| Abstract: |
The labour market of India has undergone a profound structural transformation following the consolidation of twenty-nine central labour statutes into four comprehensive Labour Codes: the Code on Wages (2019), the Industrial Relations Code (2020), the Code on Social Security (2020), and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (2020). This empirical paper examines the evolving relationship between labour law reform and industrial relations outcomes in India using secondary data drawn from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Periodic Labour Force Survey, the Annual Survey of Industries, and state-level implementation reports for the period 2014 to 2024. The study analyses trends in industrial disputes, trade union density, contractualisation of the workforce, strike and lockout frequency, and compliance with statutory wage floors to assess whether codification has improved industrial harmony or merely reorganised existing rigidities. Descriptive and comparative statistical techniques, including trend analysis, percentage change computation, and cross-state comparison, are applied to five tabulated datasets. Findings indicate a decline in registered industrial disputes alongside a rise in informal and contractual employment, suggesting that formal legal simplification has not proportionately translated into worker protection or dispute resolution efficiency. The paper argues that policy perspectives must move beyond codification toward robust implementation, capacity building of labour inspectorates, and social dialogue mechanisms. |
