaces. Nine laws, including the Employees’ Compensation Act 1923, ESI Act 1948, EPF Act 1952, Maternity Benefit Act 1961 and Payment of Gratuity Act 1972.
3. Gig and platform workers. The first Indian law to define gig and platform workers and bring them under social security schemes funded partly by aggregators.
4. Aggregator contribution. Aggregators contribute 1–2% of annual turnover, capped at 5% of amounts paid to workers.
5. Gratuity reform. Fixed-term employees — including the delivery partners of the platform economy — now earn gratuity on a pro-rata basis, building on the classic entitlement explained in our gratuity guide.

How Exams Probe This Topic

Labour reforms appear in commerce papers, UPSC prelims and every banking and SSC general-awareness section — always as numbers and matches.

1. Match-the-following. Expect codes paired with the laws they repeal — revise each code’s repealed statutes as a single flashcard.
2. Number traps. 51% negotiating union, 300-worker threshold, 14–60 day strike notice, 20-worker factory, 1–2% aggregator levy.
3. Date traps. 2019 Wage Code versus the three 2020 codes; 21 November 2025 as the unified commencement date.
4. Committee questions. The Second National Commission on Labour is the intellectual parent of the codes — a favourite prelims fact.
5. Mains angles. Formalisation of the workforce, social security for gig workers, and the flexibility-versus-security debate.

Quick Revision: One-Glance Facts

Carry these to the examination hall. Everything above collapses into one table of exam-grade facts.

1. The reform. 44 central labour laws consolidated into 4 codes, all fully in force from 21 November 2025.
2. The codes. Code on Wages 2019 (Act 29), Industrial Relations Code 2020 (Act 35), SS Code 2020 (Act 36), OSH Code 2020 (Act 37).
3. The parent idea. Recommended by the Second National Commission on Labour, launched as a plan in 2015.
4. Wage code. Universal minimum wage, national floor wage, equal remuneration — replaces four pay-related laws.
5. IR Code. 51% sole negotiating union, 14–60 day strike notice, 300-worker applicability threshold — replaces three relations laws.
6. OSH Code. Thirteen safety laws merged; factory = 20 workers; women on night shifts with consent, single licence regime.
7. SS Code. Nine laws merged; gig and platform workers covered; aggregators pay 1–2% of turnover; pro-rata gratuity for fixed-term staff.

Conclusion: One Lawbook for a Changing Workforce

The four codes matter because they aim at two goals at once: simpler compliance for employers and universal protection for workers — including the gig workforce older laws never imagined. The trade-offs are real (critics flag higher thresholds for retrenchment safeguards), and that debate is exactly what mains answers should engage. Pair this hub with the linked deep dives on the Factories Act, gratuity and provident fund to see how each classic entitlement survives inside the new architecture. Learn the structure first, the numbers second — the structure rarely changes, the numbers always get tested.

Gayatree

Author of the Article above