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ARTICLE · 25 NOVEMBER 2025

Labour Codes Brought Into Effect: Key Takeaways As Government Ushers In The New Regime

Khaitan & Co.
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Employers may take the apprehensions demonstrated in the public domain about immediate consequences on cost and compliances with a pinch of salt as the gradual rule-making process read with the facilitation framework set out under the codes will allow breathing room to employers to assess their compliance status without the risk of immediate administrative action...

IndiaEmployment and HR
Anshul Prakash
Anshul Prakash
Srishti Ramkrishnan
Srishti Ramkrishnan
Deeksha Malik
Deeksha Malik
Varsha Sankara Raman
Varsha Sankara Raman
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In one of the most awaited developments in the employment law landscape in the country, the Government of India has, through a series of notifications dated 21 November 2025, brought into effect the four labour codes - the Code on Wages, 2019 (Wages Code), the Code on Social Security, 2020 (SS Code), the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (IR Code), and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code). Such codes are slated to replace 29 Central labour laws and bring about a more cohesive and modern framework for compliance.

As part of its efforts to sensitize employers about the key provisions of the labour codes, the Firm had drawn up a primer on the codes (as available here) back when the codes were notified in the Official Gazette in 2019 and 2020. In this update, we provide a brief overview of the key provisions having become effective in each of the codes.

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