Overtime can be availed only with the consent of employees and must be compensated at twice the normal wage rate, Labour and Employment Secretary Vandana Gurnani said at a PHDCCI event
Labour and Employment Secretary Vandana Gurnani said on Friday that State governments have been vested with significant flexibility to increase overtime hours for workers under the new labour codes, with the permissible limit raised from 75 hours per quarter to 125 hours. However, she noted that overtime can be availed only with the consent of employees, and must be compensated at twice the normal wage rate.
Speaking at a fireside chat at the National Logistics Summit 3.0, organised by PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gurnani said States have been empowered to increase overtime hours beyond the stipulated time mentioned in the labour code for the industry as a whole, or for specific classes. Some States have increased maximum overtime hours from 125 hours to 144 hours, said Gurnani.
She also highlighted the sweeping decriminalisation brought in by the new labour framework, noting that criminal liability provisions have been reduced from 87 under the earlier laws to 22. Of these, 16 offences are compoundable, allowing them to be settled through penalties and fines, instead of criminal prosecution.
Describing logistics as a “critical lifeline of the economy”, she said the sector stands to benefit significantly from the labour law reforms, which replace 29 complex and often overlapping labour laws with four comprehensive labour codes. The earlier laws, she said, had varying definitions for basic terms such as wages, workers and employees, creating compliance challenges for businesses and regulators alike.
gig workers
Gurnani stated that many of the old laws were no longer suited to the changing nature of work, and did not account for the rise of gig and platform workers.
The objective of the codes is to strike a balance between enhancing worker welfare and reducing the compliance burden on industry. “The focus is on guaranteeing minimum wages, improving safety, extending social security and welfare benefits, while at the same time ensuring substantial reduction in compliance and criminal provisions,” she said.
Citing examples of compliance simplification, Gurnani said the requirement of eight different registrations has been replaced by a single registration, four licences have been reduced to one, 31 returns to one, and 87 registers to just eight. The role of the labour inspector has also been transformed into that of a facilitator, with emphasis on voluntary compliance. Under the new regime, businesses are to be given a 30-day notice to rectify violations, which normally happen due to lack of awareness, before punitive action is initiated.
On workers’ benefits, the Secretary said the codes mandate minimum wages, appointment letters, enhanced welfare measures, social security coverage and health check-ups. Thresholds for retrenchment, lay-offs and applicability of certain factory and contract labour provisions have also been rationalised to help enterprises scale up operations.
Addressing questions from moderator Anil Syal, President of Safexpress Pvt ltd, on the e-Shram portal, Gurnani said it was launched during the Covid-19 pandemic as a national database for unorganised workers and currently has over 31 crore registered workers, including gig and platform workers. The portal, she said, is emerging as a one-stop platform for linking workers with government welfare schemes, and will form the backbone of universal social security envisaged under the labour codes.
She explained that the codes provide for social security for unorganised, gig and platform workers through a dedicated tripartite board and a fund sourced from multiple channels, including contributions from aggregators. Eighteen benefits such as life, disability, maternity and health cover would be extended, with e-Shram serving as the entry point.
On concerns relating to multiple-platform workers, such as drivers working simultaneously with different aggregators like Ola, Uber and Rapido, Gurnani said the issue would be addressed through technology and Aadhaar-based de-duplication. Aggregators will be required to share work-duration data through APIs, enabling accurate identification of eligible workers for social security benefits. For instance, Uber system will lead with e-shram and give data of people who have worked with them for 90 days or more. Similarly, Ola will also give that data. Together we will pull out, how many days that driver has worked. Only when somebody has worked for 90 days with one aggregator or 120 days with more than one aggregator in a year, then they are entitled to social security, she clarified.
Published on December 19, 2025
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