Abstract
The two major National Labour Commission (NCL) reports, first in 1969 and the second in 2002, suggested improvements for industrial relations and addressed worker protections, leading to major reforms such as the four Labour Codes. The second National Commission on Labour (2002), constituted in 1999, focused on rationalising the existing labour laws into four functional codes (wages, industrial relations, social security and safety/working conditions). It emphasised labour flexibility and, for the first time, focused heavily on the unorganised sector, advocating for an umbrella legislation for their protection. These reports serve as the foundation for the Ministry of Labour & Employment in shaping India’s modern labour laws.
The codification of 29 central labour laws into four Labour Codes in 2020 represents one of the most significant labour law reforms in post-Independence India. While the stated objectives of the reforms include simplification, ease of doing business and expanded worker protection, their implications for Human Resource Management (HRM) are complex and contested. This article critically examines the impact of the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020 on HRM practices in India. Drawing on doctrinal legal analysis and secondary literature, the study argues that although the Labour Codes promise long-term efficiency and workforce formalisation, they simultaneously intensify compliance responsibilities, redistribute power in industrial relations and reposition HRM as a strategic governance function rather than a purely administrative role. The article highlights implementation challenges, equity concerns and state-level variations that complicate the realisation of the Codes’ stated objectives.
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