An independent library by Vivek Chavan. Not a Government website.
India's Labour Codes, explained simply, with the official text
Find out what the law says about your job or your workplace. Every answer cites the section it comes from, so you can read the law itself.
Short answers written in advance and checked against the law, with the exact sections. Questions are saved without your name, to improve the answers.
Search the Codes, Rules, State Rules, notifications and guides. Try a topic in your own words (“maternity leave”), a section of a Code (“social security section 53”), a rule (“wages rule 51”), a State (“Gujarat”), an old Act section (“Industrial Disputes Act 25F”), or a notification number (“S.O. 5109”). Short forms work too, such as “SS 53” for Social Security Code section 53.
The law itself
The four Labour Codes, and the rules, orders and notifications made under them.
The Code on Wages, 2019
Partly in forceThe Industrial Relations Code, 2020
In forceThe Code on Social Security, 2020
In forceThe Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
In force- Central Rules, 2026Rules fill in the detail under each Code: procedures, registers and forms.
- State RulesEach State's own rules, final or draft. Many workplaces come under these.
- Model Standing OrdersWorkplace service rules for the mining, manufacturing and service sectors.
- Government notificationsOrders that start the Codes and set figures like wage ceilings.
Work it out
- Ask a questionShort answers written in advance and checked against the law.
- Compliance checklistThe registers, returns, notices and deadlines that apply to your workplace.
- CalculatorsGratuity, overtime, maternity benefit, retrenchment, bonus and the 50% wages rule, step by step.
- Guides13 guides that explain everyday topics simply, each point cited.
- Key figures and thresholdsEvery headcount and figure, with the law's own words.
Common questions
I'm a worker
Employer / HR
- Which duties apply to my workplace?
- What is due this year, and when?
- What counts as wages (the 50% rule)
- Paying wages: deadlines, deductions, fines
- When employment ends: notice, compensation, final pay
- Provident fund (PF): rates and monthly deadlines
- Working hours, overtime and weekly rest
- Contract labour: licences and duties
- Do we need standing orders?
Rules in your State
Many workplaces come under their State's rules, not the Central Rules. See what each State has notified, and read the official copy.
More in the library
- Lessons10 short lessons, each with a quiz.
- Supreme Court judgmentsDecisions under the old Acts, set beside the Code.
- Recent changesChanges to the law since the Codes began, newest first.
- Old law to new lawWhere an old Act's section now sits in the Codes.
How you can check this library. The law is copied word for word from official PDFs, and each page links to its source and says whether it is in force. Seven State Rules sets are the exception: their official copies are scans, so the text is read by machine and says so on every page. Guides cite every point, but no lawyer has reviewed them. About and method