Labour Department forms committees to finalise Labour Code rules and notifications

The Karnataka Labour Department has formed four committees, one for each Labour Code, to revise and finalise the draft rules and issue the required notifications. All the four committees comprise officials from the State Labour Department.

The Labour Department recently published the draft rules for all four Codes. The draft rules will be open for feedback for 45 days.

“Committees have been formed under each Code to see if the draft rules require revisions, form the list of officials mandated by the Codes, prescribe parameters, safety standards, and so on,” said a senior labour department official who is part of one of the committees.  

Revisiting notifications

“Several notifications need to be issued under each Rule. For example, the Codes mandate the appointment of authorities such as inspector-cum-facilitator. Each such authority needs to be appointed by a government notification. The committees will prepare these notifications and send them to the government,” the official elaborated, further adding that the committees will also be looking into the objections and comments on the draft rules.  

The Labour Codes direct the State governments to appoint officials such as licensing authorities, appellate authorities, conciliation officers, certifying officers, and registering officers to enforce and implement the rules. According to senior officials, the notifications prepared earlier are being revisited now, and the list of authorities will be published after the rules are finalised.

Software development

In the context of reported directions from the Union government to implement the Codes from April 1, 2026, the Karnataka Labour Department officials are also in talks with the Centre regarding the software requirements for the implementation.

“There are two options. We can either develop our own software and do an API integration with the Central government portals, Shram Suvidha and SAMADHAN. Or we can ask the Union government to incorporate the State’s requirements into the Central system. We are discussing both,” said a senior official.