9. Trends and Specific Cases

One of the major developments in the labour and employment space in recent times has been the Indian Government’s effort to codify, simplify and amalgamate 29 central legislations into 4 standalone Labour Codes (“Codes”).

This includes the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (“OSH Code”), which is yet to be brought into force and will subsume and streamline multiple existing legislations, including the Act. Once effective, the OSH Code will introduce changes that will impact the engagement of contractors and contract labour. It is anticipated the burden of statutory compliances and filings will be considerably diminished for businesses acting as principal employers.

Further, the Code on Social Security (“SS Code”) has attempted to acknowledge the legal quandary of gig workers, namely, the lack of clarity regarding their classification as employees or independent contractors, by defining gig workers as “a person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of traditional employer-employee relationship”. The SS Code has also introduced social security benefits for gig workers. This is a considerable step forward as gig workers traditionally do not qualify for employee benefits.

Apart from the SS Code, gig workers are anticipated to benefit from state-level laws aimed at improving the welfare of gig workers.