Code on Social Security, 2020

This 2025 edition of The Code on Social Security, 2020 (No. 36 of 2020, dt. 29-9-2020) reproduces India’s consolidated labour-welfare code verbatim, set to replace and subsume nine legacy enactments:

• Employees’ Provident Funds & Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952

• Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948

• Employees’ Compensation Act, 1923

• Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act, 1959

• Maternity Benefit Act, 1961

• Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972

• Cine-Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981

• Building & Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act, 1996

• Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008

Brief, practice-oriented short comments follow pivotal clauses—flagging Aadhaar-linked universal account numbers, gig- & platform-worker coverage, graded penalty regime, and the forthcoming e-SHRAM integration—while preserving full Bare-Act integrity for examinations and authoritative citation.

Core statutory coverage

• Social-security organisations—EPFO, ESIC, National Social Security Board & State Building-Worker Boards under a harmonised governance architecture.

• Universal definitions & coverage—“employee,” “gig worker,” “platform worker,” “career centre,” and aggregation thresholds for contributions.

• Provident fund, pension & insurance—codified contribution rates, self-assessment, and auto-transfer of accumulations via UAN.

• Employees’ State Insurance—expanded applicability to hazardous gig sectors; provision for voluntary adoption by smaller units.

• Maternity, gratuity & employee compensation—enhanced wage ceilings, simplified digitised notice and claim procedures.

• Cess for building & other construction workers—online self-assessment, real-time payment dashboard, and geo-tagged beneficiary records.

• Information & career centres—replacement of employment exchanges with digital career centres, compulsory vacancy e-notification.

• Compliance, inspection & penalties—risk-based inspection scheme, compounding of first-time defaults, and sharply escalated fines for repeat violations.

This edition is particularly suited for

• AIBE candidates and law students navigating the new four-code labour regime.

• HR managers, payroll heads & compliance officers realigning SOPs for PF/ESI, gratuity and gig-worker contributions.

• Start-ups, platform companies & MSMEs assessing obligation thresholds and on-boarding e-SHRAM-registered workers.

• Trade-union leaders, gig-worker collectives & NGOs tracking entitlement roll-outs and State Board welfare schemes.

• Policy analysts & ESG auditors following India’s social-protection expansion and digital-governance metrics.

Exact Gazette text · pinpoint explanatory notes · zero superfluous commentary—your fastest route to clarity, authenticity and practical insight on India’s unified social-security code.