What actually changed on 21 November 2025

Between 2019 and 2020, Parliament passed four labour codes: the Code on Wages, 2019 (Act 29 of 2019), the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (Act 35 of 2020), the Code on Social Security, 2020 (Act 36 of 2020), and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act 37 of 2020). All four had received Presidential assent by 28 September 2020. For the next five years they sat there, not in force. Every draft rules cycle was watched by the compliance community and every one passed without a notification. Employers kept complying with the Factories Act 1948, the Industrial Disputes Act 1947, the Payment of Wages Act 1936, and the other Acts the Codes were meant to replace.

That ended on the 21st of November, 2025. The Ministry of Labour and Employment issued two notifications in the Gazette of India, Extraordinary, Part II Section 3(ii) [L1-C1] [L1-C2]. The first, S.O. 5319(E), brought the remaining provisions of the Industrial Relations Code 2020, the Code on Social Security 2020 and the OSH Code 2020 into force. The second, S.O. 5322(E), brought the remaining provisions of the Code on Wages 2019 into force. From that date, 29 central Acts stood repealed.

The two notifications, precisely

You will see the phrase "the Codes came into force on 21 November 2025" used loosely in most trade press. As a practitioner you should be more precise, because "remaining provisions" is a load-bearing phrase.

S.O. 5319(E) dated 21-11-2025 is the omnibus notification for three Codes. It was issued in exercise of the powers under sub-section (3) of section 1 of each of the Industrial Relations Code, the Social Security Code, and the OSH Code. It appoints the 21st of November, 2025, as the date on which the remaining provisions of those three Codes shall come into force. The word "remaining" matters because two earlier notifications had already brought a few Social Security Code sections into partial force: S.O. 1730(E) dated 3 May 2021 (Section 142, on Aadhaar-linked benefits) and S.O. 2060(E) dated 3 May 2023 (some pension-related sections). S.O. 5319(E) mops up the rest.

S.O. 5322(E) dated 21-11-2025 is a separate notification for the Code on Wages. It was issued in exercise of the powers under sub-section (3) of section 1 of the Wages Code alone. Here too, "remaining" matters. An earlier notification, S.O. 4604(E) dated 18 December 2020, had brought only a narrow set of Central Advisory Board provisions into force (Sections 42(1)-(3), 42(10)-(11), 67(2)(s)-(t), and 69 to that extent) [L1-C3]. S.O. 5322(E) brought Sections 1-41, 43-66 and the rest of 69 into force for the first time. For any operational purpose you care about (minimum wage, timely payment, the 50% wage floor, the deductions cap), 21 November 2025 is the date.

What actually repealed on 21 November 2025

Twenty-nine central Acts were replaced by the four Codes. The repeal takes effect from the date the corresponding Code came into force. This lesson focuses on the numbers; you will meet each of the repealed Acts again in Lesson 3 of this module, where they are mapped to the Code section that now houses their obligations.

1. The Industrial Relations Code repealed three: the Trade Unions Act 1926, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946, and the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 [L1-C4].
2. The Code on Wages repealed four: the Payment of Wages Act 1936, the Minimum Wages Act 1948, the Payment of Bonus Act 1965, and the Equal Remuneration Act 1976.
3. The Code on Social Security subsumed nine, including the EPF & MP Act 1952, the ESI Act 1948, the Payment of Gratuity Act 1972, the Maternity Benefit Act 1961, the Employees' Compensation Act 1923 and the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act 2008.
4. The OSH Code merged thirteen, including the Factories Act 1948, the Mines Act 1952, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act 1970, and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act 1979.

The exact section that effects each repeal is Section 69 of the Wages Code, Section 104 of the IR Code, Section 164 of the SS Code, and Section 133 of the OSH Code. Read these repeal sections carefully in your working copy of each Code, because they contain savings clauses that keep proceedings, notifications and appointments made under the old Acts alive for transitional purposes.

What did NOT change on 21 November 2025

Three things did not change and are worth stating clearly, because the trade press has muddled them.

First, state labour laws did not repeal. States have their own labour statutes (Shops and Establishments Acts, state-level welfare cesses, factories rules, and so on). Those continue in force until amended or replaced by the relevant State. The four Codes are central Acts and their repeal Sections operate only on central Acts.

Second, the Central Rules under the Codes were only partly notified as of 21 November 2025. The Central Wages Rules 2020 had been notified. Draft Central Rules under the other three Codes had been circulated but were still being finalised in some parts. The single most consequential rule-making event of the transition landed on 8 May 2026, when the Ministry notified together the Code on Wages (Central) Rules 2026, the Industrial Relations (Central) Rules 2026, the Social Security (Central) Rules 2026, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules 2026 [L1-C5]. State Rules under each Code are still being notified in a rolling fashion. Module 6 gives you a reading discipline for this rolling regime.

Third, case law on the Codes is only just starting to build. This is a young statute. Until August 2026, no reported Supreme Court judgment had interpreted any of the four Codes. On 20 August 2026, a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court (headed by CJI Surya Kant, 6:3 majority) delivered the first such holding, ruling on Section 2(p) of the Industrial Relations Code 2020: the 1978 Bangalore Water Supply triple test will NOT guide interpretation of the 2020 definition of "industry". Module 3 Lesson 1 walks through the ruling and its consequences. For most other Sections of the four Codes, the Additional MoLE FAQs issued on 16 March 2026 are, for the moment, the most authoritative Ministry-level operational guidance you have. Where the FAQ speaks on a matter, treat it as binding until a court says otherwise. You will meet these FAQs in every subsequent module.

The single sentence you need to remember

On 21 November 2025, by two Gazette notifications, the Union Government brought the four Labour Codes into force. 29 central Acts stood repealed. State laws, some Central Rules, and any employer obligation not yet notified in a Rule continue in transition.

The rest of Module 1 gives you the reading discipline: Lesson 2 on how to read a Code alongside its Rules, Lesson 3 on the 29-to-4 mapping, Lesson 4 on the Central Advisory Board and the State-Rules mosaic, and Lesson 5 on the reading list of source documents you must bookmark before you go into Module 2.