For founders, HR heads and payroll teams
Employment Policy Updates October 2025
EPFO Employees Enrolment Campaign 2025, Maharashtra Shops and Establishments changes, wage and VDA revisions and key state policies. Verified from official portals and curated for Indian small and medium employers using Offrd.
Executive summary
- EPFO has launched Employees Enrolment Campaign 2025, a limited window that lets employers declare un enrolled eligible staff with much lower damage amounts.
- Maharashtra has brought an ordinance that supports round the clock operations for shops and commercial establishments and also changes registration thresholds and overtime limits.
- Minimum wage and variable dearness revisions are active for several employments, based on notifications from central and state labour departments.
- Karnataka Menstrual Leave Policy 2025 has cabinet approval and background material, but a simple final notification on a public state labour portal is not clearly visible yet, so enforceability is treated as pending.
Immediate attention items
- Start PF record checks to find any eligible staff who were never enrolled and plan declarations for the EPFO campaign window.
- For Maharashtra units, review shift design, weekly rest and overtime practice in light of new flexibility and limits.
- Check whether revised minimum wages or VDA affect any of your roles and confirm that payroll masters are aligned.
- In Karnataka, keep your leave policy flexible enough to add a menstrual leave line once a clear state notification is available.
Tier 1 – Major changes that need a plan
Employees Enrolment Campaign 2025 (EPFO amnesty) National
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has notified a special EPF compliance window called Employees Enrolment Campaign 2025 through Gazette notification G.S.R. 749(E) dated 10 October 2025. The campaign inserts a new paragraph in the EPF Scheme and is explained further through EPFO circulars, press notes and FAQs on the EPFO site.
| Point | Detail |
|---|---|
| Window | From 1 November 2025 to 30 April 2026, based on Gazette extract and EPFO press releases. |
| Coverage period | Employees who joined between 1 July 2017 and 31 October 2025, are still in service on the date of declaration and were not enrolled earlier. |
| Who can use it | Employers already covered by EPF and employers who should have been covered but did not apply, subject to scheme conditions. |
| Financial treatment | Past employee share for the covered period can be waived where it was never deducted; damage amounts are fixed at a lower level compared to normal enforcement. |
| Official basis | Gazette notification G.S.R. 749(E) and related circulars and press releases hosted on EPFO and Labour Ministry portals. |
What an Offrd customer should do
- Ask payroll or finance to pull lists of employees who crossed the PF wage threshold between July 2017 and October 2025 and were not enrolled.
- Match that list against attendance and wage records to confirm eligibility.
- Plan monthly batches of declarations rather than leaving everything for March and April 2026.
Keep a short note for each employee explaining why they were not enrolled earlier and why they are being added now. This reduces future dispute risk.
Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Amendment Ordinance 2025 Maharashtra
The Government of Maharashtra has promulgated the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 in the state Gazette, with effect from the date of publication. The Law and Judiciary Department listing confirms the ordinance entry for the Act that governs shops and commercial establishments in the state.
| Area | Key change for employers |
|---|---|
| Working hours | Daily working hours for employees can extend up to ten hours while the weekly cap of forty eight hours continues. Spread over of work and rest intervals must still respect the Act. |
| Overtime limits | Quarterly overtime limit increases to one hundred forty four hours, giving more room to manage seasonal or festival peaks. |
| Registration thresholds | Employee count threshold for registration moves from ten to twenty workers for certain categories as per the ordinance text. |
| Round the clock operations | Separate state communications clarify that shops and commercial establishments, other than liquor related premises, can keep operations open all days of the week, subject to providing each employee a continuous twenty four hour weekly rest. |
What an Offrd customer in Maharashtra should do
- List all locations and confirm which ones fall under the Shops and Establishments Act and not under the Factories Act.
- Review shift patterns to ensure that each worker still gets continuous weekly rest even if the outlet or office is open every day.
- Update overtime trackers in Offrd or other systems so that the new quarterly limit is visible in reports.
- Confirm whether your establishment still needs registration or only intimation based on the new worker threshold and keep documents ready for inspection.
Tier 2 – Wage and VDA updates that affect payroll
Many wage and allowance changes in this period are part of the normal practice of revising rates every April and October based on consumer price index movements. They still affect payroll if you pay at or near the minimum wage.
Central VDA Order October 2025 Central
The Office of the Chief Labour Commissioner has issued a Variable Dearness Allowance order dated 30 September 2025 with effect from 1 October 2025. The order revises VDA for scheduled employments in the central sphere and is available as a PDF on the Chief Labour Commissioner site.
Gujarat minimum wage notifications Gujarat
The Labour and Employment Department of Gujarat has published notifications in late September 2025 that revise minimum wages for scheduled employments in the state. These appear on the state labour portal and on the Commissionerate of Labour circulars page.
Uttar Pradesh minimum wage updates Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh wage notifications are hosted via the state labour and district portals and reflected in central compilations. Employers need to check current wage tables relevant to their scheduled employment rather than rely on older private compilations.
Madhya Pradesh minimum wages from October 2025 Madhya Pradesh
The Madhya Pradesh Labour Department has uploaded documents that set minimum wage rates including variable dearness allowance from 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026 in the state document management system.
Delhi wage and rate references Delhi NCT
The Delhi Labour Department hosts circulars and a current minimum wage rate section for the capital territory. The most recent increase for many categories came into effect from 1 April 2025, with later circulars explaining treatment and references.
What an Offrd customer should do
- Identify whether you employ workers in any scheduled employment covered by these notifications.
- For each state where you operate, compare your lowest band of salary for that class of worker against the official minimum wage for the current period.
- Where salaries sit just above minimum levels, build a simple tracker so that each new wage period is checked as part of a regular compliance calendar.
If you use Offrd for payslips, you can cross check your minimum wage positions against the values in your salary templates before the next payment cycle.
Tier 3 – Policies to track for future change
Karnataka Menstrual Leave Policy 2025 Karnataka
The Karnataka cabinet has approved a Menstrual Leave Policy 2025 that is intended to grant one paid menstrual leave day in a month for women employees across sectors. Media and law firm summaries report cabinet approval on 9 October 2025 and describe a plan to cover both government and private sector employees.
The Karnataka Law Commission also carries a report and draft bill titled Karnataka Menstrual Leave and Hygiene Bill 2025, which provides the conceptual base for this policy.
At the time of preparing this note, a simple, directly accessible notification or gazette entry for the policy is not clearly visible on the main Karnataka government or labour department domains that can be cited for final enforceability.
Practical approach for now
- Treat this as a high likelihood upcoming requirement and start discussing how your organisation would implement it if notified.
- Consider whether your current leave policy already offers enough comfort for menstrual health, for example through sick leave or wellness days.
- Wait for a clear notification or gazette that is publicly available on an official Karnataka government site before updating statutory policy documents.
Offrd customer action checklist
| Priority | Action | When | Who inside your company |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | Identify all eligible employees who were not enrolled to EPF between July 2017 and October 2025 and plan declarations under Employees Enrolment Campaign 2025. | Start now. Complete before April 2026; do not leave everything for the last month of the scheme. | HR head with payroll and finance support. |
| High | For Maharashtra locations, review weekly rest, shift timings and overtime calculations to align with the new ordinance. | By end of December 2025 for all existing locations. | Location HR with unit heads and legal adviser. |
| Medium | Update wage masters for affected employments in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi and other relevant areas where you are close to minimum wage levels. | Within the current wage period that runs till March 2026. | Payroll team with HR sign off. |
| Monitor | Track Karnataka Menstrual Leave Policy notification and be ready with a draft policy note for your employees. | Watch for state notifications during the next quarter. | HR head with legal or external consultant. |
For a broader view of HR and payroll tools that can support these changes, you can also review the HR software cost comparison guide from Offrd.
Official sources and references
Links below point only to official portals or to pages that directly surface government circulars or gazette files. Some sites list many documents on a single page; in those cases the relevant document is mentioned in the description.
| Topic | Official link type | Where to click after opening |
|---|---|---|
| Employees Enrolment Campaign 2025 – Gazette and scheme text | EPFO circulars page | Look for the circular relating to Employees Enrolment Campaign 2025 which carries the Gazette extract for G.S.R. 749(E). |
| Employees Enrolment Campaign 2025 – FAQs and press note | EPFO main portal | Navigate to Press Releases or Downloads and open the FAQ and press brief on Employees Enrolment Campaign 2025. |
| Central VDA Order October 2025 | Chief Labour Commissioner minimum wages page | Open the entry titled VDA Order October 2025 and the related corrigendum. |
| Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Amendment Ordinance 2025 | Law and Judiciary Department ordered list | Locate the entry that mentions the Maharashtra Shops and Establishments Amendment Ordinance 2025 and follow its link to the Gazette text. |
| Gujarat state minimum wage notifications | Gujarat Labour notifications | Filter or scroll for notifications dated late September 2025 that mention minimum wage revision for scheduled employments. |
| Gujarat minimum wage circulars | Commissionerate of Labour circulars | Look for circulars on revision of minimum wages and VDA for the relevant period. |
| Madhya Pradesh minimum wages from October 2025 | MP Labour documents system | Select Minimum Wages category and locate documents that state rates from 1 October 2025 to 31 March 2026. |
| Delhi minimum wage references and circulars | Delhi current minimum wage rate page | Use the main page and linked circulars to confirm current rates and effective dates for each class of worker. |
| Karnataka menstrual leave background material | Karnataka Law Commission report list | Open the report titled Karnataka Menstrual Leave and Hygiene Bill 2025 for the legal background of the policy. |
Where a direct state gazette PDF link is not included, it is usually because the document is presented through a navigation or search interface on the official site rather than a simple static URL. For legal strategy you should still download and keep the final PDF issued by the state or central authority.
Important Notice
This content is shared for general information only. It should not be considered legal, professional, or compliance advice. Always refer to official government sources or consult a qualified expert before making any decisions.
If you want help with the operational side, such as updating HR letters, attendance rules or payroll structure, Offrd can support you with tools and workflows, but final decisions should always be taken with reference to the applicable law.