While the centre has notified rules under the new labour codes, the state governments have been slow to respond. Only three states, Bihar, Arunachal Pradesh and Gujarat, have notified the final rules under the four Labour Codes. Tamil Nadu has published three of the rules and has not yet announced the fourth labour code regarding social security. West Bengal has not yet published draft rules. The State Rules under the new Labour Codes are yet to be notified in 31 states.
India’s labour reforms have entered a decisive implementation phase, marking the transition from legislative intent to an operational compliance framework with the notification of the Central Rules under all four Labour Codes on May 8, 2026, Lokesh Gulati, partner, PwC, said. There is no timeframe for states to publish their rules, Gulati said. But some more states are expected to come up with the State Rules in the next one or two months. Until then, the old state rules will continue in these states.
Labour falls under the concurrent list. Both the Central and State Governments can frame laws. The State Rules will cover minimum wages, registers and records, strikes and lockouts, works committee, welfare administration, health check-up, licensing, notices and displays.
The Central Labour Code Rules apply to establishments under the Central Government’s jurisdiction. This includes banking, insurance, telecommunication services, railways, including metro railways, ports and air transport services, mines and oilfields, central PSUs and subsidiaries, corporations and autonomous bodies owned or controlled by the central government.
The four codes include the 2006 Industrial Relations Code (Central) Rules, the Code on Wages (Central) Rules, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (Central) Rules, and the Social Security Code (Central) Rules.
According to Gulati, there is a significant reduction in the sections and rules after consolidation under the new codes. It will also change the way companies comply and deal with inspectors, as well as inspection rules.
As per PwC data, returns are down from 31 to 2, registers from 84 to 8, forms down from 181 to 84, registrations down to one from eight, and licenses down to one from four.
The Sections are down to 480 from 1,026, and Rules (Central) has come down to 359 from 1,436. New introductions include compounding offence, improvement notice and digital inspection. Under the new code, the inspector becomes a facilitator and changes how the companies deal with inspectors, Gulati said.
PWC has been working for the last three to four months with 200 clients who are implementing the new codes, Anshul Jain, partner, PWC, said. Companies are facing issues in dealing with the blue-collar workforce, he said.
Under the new codes, there will be a national floor wage, and this remains a much-debated and talked-about issue. The Central government will fix the floor wage, and minimum wages have to align with it.
Accordign to PwC, labour codes remains contingent upon the completion of certain foundational regulatory, social security and digital integration elements. “Until these critical enablers are formalized and operationalized, the transition to the new framework cannot be considered fully complete. Their closure is essential to ensure uniform applicability, effective compliance, and seamless execution of the Labour Codes across jurisdictions and stakeholders,” it said.