India's 4 New Labour Codes (2019–2020)

Partially. All 4 codes have been PASSED by Parliament (Wages Code in 2019, the other 3 in 2020) and received Presidential assent. However, full notification depends on state-level rule-making. As of May 2026: Code on Wages is partially notified (specific provisions only); Industrial Relations Code is NOT notified; Social Security Code is partially notified (gig worker registration began in some states); OSH Code is NOT notified. Day-to-day labour compliance still operates under the 29 older Acts they replace.

Massive compliance simplification. Currently 29 Acts have 29 separate registrations, returns, inspections, and licensing. The Codes consolidate to 4 — single registration on Shram Suvidha Portal, common returns, common inspector regime. Specific changes: hiring/firing without govt permission up to 300 workers (IR), contract labour threshold raised to 50+ (OSH), aggregator companies must fund gig worker social security at 1-2% of turnover (Social Security Code), national floor wage becomes the absolute minimum (Wages).

The Code on Social Security 2020 is the FIRST law in India to formally extend social security coverage to gig workers (Ola/Uber drivers, Swiggy/Zomato delivery, freelance designers etc.) and platform workers. Aggregator companies must contribute 1-2% of annual turnover to a Gig Worker Social Security Fund that provides ESI-like medical cover, accident insurance, maternity, and old-age pension. Gig workers register on Shram Suvidha Portal. As of 2026, registration has begun in some states (Karnataka, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu lead) but operational rollout is incomplete.

Three reasons: (1) Each state must independently frame and notify Rules under each code — a slow process. (2) State governments + trade unions have raised concerns about the IR Code's relaxed hiring/firing threshold, leading to political delays. (3) The administrative machinery (single Shram Suvidha portal, aggregator registration, inspector retraining) takes time to set up. As of May 2026, the central government is targeting full notification by end-2026, but timelines have slipped multiple times. Until then, dual compliance with old Acts continues.

The core entitlements stay roughly the same under the Social Security Code, but with three important extensions: (a) coverage expands to gig + platform workers + fixed-term + unorganised, (b) registration unifies on Shram Suvidha Portal — your benefits become portable across employers/sectors via UAN, (c) maternity benefit becomes universal across formal + informal sectors. Specific numbers — 26-week maternity, 12% EPF, 5-year gratuity — are unchanged at this stage. Watch for revisions via central notification post-2026.