New Labour Codes

Friday's session on the New Labour Codes cut straight to what matters most for Indian businesses in 2025-26: the practical compliance burden of consolidating 29 legacy statutes into four streamlined codes. The speakers dismantled the common assumption that this is primarily an HR or payroll exercise. As CA Sunil Kumar and Mr. Azeem Tariq Khan made clear, the transition demands a structured legal audit — one that touches employment contracts, working hour policies, and pay architecture simultaneously, not sequentially. The sharpest discussion centred on the 50% Basic Wage threshold. For organisations in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore where CTC structures have historically kept basic pay suppressed, this recalibration carries direct financial consequence — higher provident fund contributions and expanded gratuity liabilities are not theoretical risks but near-term balance sheet exposures. Mr. Sudhir Chandi walked through how companies that delay restructuring their compensation frameworks will face a compounded compliance correction in 2026, rather than a manageable phased transition. The Digital-First compliance mandate through the Shram Suvidha Portal also received focused attention. The panel was candid that many mid-sized organisations remain operationally unprepared for centralised digital filings, particularly those still managing multi-state labour compliance through manual or fragmented systems. State-specific rule notifications — which vary considerably across jurisdictions — were flagged as a live variable that legal and HR teams must track actively, not treat as settled. The 30-minute Q&A surfaced practical concerns from the floor: how to handle fixed-term employment contracts under the new codes, the treatment of gig and contractual workers under the expanded social security provisions, and the sequencing of internal audits before state-level rules are fully notified. The speakers addressed each with specificity, reinforcing that the window for proactive restructuring is narrowing and that organisations waiting for full legislative clarity before acting are likely to find themselves behind the compliance curve when enforcement begins.