Code on Social Security 2020 Bare Act Edition May 2026

Code on Social Security 2020 Bare Act Edition May 2026

Descriptions : –

Code on Social Security 2020 with Social Security (Central) Rules 2026 [Bare Act with Section Notes] by Taxmann is a fully consolidated, application-ready statutory publication presenting India’s social security law in its complete, post-enforcement form. The Code on Social Security—brought into force with effect from 21st November 2025—subsumes and replaces nine foundational labour-welfare statutes, namely the Employee’s Compensation Act 1923, the Employees’ State Insurance Act 1948, the Employees’ Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1952, the Employment Exchanges (Compulsory Notification of Vacancies) Act 1959, the Maternity Benefit Act 1961, the Payment of Gratuity Act 1972, the Cine-Workers Welfare Fund Act 1981, the Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Cess Act 1996, and the Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act 2008, reconstituting them into a single legislative architecture governing provident fund, employees’ state insurance, gratuity, maternity benefit, employee’s compensation, building-and-construction worker welfare, and social security for unorganised, gig and platform workers. This 2026 Edition introduces, as its core editorial feature, Section Notes—identifying the corresponding provision of the repealed Act beneath each statutory provision—together with relevant Case Laws reproduced under the section, enabling practitioners to translate the jurisprudence of nine legacy statutes into the new Code-based architecture at the clause level. The publication completes the statutory ecosystem with the finally notified Social Security (Central) Rules 2026, the Other Beneficiaries and Members of their Families Medical Facilities Scheme 2026, a front-placed Comparative Study, two-way sectional cross-reference Tables covering all nine repealed Acts, a Subject Index, Notifications, FAQs covering all four Labour Codes, and a practitioner-oriented Compliance Handbook—making it a complete, single-volume operational reference for understanding, applying, and complying with India’s social security law in its post-enforcement phase. The law stated in this book is updated as on 8th May 2026.

This publication is intended for users who apply, interpret, administer, or transition into the Code on Social Security regime, including:

• Labour & Employment Law Practitioners advising on provident fund, ESI, gratuity, maternity benefit, employee’s compensation, and unorganised-sector welfare matters
• Corporate HR Heads, Payroll Heads, IR Managers, and Compliance Officers responsible for EPFO, ESIC, gratuity, maternity-benefit, and welfare-cess compliance under the Code
• Employers, Industrial Establishments, and Aggregators assessing new applicability thresholds, contribution mechanisms, fixed-term employment, and the gig/platform-worker framework
• EPFO and ESIC Officers, Inspector-cum-Facilitators, Welfare Commissioners, and Adjudicatory Authorities (including the Employees’ Insurance Court and Competent Authorities) applying the consolidated assessment, recovery, and dispute-resolution architecture
• Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board Officials, Cess Collection Officers, and Contractors administering registration of beneficiaries, levy and self-assessment of cess, and welfare-fund operations
• Trade Unions, Worker Representatives, and Aggregator-Onboarded Gig and Platform Workers interpreting registration, scheme eligibility, and benefit entitlements
• Chartered Accountants, Company Secretaries, and Cost Accountants conducting labour-code due diligence, statutory audits, and contribution reconciliation
• Law Students, Academicians, and Policy Researchers studying India’s transition from legacy social-security statutes to the Code-based framework

The Present Publication is the 2026 Edition, covering the amended and updated text of the Code on Social Security [Act No. 36 of 2020] and Rules, with the following noteworthy features:

• [Section Notes – Core USP] Corresponding-provision notes placed immediately beneath each statutory provision, identifying the source section in the repealed Act—Employee’s Compensation Act 1923, ESI Act 1948, EPF & MP Act 1952, Employment Exchanges Act 1959, Maternity Benefit Act 1961, Payment of Gratuity Act 1972, Cine-Workers Welfare Fund Act 1981, BOCW Cess Act 1996, and Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act 2008—turning the Bare Act into a portability bridge between the legacy regime and the new Code at the clause level
• [Case Laws Beneath the Section] Relevant judicial precedents are reproduced under each section to confirm standard interpretations carried forward from the repealed Acts, enable quick precedent verification, and provide authoritative reference for adjudication, contribution disputes, and benefit determination
• [Two-Way Statutory Cross-Reference Tables] A master table moving from Code section to corresponding provisions of the nine repealed laws, together with nine reverse-direction tables—one each for the BOCW Cess Act 1996, Cine-Workers Welfare Fund Act 1981, Employee’s Compensation Act 1923, EPF & MP Act 1952, ESI Act 1948, Employment Exchanges Act 1959, Maternity Benefit Act 1961, Payment of Gratuity Act 1972, and Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act 2008—enabling readers to locate provisions in either direction without consulting separate sources
• [Front-Placed Comparative Study] A detailed subject-wise and clause-wise comparison between the Code on Social Security 2020 and the nine repealed Acts, identifying retained provisions, substantive departures, including the enlargement of Corporation’s rights against defaulting employers, redefinition of wages, expanded scope of fixed-term and gig/platform workers, the new aggregator-funded social-security framework, application of Aadhaar, the Social Security Fund, and new provisions on misuse of benefits, rationalised thresholds, and consciously omitted concepts
• [Social Security (Central) Rules 2026] The notified Central Rules, which supersede the corresponding subordinate legislation under the EPF, ESI, Payment of Gratuity, Maternity Benefit, Employee’s Compensation, BOCW Cess, and Unorganised Workers’ Social Security regimes in the relevant respects, provide the operative procedural framework for implementation, covering registration, contribution, returns, inspection, and benefit administration
• [Other Beneficiaries and Members of their Families Medical Facilities Scheme 2026] The full text of the Scheme governing eligibility, contribution rates, the scope of medical facilities extended to other beneficiaries and their family members, and administrative procedure, a stand-alone reference for ESI medical-benefit extension beyond insured persons
• [Seven Schedules to the Code] The First Schedule (applicability thresholds chapter-wise), Second Schedule (parts of plant or machinery where dangerous occupations are notified), Third Schedule (list of occupational diseases), Fourth Schedule (list of injuries deemed to result in permanent partial and permanent total disablement), Fifth Schedule (matters to be provided for in EPF and ESI Schemes), Sixth Schedule (factors for working out lump-sum equivalents of compensation), and Seventh Schedule (matters that may be provided for in rules)—reproduced as part of the statutory text
• [Subject Index] A comprehensive Subject Index enabling navigation of the statutory text by concept, term, benefit head, or compliance area
• [FAQs on the Four Labour Codes] A consolidated FAQ section addressing common practitioner and employer queries across the Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations Code, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, and the Code on Social Security, covering definitional changes (including ‘remuneration in kind’ within the wage definition), threshold revisions, fixed-term employment, gratuity eligibility, leave encashment, creche facility, and worker protection
• [Compliance Handbook for Employers under the Four Labour Codes (Central Government Sphere)] A practitioner-oriented handbook covering wage compliance, working hours and overtime, registers and records, gender-equal treatment, occupational safety, social-security contributions, and statutory deadlines, annexing the First Schedule applicability matrix and converting the legal framework into actionable operational checklists
• [Statement of Objects, Notes on Clauses, and Appendix] Includes the original Statement of Objects and Reasons, section-wise Notes on Clauses, and an Appendix reproducing provisions of other Acts (including the Oilfields (Regulation and Development) Act 1948 and other referenced statutes) referred to within the Code on Social Security 2020—closing the legislative-history loop
• [Authoritative Bare Act Presentation] Maintains Taxmann’s Bare Act editorial integrity—pure statutory text supported by Section Notes, Case Laws, and comparative context, without interpretational dilution

The publication is organised across three Divisions, sequencing context, primary law, subordinate legislation, and operational compliance:

• Division One | Code on Social Security 2020
  • Two-Way Sectional Tables—Code v Repealed Laws, and the reverse mapping for each of the nine repealed Acts
  • Comparative Study of the Code on Social Security 2020 versus the Employee’s Compensation Act 1923/Employees’ State Insurance Act 1948/Employees’ Provident Funds Act 1952/Employment Exchanges Act 1959/Maternity Benefit Act 1961/Payment of Gratuity Act 1972/Cine-Workers Welfare Fund Act 1981/BOCW Cess Act 1996/Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act 2008
  • Arrangement of Sections
  • Text of the Code on Social Security 2020, with Section Notes and Case Laws
  • First to Seventh Schedules
  • Subject Index
  • Statement of Objects and Reasons
  • Notes on Clauses
  • Appendix—Provisions of Other Acts Referred to in the Code on Social Security 2020
• Division Two | Rules and Scheme
  • Arrangement of Rules
  • Social Security (Central) Rules 2026
  • Other Beneficiaries and Members of their Families Medical Facilities Scheme 2026
• Division Three | Notifications and Clarifications
  • Notifications—enforcement of the Code, repeal of the nine subsumed Acts, appropriate Government designations, and rule-making authority
  • FAQs on the Four Labour Codes
  • Compliance Handbook for Employers under the Four Labour Codes (Central Government Sphere)