Awareness Programme on Labour Codes in New Delhi

The Shram Samvad in Okhla put the Labour Codes, effective from 21 November 2025, squarely on employers’ desks. Here is what HR and payroll operators in 2026 should do next.

What happened in New Delhi and why it matters

The Ministry of Labour and Employment hosted an awareness programme at Okhla Industrial Estate, New Delhi, to brief employers, HR teams, and legal practitioners on operational aspects of the Labour Codes and related schemes.

You can read the official note here: PIB press release on the Shram Samvad.

For employers, this is not a theoretical update. With the Codes in effect from 21 November 2025, payroll settings, contract language, registers, and daily HR ops need a once-over now in 2026 to avoid non-compliance and downstream disputes.

Quick summary of the focus areas highlighted

While the session did not change the law on its own, it underlined practical themes HR teams must address:

• Clarity on wage-related computations and what counts inside or outside the wage definition for statutory triggers
• Consistency in working hours, overtime calculation, and rest intervals as per applicable rules
• Coverage under social security, including PF and ESIC, and correct establishment and employee classification
• Registers, notices, and filings that can be maintained digitally, subject to state notifications
• Contractor engagement and ensuring principal employer responsibilities are not missed

30-day action plan for HR and payroll operators

1. Update your wage structure playbook. Revisit how you define basic, allowances, and exclusions for statutory calculations. Align your salary templates and CTC letters. For a practical reference on structure, see this guide on defining CTC in India.
2. Lock attendance and overtime rules. Document your attendance capture method, approval flows, and overtime authorization. Ensure you can trace overtime from request to payout with logs.
3. Review PF and ESIC coverage decisions. Recheck employee eligibility, wage ceilings where applicable, joining dates, and enrollments. Also validate contractor worker coverage. For context on PF and ESI treatment in assessments, see this note on PF/ESI disallowance not being misreporting.
4. Standardize payslips and audit fields. Payslips should clearly show earnings, deductions, and statutory components with codes that map back to registers. If you need a checklist, use this explainer on payslip fields and fixes.
5. Refresh contractor documentation. Keep copies of contractor registrations, wage sheets, ESI and PF challans, and ensure gate passes and muster records reconcile with invoices.
6. Map your registers. Maintain updated versions of wage, attendance, leave, and inspection registers. If you keep them digitally, ensure they are retrievable, tamper-evident, and backed up.
7. Post the right notices. Verify that mandatory notices are displayed at the establishment and digitally, where acceptable, in languages your workforce understands.
8. Plan training for supervisors. Brief line managers on new or clarified processes, especially around overtime approval, weekly offs, and incident reporting.

Before vs after: operational checkpoints under the Codes

Use this comparison to guide internal reviews. It is not a substitute for legal advice, but it helps you prioritize where to look first.

State rules still matter

Even with central Codes in effect, several compliance details depend on state notifications and formats. Treat this as a dual-track exercise: comply with the Codes and check the current state position for your locations.

For a practical way to manage staggered state adoption, use this operator checklist on handling delayed state rules and interim steps.

Deep-dive: payroll and record changes to prioritize in 2026

1) Salary structures and letters

Review offer and increment letters, annexures, and payout rules for components like basic, special allowance, performance-linked pay, and reimbursements. Ensure statutory triggers are calculated on the correct base and that your templates do not conflict with the wage definition you apply.

If you are streamlining your templates, this 2026 statutory components overview can help you spot missing heads or outdated labels.

2) Time, attendance, and overtime proof

Attendance must tie out to wages and overtime. Capture punch-in and punch-out, shift rosters, weekly offs, and approvals. For field teams, preserve geo evidence or route logs if you use them. Align your payroll calendar so overtime is computed and paid in the same cycle unless your policy states a clear, compliant lag.

3) PF and ESIC hygiene

Recheck eligibility, opt-ins where allowed, and ceilings. Verify that wage heads used for PF and ESI calculations are consistent with your wage definition. If you have many contractor workers, your reconciliation should include muster rolls, wage sheets, and contractor challans, with sign-offs from both sides. For employee awareness, share this explainer on ESIC benefits and claims.

4) Registers, notices, and audits

Adopt a single source of truth for registers. Keep an index of what you maintain, where it is stored, and the retention period. Schedule internal audits and sign-offs each quarter. Verify that statutory notices are visible and current at each site.

Scenarios from the floor and how to respond

Manufacturing unit in Okhla with contractors on two shifts

Your line supervisor authorizes overtime on WhatsApp. Wages are paid on time but without a formal overtime approval trail. Fix this by introducing a simple overtime request form, a two-step approval in your HRIS, and a nightly export to payroll. Attach shift rosters and muster rolls to the contractor invoice before sign-off.

IT services firm with hybrid work

Employees log time loosely and managers approve retroactively. This causes disputes when variable pay is tied to minimum billable hours. Standardize a weekly timesheet lock, clarify what counts as hours worked, and document exception handling for public holidays and client downtime.

Retail chain opening a new outlet

The outlet uses last year’s notice set from another state. Before launch, confirm local holiday lists, weekly off practices, and display requirements. Ensure the store has the right registers and that the manager knows the escalation path for incidents.

Common pitfalls to avoid

• Using old salary templates that conflict with your current wage definition
• Missing PF or ESIC coverage for contractor-deployed workers at your site
• Keeping registers in formats your team cannot export quickly during inspections
• Approving overtime by chat without a formal record
• Relying on a single HR person’s memory for state differences across multiple locations

Compliance cadence for the rest of 2026

1. Monthly: Reconcile attendance to payroll, PF and ESIC challans to wage sheets, and contractor bills to muster rolls.
2. Quarterly: Sample-check salary structures and letters for new joiners and increments. Audit notices and registers at every site.
3. Half-yearly: Review policy documents, including overtime, leave, and grievance handling. Refresh training for supervisors.
4. Annually: Revalidate your legal entity and establishment registrations, and archive records as per retention timelines.

Sources and further reading

Official event note: Awareness Programme on Labour Codes Held in New Delhi

Operator-focused explainers to help with implementation:

• Key statutory components you should track in 2026
• How to define CTC and structure salaries
• Payslip checklist and common fixes
• ESIC benefits guide for employees
• Managing delayed state notifications under the Codes

Bottom line for HR and payroll operators

The Shram Samvad in Okhla underscored a simple message: the Labour Codes are in force, and smooth compliance is an operational habit, not a one-time project. In 2026, focus on salary structure clarity, airtight time and overtime records, social security hygiene, and inspection-ready registers. If you put those building blocks in place this quarter, the rest of your compliance stack will hold up under scrutiny.

Related reading

• States and UTs to Notify Labour Code Rules by Oct 31