On Friday, the Indian government notified the final rules under the Industrial Relations (IR) Code, 2020, and the Code on Wages, 2019, marking a significant step towards implementing the four labour codes passed by Parliament in 2019 and 2020. The new rules, which follow stakeholder consultations on draft versions published in December 2025, will primarily apply to sectors where the Central Government is the ‘appropriate government’, including telecom, banking, and major ports. The Wage Code introduces norms for minimum wages and variable dearness allowance (VDA), which will be revised biannually based on the consumer price index for industrial workers. It retains the eight-hour workday and 48-hour weekly cap, mandates weekly rest days, and allows for electronic maintenance of employment records. Additionally, the rules formalize the responsibility of employers to pay minimum statutory bonuses to contract labor and standardize various employment registers. The IR Code rules focus on strengthening workplace processes, including grievance redressal mechanisms and clearly defined standing orders. The accompanying Model Standing Orders classify workers into categories such as permanent, temporary, and casual, and introduce provisions for fixed-term employment and electronic notices. This development provides organizations with a baseline template for codifying workplace rules, although the impact will largely depend on how state-level regulations align with the central framework.