The new labour codes read almost like a promise etched in statute a vision of a workplace where dignity, equality, and security are not privileges but rights. Yet, as the ink of legislation dries, the shopfloor tells another story. The delivery rider weaving through traffic without accident insurance, the woman worker negotiating unsafe streets at night, the factory hand denied fair wages in the informal sector these are not abstractions but living contradictions. The law speaks of simplification, but workers experience silence; it speaks of protection, but many encounter precarity. Between the statute and the shopfloor lies a gulf, and in that gulf rests the true test of India’s constitutional commitment to social justice.
Effective from Nov. 21, 2025, the new Labour codes have successfully replaced 29 old laws to create a uniform and comprehensive legislative measure for occupational safety, wages, health, and social security etc. The Constitution of India promotes the welfare of the people by ensuring justice social, economic, and political. Labour welfare is central to this constitutional promise, reflected in the Directive Principles and operationalised through legislation. India’s new Labour Codes aim to reorganize this framework, but their real test lies in how effectively they protect the country’s most vulnerable workers those in the unorganized sector, gig and platform workers, and women facing entrenched wage inequality.
- Social Security and Unorganized Workers: A Promise Still Far From Reality
The Social Security Code, 2020 expands the scope of social protection to unorganized workers, gig workers, and platform workers. On paper, this aligns with the ILO’s vision under the Social Protection Floors Recommendation (No. 202), which stresses universality and minimum guarantees.
Yet the gap between policy and reality is severe. According to the National Sample Survey, nearly 80% of India’s workforce lacks any social security no pension, no health insurance, no provident fund. For gig and platform workers, this insecurity is worse because their employment is irregular, temporary, and not governed by traditional employer–employee relationships.
This lack of protection raises serious concerns under India’s Data Protection and DPDP (Digital Personal Data Protection) obligations too since gig workers’ data is collected, tracked, and algorithmically controlled by platforms, yet without guaranteed social protections or bargaining power. Data without dignity only widens their vulnerability.
- Who Are Gig Workers? And Why Do They Matter?
Gig workers include digital freelancers, app-based drivers, delivery partners, ride-hailing workers, repair service personnel, and others engaged through digital platforms such as Swiggy, Zomato, Uber, Ola, Urban Company, Rapido, etc. They create economic value but fall outside the traditional employer–employee definition.
India saw its first serious legislative recognition when Rajasthan enacted the Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act, 2023, the first in Asia to create a welfare board, grievance portal, and mandatory contribution from platforms. This was triggered in part by repeated protests such as those involving Rapido riders, who demanded better pay-per-ride structures, safety protections, and grievance redressal against algorithmic manipulation.
The Social Security Code’s recognition of gig workers is significant, but without functioning welfare boards, contribution rates, or enforceable schemes, little has changed on the ground. The result is a workforce essential to urban India but exposed to:
- No sickness benefits
- No paid leaves
- No compensation for accidents during delivery
- Unpredictable earnings due to algorithmic changes
- Deactivation without due process
- Gender Equality and Wage Parity: Constitutional and ILO Commitments
Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution guarantee equality and prohibit gender discrimination. The Labour Codes, especially the Code on Wages, further attempt to enforce equal remuneration. This aligns with the ILO Convention No. 100 (Equal Remuneration Convention), which mandates equal pay for equal work regardless of gender.
Indian courts have reinforced this principle Randhir Singh v. Union of India (1982) held that equal pay for equal work flows from Articles 14 and 16. Yet, women workers especially in unorganized and gig sectors continue to face wage gaps, unsafe work conditions, absence of maternity support, and limited mobility at night. The Codes permit women to work night shifts with safety safeguards, but implementation remains uncertain, especially where gig work involves late-night deliveries on unsafe roads without adequate protection.
- Trade Union Rights and Collective Bargaining
Article 19(1)(c) guarantees the fundamental right to form associations and unions. India’s obligations under ILO Convention No. 87 (Freedom of Association) and Convention No. 98 (Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining) reinforce this. However, gig workers despite working for large corporations are not treated as “employees,” limiting their unionisation rights. While traditional workers can leverage Industrial Disputes Act mechanisms, gig workers rely primarily on informal collectives.
The Industrial Relations Code brings trade union reforms, but it still leaves gig workers outside the core bargaining scheme a major policy blind spot.
- Health, Safety, and Compliance: Progress or Dilution?
Health and safety protections traditionally came from the Factories Act, 1948, Contract Labour Act, and Industrial Disputes Act. The OSH Code (Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020) consolidates these laws and promises:
- mandatory safety standards,
- working-hour regulation,
- welfare facilities,
- improved inspection mechanisms.
However, by increasing establishment thresholds, the Code excludes small factories and informal workplaces precisely where protections are needed most. Gig workers, who face constant road risks, adverse weather, and absence of employer responsibility, also fall outside the occupational safety framework.
- ILO Alignment: Where India Stands
India’s Labour Codes partially align with ILO standards:
India’s Labour Codes reflect a complex relationship with international labour standards. On one hand, they move closer to ILO norms by universalizing minimum wages in line with Convention No. 131, prohibiting gender discrimination under Convention No. 100, and formally recognizing gig workers as part of the labour force, echoing ILO’s “Future of Work” recommendations. On the other hand, the alignment remains partial and uneven. Collective bargaining rights for gig workers are weak, falling short of Convention No. 98; occupational safety provisions exclude many non‑traditional and small‑scale workplaces, undermining the spirit of Convention No. 155; and enforcement mechanisms remain limited, with welfare boards and contributory schemes often delayed or non‑functional.
This duality reveals the deeper tension at the heart of India’s labour reform. The Codes embody ambition promising simplification, modernization, and global conformity yet their delivery falters. Two forces pull in opposite directions: the drive for economic efficiency and investment, which favours flexibility and lighter regulation, and the constitutional commitment to social justice, which demands robust worker protection. At present, the balance tilts toward the former. Without enforceable schemes, functioning welfare boards, and clear guarantees of social security, gig and unorganized workers remain outside the safety net. Thus, while the Labour Codes gesture toward ILO alignment, the dilution of thresholds and weak implementation blunt their transformative potential, leaving the promise of reform suspended between statute and reality.
- The reforms lean more toward the first.
Without enforceable schemes, functioning welfare boards, mandatory contributions, or clear social security guarantees, gig and unorganized workers remain outside the safety net. The Codes attempt alignment with ILO standards, but the dilution in thresholds and lack of implementation weaken their transformative potential.
- Conclusion: Protecting Workers in a Digital Economy
India’s labour future rests on how well its laws respond to changing work realities app-based delivery, algorithmic control, data-dependent platforms, temporary contracts, and informal employment. The Labour Codes take the first step, but unless they fully operationalize social security, guarantee fair wages, ensure gender parity, strengthen union rights, and address the vulnerabilities of unorganized and gig workers, the promise of “simplification” may become a promise unfulfilled.
A just labour framework requires more than consolidation it requires commitment, capacity, and courage to protect those who power India’s economy.
Author: Nameera Meraj
Juris Centre 