Introduction to Labour Codes and Budget 2025

The upcoming Budget 2025 is poised to introduce significant reforms through the implementation of Labour Codes, aiming to streamline regulations and enhance the ease of doing business in India. These reforms are expected to extend social security coverage to emerging workforce categories, focusing on employment generation and labour reforms.

Impact on Businesses and Workers

The Labour Codes are designed to help businesses operate more efficiently while enhancing workers’ protection and rights. A consistent definition of 'wages' across all labor laws is expected to eliminate confusion and potential disputes on wage calculations.

Social Security for Gig and Platform Workers

A critical step has been the formation of a committee to recommend a social security and benefits framework for gig and platform workers. As traditional employer-employee relationships fade, these workers, along with those in informal sectors, need to be included in social security frameworks.

Implementation Roadmap

The Budget may outline new policies and welfare schemes aimed at the protection of these workers, including social security benefits, fair working conditions, and other workers’ rights. The government has already notified some provisions and expects all states and UTs to frame rules on Labour Codes by this fiscal year end.

Engagement and Future Steps

The government has engaged the public and industry bodies through discussions and has published a document to facilitate this. The upcoming Budget is expected to outline a phased roadmap for implementing the Labour Codes, with a focus on initial roll-out of simpler codes to allow for a measured approach to labour reforms.