Labour-code transition still strains payroll, staffing and compliance systems: GT Bharat

Ten months into the labour-code transition, Indian employers continue to face challenges around wage definitions, worker classification, contract labour, payroll upgrades and final settlements. Retailers with large frontline workforces may need tighter HR controls and safeguards for women working early or late shifts.

— Source publishedThu, 24 Sept, 2026, 19:16 IST·First seen Thu, 24 Sept, 2026, 19:22 IST·Source BL · Consumer & Economy

What happened

Grant Thornton Bharat · GT Bharat says Indian companies continue to face payroll, wage-definition, worker-classification and contract-labour challenges ten

Key facts

  • 10 months
  • four labour codes
  • two working days
  • before 6 am
  • after 7 pm

Why this matters

Any India retail acquisition or partnership should assess labour-code readiness, including wage-definition exposure, HR-system upgrades, contractor compliance and women’s late-shift safeguards.

What to watch

  • State-level rules, clarifications or enforcement circulars affecting wage definitions, working hours, women’s shift conditions and contract labour.
  • Growth in labour inspections, employee complaints, wage claims or final-settlement disputes at organized retailers.
  • Evidence of payroll-vendor upgrades, HR-tech spending or workforce-management implementation delays.
  • Changes in contract-staffing availability, vendor pricing or vendor requests for revised commercial terms.
  • Retailer disclosures of higher employee costs, provisions, legal contingencies or store-staffing constraints.
  • Complete a worker-by-worker classification and wage-definition gap assessment across stores, warehouses, franchisees and third-party staffing vendors.
  • Prioritize payroll modernization for overtime, variable pay, statutory deductions, final settlements and auditable employee records.
  • Tighten contract-labour governance through vendor indemnities, compliance scorecards, payroll-data access and periodic audits.
  • Redesign shift scheduling, transport, security and grievance protocols for women working early, late or night shifts.
  • Build compliance-cost scenarios into store-expansion, margin and workforce-productivity plans.

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