Parliament Question: Consultations on draft Labour Code rules

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 746 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2026 CONSULTATIONS ON DRAFT LABOUR CODE RULES 746. SMT. RAJATHI: Will the Minister of Labour and Employment be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has circulated the drafts of Labour Code rules for public consultation; (b) the reasons for releasing all four codes simultaneously, with maximum forty five days time period for submitting comments, thereby leaving, very little time for workers and other stakeholders to respond to all the drafts effectively; (c) whether the Ministry has received any representations requesting extension of deadline, wider dissemination and scheduled language translations and if so, the details thereof; and (d) whether the Ministry plans to extend the consultation by another forty five days enabling sufficient time for an efficient consultation process? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE) (a) to (d): The Central Government has implemented the four Labour Codes viz; the Code on Wages, 2019, the Code on Social Security, 2020, (CoSS) the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (IR Code) and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH&WC Code) w.e.f. 21.11.2025. Further, the Central Government has pre-published the draft Rules under the four Labour Codes on 30.12.2025 for inviting comments from public within a span of 45 days for submission of comments under three Codes viz; the Code on Wages, 2019, CoSS, 2020, OSH&WC Code, 2020 while a period of 30 days has been provided under the IR Code, 2020. There is no proposal to extend the timeline for consultations on draft Rules. *****