The laws related to labour and employment matters in India are broadly categorised as "industrial laws". The classification is based on the fact that many labour laws in India are limited in their application. Some apply only to factories employing 20 or more workers, some apply only to specific industries, and some grant the discretion to the Government of India or State Governments to notify the application of laws to specific industries or domains.
There are no unified, centralised labour laws in India, as the Constitution of India makes labour a Concurrent List subject, enabling both the central and state governments to make laws on labour. The specific entries are Entry 22, 23, and 24 in the Concurrent List under Schedule VII, read with Article 246 of the Constitution of India. Given the Constitutional sharing of powers on subject-matters related to labour, both the central and state government have enacted various statutes on labour and employment.
Labour laws in India are naturally interwoven with British colonialism. Pre-independence legislations were primarily intended to protect the interest of British employers. After independence, most labour laws were amended to make them more equitable. Until recently, central labour laws in India were fragmented across 40+ acts. The Parliament of India passed four labour codes in the 2019 and 2020. These four codes subsumed 29 central labour laws. The codes are: The Industrial Relations Code 2020, the Code on Social Security 2020, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 and the Code on Wages 2019. The new codes came into force on 21 November 2025. The Press Information Bureau of India declared the enforcement as a historic reform (that) streamlines compliance, modernises outdated provisions, and creates a simplified, efficient framework that promotes ease of doing business while safeguarding workers’ rights and welfare.
History Indian labour law is closely connected to the Indian independence movement, and the campaigns of passive resistance leading up to independence. While India was under colonial rule during the British Raj, labour rights, trade unions, and freedom of association were all regulated by multiple acts: Indian Slavery Act, 1843 Societies Registration Act, 1860 Co-operative Societies Act, 1912 Indian Trade Unions Act, 1926 The Trades Disputes Act, 1929
Workers who sought better conditions, and trade unions who campaigned through strike action were frequently, and violently suppressed. After independence was won in 1947, the Constitution of India of 1950 embedded a series of fundamental labour rights in the constitution, particularly the right to join and take action in a trade union, the principle of equality at work, and the aspiration of creating a living wage with decent working conditions.
1921 Buckingham and Carnatic Mills Strike 1926 Binny Mill Strike 1928 South Indian Railway Strike Meerut Conspiracy Case (1929) 1974 railway strike in India Great Bombay Textile Strike in 1982 Harthal in Kerala 2012
Constitutional rights
In the Constitution of India from 1950, articles 14-16, 19(1)(c), 23-24, 38, and 41-43A directly concern labour rights. Article 14 states everyone should be equal before the law, article 15 specifically says the state should not discriminate against citizens, and article 16 extends a right of "equality of opportunity" for employment or appointment under the state. Article 19(1)(c) gives everyone a specific right "to form associations or unions". Article 23 prohibits all trafficking and forced labour, while article 24 prohibits child labour under 14 years old in a factory, mine or "any other hazardous employment".
Articles 38–39, and 41-43A, however, like all rights listed in Part IV of the Constitution are not enforceable by courts, rather than creating an aspirational "duty of the State to apply these principles in making laws".Constitution of India, article 37 The original justification for leaving such principles unenforceable by the courts was that democratically accountable institutions ought to be left with discretion, given the demands they could create on the state for funding from general taxation, although such views have since become controversial. Article 38(1) says that in general the state should "strive to promote the welfare of the people" with a "social order in which justice, social, economic and political, shall inform all the institutions of national life." In article 38(2) it goes on to say the state should "minimise the inequalities in income" and based on all other statuses. Article 41 creates a "right to work", which the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 attempts to put into practice. Article 42 requires the state to "make provision for securing just and human conditions of work and for maternity relief". Article 43 says workers should have the right to a living wage and "conditions of work ensuring a decent standard of life". Article 43A, inserted by the Forty-second Amendment of the Constitution of India in 1976,See Constitution (Forty-second Amendment) Act 1976 s 9 creates a constitutional right to codetermination by requiring the state to legislate to "secure the participation of workers in the management of undertakings".
Contract and rights
Scope of protection
Indian labour law makes a distinction between people who work in "organised" sectors and people working in "unorganised sectors". The laws list the sectors to which they apply. People who do not fall within these sectors, the ordinary law of contract applies.
India's labour laws underwent a major update in the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947. Since then, an additional 45 national laws expand or intersect with the 1948 act, and another 200 state laws control the relationships between the worker and the company. These laws mandate all aspects of employer-employee interaction, such as companies must keep 6 attendance logs, 10 different accounts for overtime wages, and file 5 types of annual returns. The scope of labour laws extend from regulating the height of urinals in workers' washrooms to how often a work space must be lime-washed.Mehul Srivastava, India Labour Laws Bloomberg Businessweek Inspectors can examine working space anytime and declare fines for violation of any labour laws and regulations.
Employment contracts
Among the employment contracts that are regulated in India, the regulation involves significant government involvement which is rare in developed countries. The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946 requires that employers have terms including working hours, leave, productivity goals, dismissal procedures or worker classifications, approved by a government body. The employment agreement is also governed by the suitable confidentiality, non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and non-compete clause (NCC) in agreements with employees. It has its roots in trade secret legislations under common law and intellectual property law. These may include the type of information that is likely to be disclosed, the manner in which it should be used and restrictions on disclosure post-termination.
The Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970 aims at regulating employment of contract labour so as to place it at par with labour employed directly. Women are now permitted to work night shifts too (10 pm to 6 am).
The Latin phrase 'dies non' is being widely used by disciplinary authorities in government and industries for denoting the 'unauthorised absence' to the delinquent employees. According to Shri R. P. Saxena, chief engineer, Indian Railways, dies-non is a period which neither counted in service nor considered as break in service. A person can be marked dies-non, if
absent without proper permission when on duty left without proper permission while in office but refused to perform duties
In cases of such willful and unauthorised absence from work, the leave sanctioning authority may decide and order that the days on which the work is not performed be treated as dies non-on the principle of no work no pay. This will be without prejudice to any other action that the competent authority might take against the persons resorting to such practises.Rule 62, P&T manual Vol III, Government of India The principle of "no work no pay" is widely being used in the banking industry in India.C. Krishnamurthi. Dies Non (No Work No Pay) in Banking Industry All other manufacturing industries and large service establishments like railways, posts and telecommunications are also implementing it to minimise the incidences of unauthorised absence of workers. The term 'industry' infuses a contractual relationship between the employer and the employee for sale of products and services which are produced through their cooperative endeavor.
This contract together with the need to put in efforts in producing goods and services imposes duties (including ancillary duties) and obligations on the part of the employees to render services with the tools provided and in a place and time fixed by the employer. And in return, as a quid pro quo, the employer is enjoined to pay wages for work done and or for fulfilling the contract of employment. Duties generally, including ancillary duties, additional duties, normal duties, emergency duties, which have to be done by the employees and payment of wages therefor. Where the contract of employment is not fulfilled or work is not done as prescribed, the principle of 'no work no pay' is brought into play.
In the Labour Law 2021, the government has approved an overtime payment to the employees working more than 15 minutes of scheduled shift. It is applicable from 1 April 2021.
Wage regulation
The Payment of Wages Act 1936 requires that employees receive wages, on time, and without any unauthorised deductions. Section 6 requires that people are paid in money rather than in kind. The law also provides the tax withholdings the employer must deduct and pay to the central or state government before distributing the wages.
The Minimum Wages Act 1948 sets wages for the different economic sectors that it states it will cover. It leaves a large number of workers unregulated. Central and state governments have discretion to set wages according to kind of work and location, and they range between as much as 143 to 1120 per day for work in the so-called central sphere. State governments have their own minimum wage schedules.
The Payment of Gratuity Act 1972 applies to establishments with 10 or more workers. Gratuity is payable to the employee if he or she resigns or retires. The Indian government mandates that this payment be at the rate of 15 days salary of the employee for each completed year of service subject to a maximum of 2000000.
The Payment of Bonus Act 1965, which applies only to enterprises with over 20 people, requires bonuses are paid out of profits based on productivity. The minimum bonus is currently 8.33 per cent of salary.
Weekly Holidays Act 1942
Beedi and Cigar Workers Act 1966
Health and safety The Workmen's Compensation Act 1923 requires that compensation is paid if workers are injured in the course of employment for injuries, or benefits to dependants. The rates are low.
Factories Act 1948, consolidated existing factory safety laws (replaced in 2020) Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 that seeks to protect and provides a mechanism for women to report incidents of sexual harassment at their place of work.
Pensions and insurance