Advisory & audits
Labour Codes Transition
The four Labour Codes replaced 29 central labour laws on 21 November 2025. We work out what changes for your business, restructure wages for the new definition, and update your policies, contracts and registers in an orderly way.
Scope of work
What we do
- Impact analysisWe map which parts of the four Codes and the state rules apply to you, and list what must change, in order of priority.
- Wage restructuring for the 50% ruleWe review each salary structure against the new definition of wages and propose changes that keep you compliant and your costs predictable.
- Cost impact, grade by gradeWe show what the new wage base does to PF, ESI, gratuity and bonus for each grade, before you decide.
- Appointment letters and contractsAppointment letters for every employee, as the OSH Code requires, and fixed-term contracts drafted to match the Codes.
- PoliciesLeave, working hours, overtime and other HR policies updated to the Codes and the state rules.
- Standing ordersFor industrial establishments with 300 or more workers, we adopt the model standing orders or draft your own and see them through certification.
- RegistersEmployee, wage and attendance registers set up in the new formats, and kept electronically if you prefer.
- Registrations and licencesExisting registrations intimated, and new registrations or licences under the OSH Code obtained where needed.
- Contractor complianceWe check that your contractors meet the Codes too, since some of their liabilities can come back to the principal employer.
- Inspection readinessRecords kept ready for the Codes' web-based inspection system and for any visit from an Inspector-cum-Facilitator.
- Grievance and dispute processesGrievance Redressal Committees set up where the Industrial Relations Code requires them, and dispute procedures updated.
- State rules, trackedWe follow central and state rules as they are notified, including Maharashtra's, and tell you when something changes for you.
Is this for you?
Who needs this
- Companies whose salary structures carry a low basic and high allowances
- Employers with fixed-term staff or contract labour
- Industrial establishments with 300 or more workers
- HR heads updating policies and appointment letters
- Groups operating in several states
What you receive
- Impact report with a prioritised action list
- Revised salary structures with the cost effect for each grade
- Updated appointment letter, contract and policy templates
- Standing orders, where they apply
- Register formats and a compliance calendar under the Codes
Under the Labour Codes
Read the law
The chapters behind this service, in the official text with plain-English notes beside it.
Questions
Common questions about Labour Codes
What is the 50% wage rule?
Under the Codes, wages mean basic pay, dearness allowance and retaining allowance. Items such as HRA, conveyance, overtime and commission are excluded, but if they add up to more than 50% of total pay, the excess is added back to wages. That figure becomes the base for PF, gratuity, bonus and other dues.
Will our employees' take-home pay fall?
It can, if CTC stays the same and the wage base rises, because more goes to PF and similar dues. How much depends on your structure and the choices you make. We model the effect for each grade before you change anything.
Which old laws do the Codes replace?
The four Codes subsumed 29 central labour laws, including the EPF, ESI, Payment of Wages, Minimum Wages, Bonus, Gratuity, Factories, Contract Labour and Industrial Disputes Acts. State laws such as Professional Tax, Labour Welfare Fund and Shops and Establishments continue alongside them.
Are the Codes fully in force in Maharashtra?
The Codes have applied since 21 November 2025 and the central rules have been notified. State rules are arriving in stages. Maharashtra's Labour Department reports its Code on Wages and Industrial Relations rules as gazetted on 28 April 2026, while its Social Security and OSH rules were still drafts in September 2026. Until new rules are final, earlier rules continue to the extent they fit the Codes. Ask us for the position on the day you need it.
Where should we start?
With your salary structures and appointment letters, because most other changes follow from them. Then registrations, registers and, if you have 300 or more workers, standing orders. Our impact analysis gives you this list for your business, in order.
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