Labour Day 2025: India has been taking several significant steps towards labour reforms. Here are some of the key labour reforms undertaken since 2014.
Labour Day 2025: May 1 is celebrated as International Workers’ Day or Labour Day across the world. The day is celebrated to recognise the contribution of working-class people to society and also to promote their rights. The day is also known as Global Workers Day or May Day. It was celebrated for the first time as a labour holiday on May 1, 1889. In India, the first Labour Day was observed on May 1, 1923, in Chennai under the leadership of the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan. May 1 is observed as Labour Day in more than 80 countries and is often a public holiday. The International Labour Organization (ILO) announces a theme every year for Labour Day. However, the theme for this year has not been revealed yet.
Labour Day 2025: Key labour reforms undertaken since 2014
India has been taking several significant steps towards labour reforms. Here are some of the key labour reforms undertaken since 2014.
For transparency and accountability, the usage of an IT-enabled system for inspection has been made mandatory.
The ceiling limit of gratuity has been increased from Rs 10 Lakhs to Rs 20 Lakhs on 29.03.2018.
On 16.02.2017, the Payment of Wages Act enabled payment of wages to employees by cheque or crediting it to their bank account.
The Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017, which came into effect on 01.04.2017, increased the paid maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks.
Labour Day 2025: New Labour Codes
The Government has formulated four 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. The Ministry of Labour & Employment has been consistently working for harmonisation of Rules under the four codes, across the States.
According to the government, six regional meetings were held between August and October, 2024 to facilitate State/UT Governments for framing the Rules within the ambit of Labour Codes.
