New Labour Codes 2026: Your Wage, Gratuity and PF Rights

India's four new labour codes came into force on 21 November 2025, and they directly change your salary slip, your provident fund, and what you are owed when you leave a job. The headline shift: your “wages” for PF and gratuity must now be at least 50% of your total pay, fixed-term staff earn gratuity after just one year, and your full-and-final dues must be paid within two working days of your last day. If your employer breaks these rules, you can file a free claim on the Ministry of Labour and Employment's SAMADHAN portal.

For decades, companies kept “basic pay” artificially low (say 30% of your package) and loaded the rest into allowances like HRA and special allowance. That shrank your PF and gratuity, because both are calculated on basic. The new labour codes close that gap with a single statutory definition of wages that you can hold your employer to.

The Code on Wages, 2019 sets one definition of “wages” used across PF, gratuity, bonus and minimum wages. The rule has two parts:

1. Wages = basic pay + dearness allowance + retaining allowance.
2. Excluded items (HRA, conveyance, overtime, bonus, employer PF contribution and similar) cannot add up to more than 50% of your total remuneration. If they do, the excess is treated as wages.

In plain terms, your basic-wage component must be at least 50% of your pay package. That higher base flows into:

• Provident Fund - higher employer and employee contributions, so a bigger retirement corpus.
• Gratuity - calculated on a larger “last drawn wages” figure.
• Leave encashment and overtime - measured on the bigger base.

This is the single most important change for salaried citizens, and it applies to your structure regardless of your job title.

Under the old Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, you generally needed five years of continuous service to qualify. The new regime keeps the five-year rule for ordinary permanent employees, but creates a brand-new right for fixed-term employees: gratuity is now payable on a pro-rata basis after just one year of continuous service.

The rate stays the same: 15 days' wages for every completed year of service (or part above six months), now computed on the higher 50% wage base. If you are on a one-year or two-year contract, you are no longer locked out of gratuity.

Section 17 of the Code on Wages, 2019 requires that all dues owed to a departing worker, including salary, leave encashment, bonus and gratuity, be paid within two working days of the last working day, whether you resigned, were terminated, retrenched, or the establishment closed.

This ends the long wait for “FnF” that many workers faced. If your employer sits on your money beyond two working days, that delay is itself a violation you can complain about.

The Ministry of Labour and Employment runs a free online portal called SAMADHAN (samadhan.labour.gov.in) where workers, unions and employers raise industrial disputes and claims under labour laws. You can file from a computer, the UMANG app, or a nearby Common Service Centre, and track the case online.

1. Go to https://samadhan.labour.gov.in and register as a workman with your mobile and email.
2. Choose the right case type: an industrial dispute (for unfair termination or unpaid dues escalations) or a claim under the wage and gratuity provisions.
3. Enter your employer's details, your period of service, and the amount claimed (unpaid wages, delayed FnF, gratuity, or PF shortfall).
4. Upload proof: appointment letter, salary slips, resignation or termination letter, and bank statements showing what was or was not paid.
5. Submit. You receive an acknowledgement, and all notices reach you by SMS and email. Track status on the same portal.

Because the codes came into force only in late 2025, SAMADHAN is mid-transition and still lists the older Acts; file under the closest matching claim type and describe the new-code right in your statement. For a PF-specific shortfall, you can also raise a grievance with the EPFO at https://www.epfindia.gov.in.

If you work for a government department, a PSU, or a contractor on a government project, a quick RTI application can surface the exact records you need, your sanctioned pay structure, PF remittance challans, or the contractor's gratuity policy, before you file a claim. Use the The RTI Playbook to frame a tight request, and our timeline tools to track the 30-day reply clock.

Serious disputes (illegal termination, large unpaid dues, victimisation) move from SAMADHAN to conciliation before a labour officer, and if unresolved, to an Industrial Tribunal under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020. You do not need a lawyer to start; a registered trade union or even an individual workman can raise the dispute. Free legal aid is available if you qualify, see free legal aid and Lok Adalat eligibility.

It can reduce in-hand pay slightly, because a larger share now goes into PF. But the trade-off is a bigger retirement corpus and higher gratuity. Your total cost-to-company does not fall; the split inside it shifts toward long-term savings.

The codes cover most employees and workers in establishments across India, including factory, shop, office and contract staff. Some thresholds and exemptions vary by code and by state rules, so check your specific establishment, but the wages definition and final-settlement timeline are broad.

Yes. The Code on Social Security, 2020 recognises gig and platform workers as a category and provides for social security schemes (life, disability, health and old-age benefits) funded partly by aggregators. Registration on the e-Shram portal helps you access these benefits as they roll out.

Yes. Fixed-term employees now earn gratuity on a pro-rata basis after one completed year of continuous service, computed at 15 days' wages per year on the new 50% wage base. You no longer need five years.

The two-working-day deadline under Section 17 of the Code on Wages has been crossed, so this is a clear violation. File a claim on SAMADHAN with your salary slips and resignation letter, and keep written follow-ups as evidence.

They are in force. The Government notified and made all four codes effective from 21 November 2025 through Official Gazette notifications, replacing 29 earlier labour laws. Some operational rules are still being aligned by states.

• Check your latest salary slip: is basic at least 50% of your total pay? If not, raise it with HR in writing.
• Keep your appointment letter, payslips and PF passbook safe, they are your evidence.
• Unpaid or delayed dues? File free on https://samadhan.labour.gov.in.
• Need to extract official records first? Read The RTI Playbook.
• Not sure which authority handles your problem? Use the complaint-routing hub.

• Press Information Bureau, Ministry of Labour and Employment - four labour codes effective 21 November 2025: https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=2192463
• Code on Wages, 2019 (wages definition and Section 17 settlement timeline): https://labour.gov.in
• SAMADHAN portal, Ministry of Labour and Employment: https://samadhan.labour.gov.in
• EPFO (Employees' Provident Fund Organisation): https://www.epfindia.gov.in
• e-Shram (unorganised and gig worker registration): https://eshram.gov.in

Reviewed for accuracy by the RTI Wiki editorial desk. Public-interest guidance by Dr. Shrawan Kumar Pathak and Kashvi Pathak. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm current rules for your state and establishment.

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• Fixed-term job? Gratuity after 1 year, not 5
• New 50% basic pay rule and your PF and salary
• Get your PF UAN yourself with Aadhaar face authentication

• Strike notice rules under IR Code Section 62

• ELI Scheme: first job EPF incentive up to Rs 15,000

Related guide: Gratuity even if you resign after 5 years: SC 2025