Labour Reforms

ISF elects new leadership as contract staffing expands across sectors

Indian Staffing Federation names new leadership for 2026-28 as contract staffing expands across sectors, supported by rising demand and policy engagement

288,000 workers a year: How Germany's labour crisis is becoming India's opportunity

Germany is running out of workers, and it’s now looking at India to fill the gap. From visa reforms to higher salaries, this shift could redefine migration trends and job opportunities for Indians.

Labour Ministry sees highest filing of grievances in 2025, shows data

The Labour Ministry accounted for the highest share of grievances filed with the Centre in 2025 till November, driven mainly by EPFO-related complaints, according to DARPG data

Explained: What new labour codes mean for petroleum industry workers

Earlier, safety regulations in this sector relied mainly on the Factories Act, 1948, which provided a limited, factory-centric approach to hazardous industries

Statsguru: Labour pain may give birth to a new era with new Codes

The new codes, consolidating 29 laws, promise enhanced social security for gig workers and women, amid data showing rising wages but high wealth inequality

Labour codes a step in right direction, but face a long road of reforms

Reforms modernise a tangled legal regime and open new opportunities, yet overtime rules, size controls and paternalistic mandates still limit true choice for workers

From gig workers to factories: What India's new labour codes really mean

India's overhaul merges 29 labour laws into four codes, reshaping minimum wages, gig-worker social security, industrial relations, and workplace safety through unified rules and digital compliance

Centre-state collaboration: A must for effective labour reforms

From national floor wages to fixed-term employment, the reforms introduce long-awaited changes, but uniform state-level adoption is key to avoiding fresh complexity

Trade unions slam new labour codes as 'deceptive fraud', plan protests

While the new rules offer social security and minimum-wage benefits, they also allow companies to hire and fire workers more easily

Labour codes will boost social security access for gig workers: Eternal

Eternal Ltd on Saturday welcomed the implementation of the four labour codes, which it said will help strengthen the social security access for gig workers, including for it Zomato and Blinkit businesses. In a regulatory filing, Eternal, the parent entity of Zomato and Blinkit said it does not think the financial impact on account of these rules will be detrimental to long-term health and sustainability of its business. The government on Friday notified the four labour codes, which have rationalised 29 existing labour laws. These will formalise employment, strengthen worker protection, and make the labour ecosystem simpler, safer and globally aligned. The four labour codes are -- the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. Under the new codes, 'gig work', 'platform work', and 'aggregators' have been defined for the first time. The codes stipulate that aggregat

New Labour Codes to address grievances in IT industry properly: Nasscom

The industry body said the Codes will bring clearer terms, stronger protections and uniform benefits for contract, gig and platform workers

Unemployment rate unchanged at 5.2% in October, shows PLFS data

The jobless rate in rural areas fell to 4.4 per cent from 4.6 per cent during this period

Datanomics: Kafala system abolition may end expats' misery in Saudi Arabia

Over 18 million workers were employed in Saudi Arabia in the second quarter of 2025 (Q2 CY2025). Out of these, nearly 77.5 per cent were foreign workers

India's Labour Codes: Transformative step towards inclusive economic growth

If we implement with speed, transparency and collaboration, the Codes can anchor India's next growth chapter

Services sector risks falling into 'low-wage job trap': NITI Aayog report

Behind the boom lies a fragile core: informality and poor pay still define India's largest employer, says a NITI Aayog report

Labour reform 2.0: India's digital blueprint for jobs and inclusion

To harness this shift, the Shram Shakti Niti draft outlines a series of interventions to bridge the divide between skill and opportunity

Best of BS Opinion: A sobering set of data reveals India's infirmities

From low workers' wages to suspect GDP to scary rankings for pilot training schools to self-serving protectionism, today's pieces paint a sobering picture of what ails India economy and policy

Mospi to provide data on India's gig and platform economy in PLFS

Move seen significant as existing data fails to capture digital work's nature

Colombia prez bypasses lawmakers, issues decree for vote on labour reform

Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday bypassed legislative opposition and signed a decree summoning voters to the polls in August to decide changes to the country's labour laws, including whether work days should be limited to eight hours. The decree fulfilled Petro's threat to Congress to put his labour system overhaul before voters should senators not approve the 12-question referendum themselves. He issued the measure in a tense political climate following the Saturday shooting of opposition senator and presidential candidate Miguel Uribe Turbay during a public event. The referendum has become the crux of long-running tensions between the executive and legislative branches. After Congress rejected Petro's labour reform twice, most recently in March, he sent lawmakers a 12-question referendum proposal on May 1 as Colombian law requires that the Senate rule on the advisability of referendums. The legislative body two weeks later voted 49-47 against the measure, prompting .

Andhra increases maximum working hours from 9 to 10 to attract investments

The TDP-led NDA government in Andhra Pradesh has decided to raise the maximum working hours from nine to 10 per day as part of ease of doing business and attracting investors. The Information and Public Relations (I&PR) Minister K Parthasarathy said that it has been decided to amend labour laws to make them 'favourable' to workers and investors. CPI state secretary K Ramakrishna criticised the move and said NDA governments at the Centre and state are pursuing 'anti worker' policies. "Section 54 which allows maximum nine hours of work a day has now been raised to 10 hours per day. Under Section 55 there used to be one hour rest for five hours (work) now that has been changed to six hours," said Parthasarathy recently, elaborating on the decisions made by the cabinet to amend labour laws. Earlier, Parthasarathy noted that overtime was allowed only up to 75 hours which now has been extended up to 144 hours per quarter. "Because of this (amendments to labour laws), investors in ...