All states and Union Territories, except Kerala and West Bengal, have initiated the process of implementing the four new labour codes after the Centre notified the rules, according to officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The four labour codes—the Code on Wages, Industrial Relations Code, Code on Social Security, and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code—replace 29 existing labour laws with a unified regulatory framework aimed at simplifying labour compliance and improving ease of doing business.
Since labour falls under the Concurrent List of the Constitution, the nationwide implementation of the codes requires both the Centre and individual states to notify their respective operational rules.
According to a Labour Ministry official, all states and Union Territories, barring Kerala and West Bengal, have either notified or begun drafting rules for implementation. The official said the Kerala government has sought additional time to study certain provisions of the codes, while West Bengal is yet to notify or publish draft rules.
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Among the states, Arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar and Meghalaya have already notified rules under all four labour codes. Gujarat became the first state to finalise rules across all four codes and is expected to serve as a reference point for implementation.
Several major industrial states have also made significant progress. Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are in advanced stages of notifying their rules, while Karnataka has already notified rules under the Code on Wages and the Industrial Relations Code.
The Centre said employers in states yet to notify fresh rules will continue to follow the central rules along with existing state labour regulations until the new framework comes into effect.
Some states have also introduced separate laws to address emerging employment models. Rajasthan and Karnataka, for instance, have enacted legislation to regulate and protect platform-based gig workers.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment notified the central rules for all four labour codes in May, while the codes themselves became operational in November last year. The government maintains that the reforms will streamline compliance, strengthen worker welfare and modernise India's labour ecosystem.
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