Workplace

📍 India

The four Labour Codes took effect on 21 November 2025, repealing 29 central laws. The Centre notified final rules on 8 May 2026, and several state rules are still pending. Changes include a 50% wage-definition rule, gratuity for fixed-term staff after one year and a 48-hour weekly cap.

📍 Maharashtra, India

As of 9 August 2026, Maharashtra's Law and Judiciary Department was reviewing amendments to the Bike-Taxi Rules, 2025 that could extend to food delivery and quick-commerce platforms. Proposals reported include a 2% levy on trip fares, EV use, GPS tracking and insurance. Karnataka's 1% levy has been challenged in court by platforms.

📍 India

The United Forum of Bank Unions held a nationwide strike on 11 September 2026, saying talks with the government had not settled its demand for a five-day week. Unions suggest staff rotation to keep six-day service. Further strikes were notified for 28-30 September and from 26 October.

📍 India

Infosys said in April 2026 it plans to hire at least 20,000 freshers in FY27, even as its quarterly headcount fell by 8,440 to 328,594. One commentary reports fresher IT hiring is far below its FY22 peak and links this to AI taking over routine work. Global Capability Centres are expected to add new roles.

📍 United States

A Stanford SIEPR brief (26 July 2026) found about a 13% relative employment decline for ages 22-25 in AI-exposed jobs since 2022, while cautioning against assuming cause. A CESifo study reported in September 2026 found recent-graduate unemployment of 7.3% in summer 2026, in line with the prior four years.

A July 2026 ranking counted over 76,000 job cuts at the ten largest tech layoffs of 2026, led by Oracle (21,000) and Amazon (16,000). Oracle told regulators AI adoption had contributed to workforce reductions, while others, including OpenAI's chief executive, have called some AI explanations 'AI washing'.

📍 United States

A federal court in Massachusetts struck down the $100,000 H-1B fee on 8 June 2026, and on 24 July the First Circuit declined to pause that ruling, so USCIS stopped collecting it. As of 2 September 2026 the government was still appealing. Standard H-1B fees still apply.

📍 Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

A four-day return-to-office requirement for core federal public service employees took effect on 6 July 2026. Unions including PSAC and CAPE held a demonstration outside the Prime Minister's Office in Ottawa the same day to oppose it.

📍 United Kingdom

Phased changes under the Employment Rights Act continue through 2026, including stronger harassment duties and union rights from October 2026, and a doubled maximum protective award for collective redundancy failures. A six-month unfair dismissal qualifying period and removal of compensation caps follow on 1 January 2027.

The deadline for EU states to adopt the Pay Transparency Directive was 7 June 2026. By mid-June only Italy, Slovakia, Lithuania and Malta had fully done so, per a 2 July 2026 law-firm review. Several states, including France, have delayed, and the Commission has said it will not extend the deadline.