After the implementation of new labor codes in India, employees thought that salary hikes would be affected, but according to the latest reports, most companies will continue with their planned increments. In November 2025, 4 new labor codes came into force, due to which the calculation of gratuity, bonus, overtime and leave encashment changed. This has increased employee costs, especially in the IT sector. Still, experts say that the increments will not be too slow, because talent retention is important. The average salary hike in 2026 may be around 9%. The use of automation and AI may increase in the long term, but the chances of salary growth stopping completely are slim.

Before Budget 2026, news of a big relief is coming for the employed people. The government is seriously considering increasing the salary eligibility limit of ESIC (Employees’ State Insurance Corporation). At present, employees getting salary up to ₹ 21,000 per month are covered under ESIC, but this limit can be increased to ₹ 25,000 to ₹ 30,000 per month. If this proposal is approved in the budget, lakhs of new employees will come under the ambit of ESIC. With this, they and their families will get the benefit of free medical treatment, hospitalisation, maternity benefits and social security. Especially for private sector and middle-income employees, this decision can be of great help in reducing healthcare costs. Experts believe that this will strengthen the financial security of the workforce and will also promote organized employment.

The system has been announced to be implemented. Now, when changing jobs, employees will not need to take any permission from the old employer or HR. Earlier, Form-13 had to be filled and verification from both old and new employers took 1-2 months, due to which claims remained pending and there was loss of interest. In the new system, the employee’s PF balance will be automatically transferred to the new employer’s account in 7-10 days. This process will be completely verified through Aadhaar based e-KYC and e-sign. According to the new rules of EPFO, now every employee will have only one UAN (Universal Account Number) for his lifetime. The system has been updated in such a way that if an employee’s UAN already exists, creation of a new UAN will be prevented. Real-time data exchange between EPFO ​​and employers will be possible through API integration. This will make the entire process paperless, fast and secure. EPFO says that this change will benefit more than 10 crore members across the country and the chances of fraud will also reduce.