A Critical Analysis Of India's Four Labour Codes: The Challenge Of Protecting The Informal And Gig Workforce

Abstract

The four Labour Codes were meant to bring all the old rules into a single clear set. I see that the old laws were confusing and hard to follow. For than seventy years industrial relations in India were controlled by a broken set of almost thirty central labour laws many of which came from the colonial era. These laws overlapped, had rules and made it hard for both employers and workers to keep track of what they must do. In September 2020 Parliament passed the Industrial Relations Code, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code and the Code on Social Security. A year earlier it had passed the Code on Wages. After a delay of than five years the Government of India made all four Codes effective on 21 November 2025. This paper carefully studies the four Codes. Compares them with the old laws. It looks at how the Industrial Relations Code brings together trade union recognition, standing orders and dispute resolution. It examines how the Code on Wages simplifies wage and bonus rules. It reviews how the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code changes safety rules and limits of application.. It explores how the Code on Social Security for the first time creates a legal safety net for gig and platform workers. Using academic articles, labour‑economics studies and official government notices the paper argues that although the Labour Codes bring useful order some parts of them – such as higher thresholds for who must follow the rules loose wording about gig‑worker benefits and the fact that workers on many platforms are still not seen by the law – may push power toward employers. I think the new codes bring clarity but still leave gaps. This could happen without giving the informal workforce the safety it needs. The paper ends with suggestions, for rules that could close this gap.