The four Labour Codes: notified, not commenced — a 2026 map

This piece is the thematic companion to the four Code primers. The substantive map of each Code is in those pieces; the subject here is the commencement architecture itself — the legal mechanics of section 1(3) notifications, the State Rules patchwork that conditions central commencement, the writ-petition pipeline that has not displaced the statutes, the international observations that have not produced violation findings, and the standing-committee critiques that were not accepted but continue to inform Rules-drafting. Six years into the post-enactment holding pattern, the architecture itself is the practitioner's regime.

The three-stage architecture, and why all four Codes are stuck at stage two

Indian statutes typically come into force in three stages. Stage 1 is enactment — Presidential assent and gazette publication. Stage 2 is commencement — the section 1(3) notification by the Central Government that fixes the date from which substantive provisions come into force. Stage 3 is operationalisation — Central and State Rules, scheme notifications, and the institutional infrastructure (inspectorates, boards, tribunals) that make the statute usable. The Codes have completed Stage 1, are partly through Stage 2, and are early in Stage 3.

The Wages Code was enacted on 8 August 2019. The IR, OSH, and SS Codes received Presidential assent on 28 September 2020 and were gazetted on 29 September 2020. Stage 1 is complete for all four. Stage 2 has happened three times — Wages Code S.O. 4282(E) of December 2020 (definitions and Advisory Board chapters), SS Code S.O. 1730(E) of May 2023 (PAN-Aadhaar linkage and transitional gig provisions), and IR Code S.O. 5320(E) of 21 November 2025 (substantive provisions in force). The IR Code's retrenchment, layoff, closure, standing orders, strike notice, trade-union recognition and tribunal architecture are now operative; the wages, OSH and social-security substantive chapters across the other three Codes — minimum wage architecture, bonus, payment of wages, factory regulation, contract labour, EPF, ESI, gratuity, maternity, gig worker fund — remain uncommenced.

The distinction matters in practitioner discourse. The Codes have been notified — gazette publication of the enacting Act is itself a notification. Only the IR Code is fully in force for substantive purposes (with effect from 21 November 2025). For the other three Codes, the section 1(3) commencement notifications that would bring substantive chapters into force have not issued. Writing "the Codes are in force" without qualification remains incorrect; the precise position is that the IR Code is in force and the other three are notified-but-not-commenced.

Why Stage 2 has stalled: the Concurrent List and the State Rules condition

Labour is a Concurrent List subject under Entries 22, 23, and 24 of List III of the Seventh Schedule. Central legislation and State Rules operate together. The Central Government's strategic posture, articulated in PIB releases and Standing Committee responses, has been to wait for State Rules across all four Codes to be operationally aligned across all States before pulling the commencement trigger.

The State Rules picture as of June 2026 is patchwork. Approximately 28 to 30 of 36 States and Union Territories have published draft Rules for at least one Code. Full sets of four Code Rules are notified in approximately 16 to 18 States. Per the research brief, the States that have published or notified draft Rules across one or more Codes include Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir (UT), Bihar, Karnataka, Haryana, Gujarat, Odisha, Punjab, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Assam. The lagging States are Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and West Bengal — politically resistant, with consultation-stage drafts only.

The fourteen-sets-of-rules-per-State arithmetic — four Codes, Central Rules and State Rules, sub-rules — produces approximately 500 separate instruments needed for full operationalisation. The drafting consultation processes have consumed 2020 to 2025. The Industrial Relations (Central) Rules 2026 were notified on 8 May 2026 (G.S.R. 342(E)) following the December 2025 draft consultation — the first full Code-rules notification under the four-Code architecture, and the operational scaffolding for the IR Code that commenced on 21 November 2025.

The State variance is not merely numerical. It is substantive. The Industrial Relations Code's Standing Orders threshold (section 28, fixed at 300 workers), the Negotiating Union verification mechanism (section 14), and the Inspector-cum-Facilitator inspection scheme are all parameters that States can vary in detail. Multi-State employers face the prospect of operating under different Code-implementations in different States. The Central Government's hesitation to commence is, in part, a hesitation about the federal asymmetry that commencement would crystallise.

What is in force in June 2026 — the limited operational footprint

Two partial commencements have happened.

Wages Code S.O. 4282(E) dated 18 December 2020 brought into force Chapter I (definitions, including section 2(y) on "wages") and Chapter VI (Advisory Boards), together with the Rules-making power. The substantive chapters — minimum wage (Chapter III), payment of wages (Chapter IV), bonus (Chapter V), claims (Chapter VII), offences (Chapter VIII) — remain uncommenced. The partial commencement created an immediate compliance trap: the section 2(y) wages definition, with its 50-per-cent-excluded-cap proviso, is technically operative. The substantive obligations that the definition would govern are not. Practitioners restructured CTC architecture between 2020 and 2022 in anticipation of the substantive commencement; the substantive commencement has not arrived.

SS Code S.O. 1730(E) dated 3 May 2023 brought into force sections 142 and 163 — PAN and Aadhaar linkage and transitional gig-worker provisions. The e-Shram portal under section 117, on which approximately 30 crore unorganised, gig, and platform workers are registered, became operationally scaffolded by these provisions. The aggregator contribution under section 114(4), the schemes for unorganised workers under Chapter IX, the gig and platform worker chapter (Chapter X), and the EPF, ESI, gratuity, and maternity chapters all await commencement.

Beyond these two notifications, no substantive Code provision is in force. The IR Code and OSH Code have had no section 1(3) notifications at all.

The State legislative response — Rajasthan and Karnataka

Where the Central commencement has lagged, States have begun to legislate independently. Rajasthan enacted the Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Act 2023, which institutes a 1 to 2 per cent transaction cess on aggregators operating in Rajasthan, registers gig workers on a State portal, and provides for welfare schemes funded from the cess. The Rajasthan statute is not under the SS Code — it is independent State legislation under Entry 23 of the Concurrent List. Aggregators operating in Rajasthan face an active obligation under State law that has no Central counterpart.

Karnataka has gone further. The Karnataka Platform Based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Act 2025 came into effect on 30 May 2025, with Rules notified on 19 November 2025 and the Welfare Board constituted on 27 January 2026. The Karnataka model layers a welfare board on a Rajasthan-style cess.

The State legislation creates a federal-layering question that the Codes have not resolved. If and when the SS Code Chapter X commences, the Central section 114 fund and the State cess will both apply. Whether Article 254 of the Constitution allows the State legislation to survive Central commencement — and on what conditions, in particular Presidential assent under Article 254(2) — is an unsettled question for litigation that has not yet arrived.

The writ-petition pipeline: pending, none struck down

The Supreme Court and the High Courts have been the principal forum for challenges to the Codes. Approximately twelve writ petitions are pending across the SC and the HCs. No provision of any Code has been struck down. No interim relief has been granted that affects the Codes' operation.

The principal SC writ family — the AITUC, INTUC and CITU writ petitions in W.P.(C) 1216-1230/2020 — has been pending without interim relief since 2020. The Court's posture has been deferential pending commencement. The informal observation from the bench has been that constitutional challenge to provisions that are not yet in force is premature. The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh writ (W.P.(C) 1205/2020) was withdrawn after consultation with the Government.

In the High Courts, the principal challenges have been to State Rules delay rather than to the Codes themselves. The Madras HC W.P. No. 4523/2024 (CITU) and the Kerala HC W.P.(C) 18247/2023 (CITU) seek mandamus directing State Rules notification. The Bombay HC PIL by the Centre for Workers Management (W.P. (PIL) No. 12342/2022) challenges the OSH Code factory threshold. The Migrant Workers Solidarity Network's Madras HC PIL (2024) seeks expansion of the OSH Code migrant worker definition. The Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) PIL in the Supreme Court (W.P.(C) 1068/2021) seeks expedited section 114 commencement.

Trade-union HC writs have produced administrative observations but no operative direction that affects the Codes' validity. The litigation pipeline is, in June 2026, an active record of dissent without an operative consequence.

ILO observations and Standing Committee critiques

The International Labour Organisation's Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) has issued observations on India in each of 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024. The observations are not findings of violation — they are observations under the supervisory mechanism. They have flagged concerns under Convention 81 (Labour Inspection) on the Inspector-cum-Facilitator's advisory-mandate dilution, Convention 87 (Freedom of Association) on the IR Code section 62 universalisation of the 60-day strike notice, Convention 98 (Right to Organise) on the section 14 51-per-cent Negotiating Union threshold, Convention 144 (Tripartite Consultation) on consultation quality during the 2019-20 Code-drafting process, and Convention 100 (Equal Remuneration) on the dilution of specialised gender-pay inspection.

The Committee notes the Government's indication that the Industrial Relations Code 2020 has not yet been brought into force. The Committee requests the Government to ensure that, when the Code is brought into force, the provisions on advance notice of strikes and on Negotiating Union recognition are consistent with the principles of freedom of association — in particular, that procedural requirements do not amount to a substantive restriction on the right of workers' organisations to collective action.

The ILO Committee on Freedom of Association Case No. 3404 (India, 2022) examined the IR Code's strike-notice and Negotiating-Union provisions; with the Code now in force from 21 November 2025, the operative-direction question reopens for the Committee's next round.

The Standing Committee on Labour's reports — the 8th Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha, IR Code) and the 9th Report (OSH Code and SS Code), together with the 41st Report on the Wages Code Bill — produced approximately 233 recommendations across the four Codes during 2019 and 2020. The principal recommendations not accepted include: retention of the 100-worker threshold for Standing Orders and for layoff/retrenchment/closure permissions; retention of the 10/20-worker factory threshold; retention of the 14-day strike notice rule confined to public utility services; retention of the 5-migrant ISMW threshold; inclusion of self-recruited migrants in the OSH Code definition; specific scheme list and timeline for SS Code Chapter X; revert to the proportional Negotiating Council only (drop the 51-per-cent threshold).

Most of the rejected recommendations have been deferred to the Rules-drafting process, where some flexibility may emerge. The Standing Committee critiques continue to inform the Rules consultation rounds that are ongoing in 2025 and 2026.

What still applies — the existing-statute landscape in June 2026

The discipline for practitioners is to recognise what continues to govern. The Industrial Disputes Act 1947, the Trade Unions Act 1926, and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act 1946 stand repealed and replaced by the IR Code with effect from 21 November 2025; their case-law architecture (BWSSB, Sundara Money, Excel Wear, SAIL) carries over because the Code definitions and section-numbering largely mirror the predecessor statutes. The Factories Act 1948, Mines Act 1952, Contract Labour Act 1970, Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act 1979, BOCW Act 1996, Plantations Labour Act 1951, Motor Transport Workers Act 1961, Sales Promotion Employees Act 1976, Beedi and Cigar Workers Act 1966, Cine Workers Act 1981, Dock Workers Act 1986, and the two Working Journalists Acts continue to govern occupational safety, health, and working conditions in full pending OSH Code commencement. The EPF Act 1952, ESI Act 1948, Maternity Benefit Act 1961, Payment of Gratuity Act 1972, Employees' Compensation Act 1923, BOCW Cess Act 1996, and Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act 2008 continue to govern social security in full pending SS Code commencement. The Payment of Wages Act 1936, Minimum Wages Act 1948, Payment of Bonus Act 1965, and Equal Remuneration Act 1976 continue to govern wages in full pending Wages Code commencement, save for the partial Wages Code Chapter I and Chapter VI provisions.

Old-law landmarks continue to govern. Bangalore Water Supply v. A. Rajappa (1978) 2 SCC 213 (7-judge bench, "industry" definition triple test) is good law for the industry definition; it carries into the IR Code via the substantively-mirroring section 2(p). The nine-judge Jai Bir Singh reference concluded final arguments on 18 March 2026 and judgment was reserved on 19 March 2026; verdict is pending as of June 2026 and BWSSB holds. State Bank of India v. N. Sundara Money (1976) 1 SCC 822 (non-renewal of fixed-term contract as retrenchment) is good law for non-written fixed-term arrangements and for FTC terminations that pre-date 21 November 2025; written FTCs terminated after commencement fall under section 2(zh)'s proviso and outside the retrenchment-compensation regime. Excel Wear v. Union of India AIR 1979 SC 25 (5-judge CB, closure consent) carries into the IR Code's Chapter X. Steel Authority of India v. National Union Waterfront Workers (2001) 7 SCC 1 (5-judge CB, no automatic absorption of contract labour) is good law and is preserved into the OSH Code architecture. Reptakos Brett v. Management (1992) 1 SCC 290 (six-component need-based minimum wage) is good law. Regional Director ESIC v. Francis De Costa (1996) 6 SCC 1 (3-judge CB, employment injury definition) is good law.

The constitutional-framework cases — Bandhua Mukti Morcha v. Union of India (1984) 3 SCC 161, People's Union for Democratic Rights v. Union of India (1982) 3 SCC 235 (Asiad workers), and Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation (1985) 3 SCC 545 — provide the Article 21 and Article 23 foundation that informs both the existing statutes and the future Codes.

What this means for the next eighteen months

The remaining three Codes' future is a political question, not a technical one. With the IR Code commenced on 21 November 2025, the Central Government has demonstrated willingness to pull the trigger; whether the Wages, OSH and SS Codes follow in the next eighteen months is a function of political consensus, electoral cycles, and federal alignment with the lagging States. The technical infrastructure — Rules, e-Shram portal, scheme drafts, State Rules — is partly in place. The political signal on the next three is awaited.

For the practitioner, the dual-track posture is the right one. Comply with the existing statutes that govern today. Prepare Code-readiness for the obligations that may govern tomorrow. Watch the section 1(3) notifications — they are the operative instruments, not the Codes as enacted. Track the State legislative activity in Rajasthan, Karnataka, and other States that are moving independently of Central commencement. Treat the Standing Committee reports and ILO observations as inputs to the Rules consultation, not as binding sources. The architecture is the regime.

Related on Valkya

• Code on Wages 2019: a practitioner's read
• Industrial Relations Code 2020: a practitioner's read
• The OSH Code 2020: thirteen statutes, one frame
• The Code on Social Security 2020: gig workers, aggregators, and the unified frame
• Bangalore Water Supply v. A. Rajappa: defining "industry"
• The pending nine-judge reference on the definition of "industry"

Sources

• PIB Ministry of Labour and Employment press releases (2019-2026), particularly the Presidential assent and section 1(3) commencement notifications.
• Standing Committee on Labour, 8th Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on the IR Code Bill 2019, and 9th Report (Seventeenth Lok Sabha) on the OSH Code and SS Code Bills 2019 (April 2020).
• ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) Observations on India, 2021-2024, and ILO Committee on Freedom of Association, Case No. 3404 (India, 2022).
• NIPFP Working Paper Series on the Labour Codes (Working Papers 380-389, 2021-2023).
• PRS Legislative Research analytical brief, "The Four Labour Codes", updated edition 2025.
• Working People's Charter analytical commentary on State Rules patchwork and gig-worker State legislation (2024-2026).

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Verify against the four Labour Codes as enacted, the section 1(3) commencement notifications as issued, the Central and State Rules as gazetted, and Ministry of Labour and Employment communications as they accumulate. The architecture is in active transition; the present piece reflects the position as at June 2026.