Centre pre-publishes draft Rules for four Labour Codes

The Union Labour Ministry has pre-published the draft Rules for the four Labour Codes on the Ministry’s website on Tuesday (December 30, 2025) and the public has been given 45 days’ time to respond to the rules. The rules define workers, wages, types of employment, gratuity, bonus and social security of workers, including gig workers. The rules mandate 48 hours of work per week and lays down the measures in workplaces where women are working in night shifts.

The Rules for Code on Wages include 18 past Rules, including the Payment of Wages (Procedure) Rules, 1937, the Payment of Wages (Nomination) Rules, 2009, the Minimum Wages (Central) Rules, 1950, the Minimum Wages (Central Advisory Board) Rules, 2011 and the Equal Remuneration Rules, 1976.

The minimum rate of wages, according to the new draft rules, will be fixed on criteria of the standard working class family, which includes a spouse and two children apart from the earning employee; an equivalent of three adult consumption units; a net intake of 2,700 calories per day per consumption unit; 66 metres of cloth per year per standard working class family; housing rent expenditure to constitute 10% of food and clothing expenditure; fuel, electricity and other miscellaneous items of expenditure to constitute 20% of minimum wage and expenditure for children education, medical requirement, recreation and expenditure on contingencies to constitute 25% of minimum wage.

While fixing the minimum rates of wages, the Central government will take into account the geographical area, experience in the area of employment, and level of skill required for working under the categories of unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled.

The rules add that the central government will constitute a technical committee for advising it on skill categorisation of occupation etc., headed by the Director General of Employment, Ministry of Labour and Employment. On fixing floor wage, the rules have proposed a Central Advisory Board and it will take into account the minimum living standard, including the food, clothing, housing and any other factors considered appropriate by the Centre from time to time of the standard working class family.

The rules for the Code on Social Security supersede 12 prior Rules, including the Employees’ State Insurance (Central) Rules, 1950; Employees’ Provident Funds Appellate Tribunal (Conditions of Service) Rules, 1997; Payment of Gratuity (Central) Rules, 1972; Building and other Constructions Workers’ Welfare Cess Rules and the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Rules. A National Social Security Board will be constituted with representatives of associations of unorganised sector workers and employers’ associations of unorganised sector for the social security measures of unorganised workers.

Five members from the gig workers and platform workers, on rotation basis, representing the different types of gig workers and platform workers will be members of this Board. They also propose that in every establishment where 50 or more employees are ordinarily employed, a creche for the use of children under the age of six years of employees to be provided and maintained.

The Rules under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code will supersede 13 Rules, including the Dock Workers (Safety, Health and Welfare) Rules, 1990, the Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Condition of Services), Rules, 1998; the Mines Rules, 1955; the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Central Rules, 1979; and the Working Journalists (Conditions of Service) and Miscellaneous Provisions Rules, 1957. “Every employer of factory, dock, mine, building and other construction work shall arrange to conduct free of cost, medical examination for every employee annually, i.e. within 120 days from the commencement of the calendar year who has completed 40 years of age,” the Rules prescribe.

They add that no employee shall be employed in any establishment unless he has been issued a letter of appointment that includes Aadhaar number, Universal Account Number (UAN), date of joining etc. The Rules maintain that no worker shall be required or allowed to work in an establishment for more than 48 hours in any week. Or over time, the worker is entitled to wages at the rate of “twice his rate of wages” and shall be paid at the end of each wage period.

For night shift of women, the Rules have detailed guidelines to employers such as the consent of woman employee shall be taken in writing, adequate transportation facilities and provisions of closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance.

The Rules for Industrial Relations Code comprise the Industrial Disputes (Central) Rules, 1957; and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Central Rules, 1946. They provide the details of trade unions’ registration and functioning. They allow secret ballot for the verification of trade unions. The workers are classified as Permanent, Temporary, Apprentices, Probationers, Badlis, Fixed Term Employment and Casual under the Rules. Fixed term employment is defined as the engagement of a worker on the basis of a written contract of employment with the employer for a fixed period.