Labour Codes & Labour Laws

On November 21, 2025, India implemented its most significant labour law reform in decades — consolidating 29 central labour laws into four comprehensive Labour Codes. This landmark overhaul affects every employer and employee in India, requiring businesses to review and restructure their employment contracts, salary structures, workplace policies, and compliance frameworks from the ground up.

RPLC – Rane Pingle Law Chambers provides full-spectrum labour law advisory and litigation services, helping employers navigate the new compliance landscape and helping employees understand and enforce their rights under India's transformed legal framework.

Our Labour and Employment Law practice covers advisory on all four Labour Codes — the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. We conduct labour law compliance audits for businesses of all sizes, identifying gaps between existing practices and the requirements of the new Codes.

We draft and review employment contracts, appointment letters, standing orders, HR policies, non-disclosure agreements, non-compete clauses, and severance agreements — ensuring they are compliant with the new legal framework. We advise on wage structuring under the 50% basic wage rule introduced by the Wage Code, and on the implications of this rule for EPF, ESI, and gratuity contributions.

We represent employers and employees in disputes before Labour Courts, Industrial Tribunals, and the Bombay High Court — including matters involving wrongful termination, retrenchment, wage disputes, workplace harassment, and disciplinary proceedings.

We have advised startups, SMEs, and large enterprises on restructuring their employment frameworks to comply with the new Labour Codes — including salary restructuring, policy overhaul, and standing order certification. We have successfully represented employers in retrenchment disputes before Industrial Tribunals, securing lawful closure of disputes while protecting our clients' business interests.

We have also represented employees in wrongful termination matters, securing reinstatement, back wages, and compensation through Labour Courts and Tribunals in Maharashtra. We have advised FMCG companies and manufacturing businesses on contract labour compliance, including the obligations of principal employers under the new Codes.

Our approach to labour law is built on a simple principle: compliance is cheaper than litigation. The new Labour Codes have introduced significantly higher penalties for non-compliance, and with digital compliance systems now in place, violations are easier to detect and prove than ever before.

We work with employers to conduct systematic compliance audits, build legally robust employment documentation, and train HR teams on the practical requirements of the new Codes. For employees, we provide clear, accessible advice on their rights, and represent them firmly when those rights are violated.

We advise and litigate under the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020; the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020; the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952; the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948; the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act); and the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961.

Our primary forums include Labour Courts, Industrial Tribunals, the Employees' Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal, the Employees' State Insurance Court, and the Bombay High Court.

The single most impactful change introduced by the new Labour Codes for most businesses is the 50% basic wage rule, requiring that basic pay, dearness allowance, and retaining allowance together constitute at least 50% of total remuneration. This directly increases the base on which EPF, ESI, and gratuity are calculated, significantly raising statutory liability for most employers. Businesses that have traditionally structured salaries with a low basic and high allowance component will need to fundamentally restructure their payroll.

For gig workers and platform workers — a category formally recognised under the Labour Codes for the first time — aggregators must now contribute to a social security fund on their behalf. This is a landmark development that will have significant implications for India's rapidly growing gig economy.