Ministry
Ministry of Labour and Employment
The Ministry of Labour and Employment is the Union government's department for the terms of work: it drafts and enforces labour law, sets minimum-wage policy, and runs India's contributory social-security machinery through the EPFO and ESIC. Labour is a Concurrent-List subject, so the ministry legislates alongside the states, and its writ reaches the organised workforce directly and — through the e-Shram database and welfare schemes — the far larger unorganised workforce. It is the seat of power that consolidated 29 central labour statutes into four Labour Codes, brought into force in November 2025.
Updated
- Headquarters
- Shram Shakti Bhawan, Rafi Marg, New Delhi
- Statutory bodies
- EPFO, ESIC, Directorate General of Training, Labour Bureau, DGFASLI
- e-Shram registrations
- over 31 crore unorganised workers (Nov 2025)
- Legal footprint
- 29 central labour laws consolidated into 4 Labour Codes
Role
The Ministry of Labour and Employment is the institution through which the Union government sets and polices the terms of employment. Because labour sits on the Constitution’s Concurrent List, the ministry legislates in parallel with the states: it frames the central statutes and rules, while state governments notify their own rules and enforce much of the law on the ground. Its direct reach is over the organised workforce — enforced through the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (retirement savings and pension) and the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (health and cash benefits) — while its indirect reach, via the e-Shram database and linked welfare schemes, extends toward the unorganised workers who make up the large majority of Indian labour.
The ministry’s defining act of the decade has been legal consolidation: folding 29 central labour laws into four Labour Codes covering wages, industrial relations, social security, and occupational safety. It also runs the employment-facing machinery of the state — the National Career Service, the Directorate General of Training, and, since 2025, the Employment Linked Incentive scheme that pays employers and first-time workers through the EPFO. This places the ministry at the centre of two linked contests: how work is regulated, and whether the economy is generating enough formal jobs.
Desk maintained by IndiaStand editorial cycles. Officeholders are transient; this dossier tracks the institution.
Timeline since 1947
- reference
Labour portfolio constituted at independence
The Union government constituted a dedicated labour portfolio at independence, giving the centre a standing department for labour legislation, industrial relations and worker welfare.
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Foundational labour statutes enacted
The Minimum Wages Act, the Factories Act and the Employees' State Insurance Act framed post-independence labour protection.
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Employees' Provident Funds Act; EPFO established
Created the contributory provident-fund system that the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation still administers.
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Code on Wages, 2019 receives assent
The first of the four codes, it introduced a national floor wage and a uniform statutory definition of wages.
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Three remaining Labour Codes receive assent
The Industrial Relations, Social Security, and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Codes were assented to on the same day.
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e-Shram portal launched
A national database of unorganised workers, seeded with Aadhaar, issuing a Universal Account Number on self-declaration.
- official
Cabinet approves the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme
A ₹99,446-crore scheme routed through the EPFO to subsidise first-time formal jobs and additional hiring, with a stated target of more than 3.5 crore jobs over two years.
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Four Labour Codes brought into force
The government notified the effective date for the major provisions of the codes, consolidating 29 central labour laws into four.
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Draft Central Rules under the codes gazetted
The ministry published draft rules for stakeholder comment, the operational detail beneath the enacted codes.
Frequently asked
- What is Ministry of Labour and Employment?
- The Ministry of Labour and Employment is the Union government's department for the terms of work: it drafts and enforces labour law, sets minimum-wage policy, and runs India's contributory social-security machinery through the EPFO and ESIC. Labour is a Concurrent-List subject, so the ministry legislates alongside the states, and its writ reaches the organised workforce directly and — through the e-Shram database and welfare schemes — the far larger unorganised workforce. It is the seat of power that consolidated 29 central labour statutes into four Labour Codes, brought into force in November 2025.
- When was Ministry of Labour and Employment established?
- Ministry of Labour and Employment was established 1947.
- What does Ministry of Labour and Employment do?
- Its remit covers Labour legislation and its enforcement (Concurrent List), Minimum wages and the national floor wage, Contributory social security via the EPFO (provident fund, pension) and ESIC (health insurance), Occupational safety, health and working conditions, Industrial relations, trade-union recognition and dispute resolution, Registration and welfare of unorganised, gig and platform workers (e-Shram).
- What is the latest on Ministry of Labour and Employment?
- As of 2026-07-06: Draft Central Rules under the codes gazetted. The ministry published draft rules for stakeholder comment, the operational detail beneath the enacted codes.