From the 1st of April 2026, all the Labour Codes will be effective, and the government will publish draft rules for consultation

India is all set to see the beginning of a new era of labor reform as the four Labour Codes-the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020, and the Code on Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, 2020-are expected to be fully operational on April 1, 2026. These codes have been approved with notification dated November 21, 2025, in order to replace 29 fragmented labor laws with a modernized unified framework for both laborers and businesses.

Government to start the prepublication of the draft rules

The government has to notify rules under each of the laws before it can bring the laws into force. In the hope of transparency, the central government and state governments shall also pre-publish the draft rules so that the public has an opportunity to react. So, Labor & Employment Minister (L&E) Shri Mansukh Mandaviya said that the draft rules are going to be released within no time for all four labor codes.

The minister narrated that the draft rules, laid out one after the other, were prepared some 2 years before the time concerned arrived, and given the "many changes" lining the period, the rules were insufficient and needed to be remodeled. The rules shall be kept open for public opinion for 45 days from pre-publication before being finalized and articulated.

Key Features of the New Labour Codes

• Working hours: The standard working hours are still 8 hours per day, and there might be overtime work over and beyond 8 hours in a day. This provision corresponds to international best practice.
• Social security expansion: The government is targeting 100 crore workers receiving some kind of social security benefit by March 2026, which includes the accomplishment of providing social security to 94.8 crore workers. Otherwise, the coverage has already expanded from a mere 19% in 2015 to more than 64% in 2025.
• Worker protections: Appointment letters will be mandatory and will be optional if agreed upon by both parties. In addition, free of cost health checkups and equal pay for equal work and equal opportunities for women are provided for in case of a shift of operation.

A Transformative Step for India's Workforce

The Labour Codes having been operational would imply that the Centre and states must notify the rules, hence making the codes applicable to reach the working masses associated with such codes which shall:

1. Expand protection for the DoL

2. Bring compliance burdens down for industry

3. Enhance a united worker-friendly environment to age-forward work laws

The planned introduction of the Labour Codes on April 1, 2026 marks the largest leap for India towards a transparent and ethical constitution for an extremely forward-looking labour environment quite in balance with the fairly placed interests of both under parties, i.e., workers and industrialists.