The government has rolled out a sweeping overhaul of labour protections for India’s audio-visual workforce, introducing a unified framework designed to improve wages, safety, and job security across film, television, digital media and related creative professions.
The reforms stem from the consolidation of 29 labour laws into four Labour Codes, a shift officials describe as transformational for an industry that has grown rapidly with the rise of digital platforms, OTT content, dubbing work and stunt-based productions.
The earlier definition of “cine workers” has now been replaced with a broader category of “audio-visual workers”, extending formal recognition and legal protections to a wide spectrum of professionals—including digital creators, electronic-media journalists, dubbing artists and stunt persons. The move brings them under the umbrella of social security benefits, regulated working conditions and standardized safety norms.
Under the new framework, every employee must receive a formal appointment letter detailing employment terms, wages, and social-security provisions. Employers are required to issue wage slips in physical or electronic form, ensuring greater transparency in payments. The period for filing labour-related claims has also been expanded to three years, offering workers a wider legal window to seek redress.
Wage security has been significantly strengthened. Minimum wages, earlier confined to scheduled employment, will now apply universally, and no worker can be paid below the government-notified rate. A national floor wage, to be revised periodically, will ensure uniformity across states and discourage distress migration. Wage payments too will follow strict timelines depending on the type of employment, while overtime will attract at least twice the normal rate, subject to the employee’s consent.
The reforms place clear responsibility on producers in cases where contractors fail to clear dues—removing the earlier wage-ceiling cap and expanding protection to a larger section of the workforce. Workers earning wages within government-specified limits will continue to be eligible for annual bonuses of up to 20 percent.
Health and safety standards have been broadened under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, which now covers all establishments linked to the sector. Workers above 40 will be entitled to free annual health check-ups. Normal working hours have been capped at eight hours a day or 48 hours a week, and any extension will require consent and overtime compensation. The eligibility threshold for annual paid leave has been reduced from 240 days to 180 days, offering wider access to leave benefits.
Gender-based discrimination has been explicitly prohibited in matters of recruitment, wages and working conditions, ensuring equal treatment for work of similar nature across the industry.
