4- Labour Codes – An in-depth analysis of how India’s new Labour Reforms India framework reshapes workers’ rights, expands corporate power, and threatens job security across the country.
By Dr. Mohammad Farooque
Kolkata | 21 November 2025
Workers’ Toil, Corporate Profit — And a New Chapter in Indian Labour Law
On 21 November 2025, the fate of the Indian worker was rewritten. The Government of India officially enforced four major labour codes — The Code on Wages (2019), The Industrial Relations Code (2020), The Social Security Code (2020), and The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020).
The promise was bold: laws designed for the 21st century, an era-appropriate framework that would uplift workers and make their lives safer, fairer, and more stable. But what descended onto the ground was something entirely different — a quiet, systematic removal of rights earned through a century of struggle.
A Century of Labour Protection, Reduced to Four Codes
India’s earlier set of 29 labour laws represented a long historical arc — especially those crafted between the 1930s and 1950s, meant to protect workers in a rapidly industrializing nation.
The government argues these laws were outdated “colonial relics.” The new policy narrative insists that replacing them with four modern codes under Labour Reforms India will open doors to a new world for workers.
But beneath that promise lies a tightly woven corporate net — one that binds the working class in fresh chains.
Job Security Weakened, Employer Power Expanded
One of the most consequential changes is the increase in the threshold for mandatory government approval before firing workers — from 100 to 300 employees.
This means companies with fewer than 300 workers can now dismiss employees without state oversight.
Job security, already fragile, has been pushed to the brink.
Permanent employment has quietly faded. “Fixed-term employment” grants legal cover to the contractor-driven economy. Wages can now be set almost entirely at the employer’s discretion, leaving workers with no leverage to negotiate for fair compensation.
If a worker demands better pay or benefits, dismissal becomes an instant possibility.
Is this reform — or a legal permit for exploitation?
Trade Unions Oppose, But Government Pushes Through
The government claims these reforms will attract investment and increase employment.
However, 13 major national trade unions — spanning the political spectrum — have rejected the laws outright.
The only supporter is the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.
From 2020 to 2023, workers and farmers together staged three nationwide general strikes, forming an unprecedented alliance against what they called “corporate India’s agenda.”
Central Overreach and the Federal Question
Buoyed by electoral success in Bihar and strengthened by communal polarization, the government assumed it had the mandate to push through sweeping reforms. But labour is a subject on the Concurrent List — centralizing decisions without consulting states undermines India’s federal architecture.
This isn’t just anti-worker; it’s anti-democratic.
The Illusion of Progress for Women and Gig Workers
Allowing women to work night shifts sounds progressive, but without safety mechanisms, it’s an empty promise.
Meanwhile, the “digital labour force” — the gig workers — remains unregulated.
Their numbers stand at 10 million today and are projected to exceed 23.5 million by 2030.
These workers belong to no institution — only an app.
They are the new faceless labour army of India: generating profit but receiving no social security, no legal protections, and no guaranteed income.
Is This Reform or Regression?
When wage guarantees disappear, job security collapses, and collective bargaining is crippled, it is not progress — it is decline disguised as reform.
In a country where the average worker still earns only ₹13,000 a month, and 90% of the workforce is in the unorganized sector, these laws create ease for the powerful and hardship for the powerless.
A Blow to the Spirit of Indian Democracy
These labour codes strike at the soul of India’s democratic ethos.
Capital has been shielded; labour has been abandoned. The farmer-worker unity forged over years now finds itself trapped in a legal maze that favours corporations.
A nation’s loyalty belongs to the hands that build it — not to the laws that bind those hands. A state that weakens its workers cannot strengthen its economy, no matter how alluring the promises of global investment may appear.
Fair compensation isn’t charity.
It’s justice.
