India’s new Labour Codes replace a patchwork of statutes that had accumulated without design or coordination. Earlier, firms navigated 29 separate laws that defined wages, working conditions, and employment categories in inconsistent ways. The consolidation into four Codes brings a degree of order that the system had lacked for decades. Some of the immediate changes are straightforward: Uniform definitions across states, written appointment letters for all workers, clearer rules for timely wage payments, recognition of gig and platform workers, updated health and safety standards, and a simplified national compliance structure. These shifts close obvious gaps. However, the deeper significance of the Codes lies not in the individual clauses themselves, but in how they reshape the operating

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