Several labour unions have demanded, in writing, that India’s labour codes be reformed to include more explicit provisions for working in extreme heat. Record-breaking heat in recent years has moved government bodies to issue advisories urging employers to reschedule working hours and make drinking water available to workers. But workers say this isn’t enough in the face of life-threatening heat.“Advisories don’t scare anybody, so no one is compelled to comply with them,” said Nirmal Gorana, National coordinator of the Gig & Platform Service Workers Union.Working in conditions where ambient temperatures are sustained above 32 degrees celsius are found to raise the risk of heat-related illness significantly. For India’s largely informal workforce, this type of exposure can be deadly. Workers and researchers woke up to this reality in 2024 – India’s hottest year on record – when temperatures crossed 40 degrees celsius for several days and resulted in more than 40,000 suspected heatstroke cases.“That year really shaped public opinion about the importance of improving safety measures against heat,” said Aravind Unni, an urban practitioner and researcher on informality and urban spaces.Each degree rise in temperature is estimated to reduce annual plant output by 2% and worker productivity by 2%-4%, but India’s labour laws haven’t kept pace with these impacts.In 2020, India’s numerous labour laws were simplified and consolidated into four distinct codes – the Code on Wages, Industrial Relations, Social Security, and Occupational Safety. The codes were modified to include platform and gig workers, and expanded social security and minimum wage provisions to the informal sector. They didn’t, however, specify worker protections on extreme weather event days.Integrating heat into health and safety protections is the next frontier for long-term, preventive action, three labour unions have said in their formal submissions, including The Amazon India Workers Association, Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers, and National Hawkers Federation.The problem with advisoriesIn 2025, the National Disaster Management Authority issued comprehensive advisories for both gig and informal workers in response to brutal working conditions that came to light during heatwave days in 2024. Platform workers reported lost wages and penalties for taking breaks during peak heat hours, with no access to water or shade. Amazon workers were reportedly made to pledge that they would not use the bathroom to avoid losses in productivity, which the company attributed to an “isolated incident of poor judgement”.A joint survey by the Telangana Gig and Platform Workers Union and HeatWatch in 2024 found that 51.81% of participants had experienced heat exhaustion while working, 18.07% had experienced sunburn or other skin issues, and 27% reported experiencing symptoms of dehydration.The National Disaster Management Authority’s 2025 advisory was published after workers groups, nonprofits, and labour rights researchers pointed out vagaries in the prevailing 2019 heatwave guidelines, which mostly advised ad-hoc measures like providing shade and water. “The latest advisory was an improvement because it recognised the exposure of gig workers specifically, and focuses on preventive rather than ad hoc measures when it comes to managing extreme heat,” said Unni, adding, “It also sets a precedent for other government departments to make similar guidelines, which they were hesitant to.”The National Disaster Management Authority’s recommendations included providing safety kits to gig workers (UV protective shirts, ORS), making heat-specific breaks mandatory, and suspending work between 11am and 4 pm. While some of these provisions were resisted, like suspending work during peak heat hours, several platforms have since announced a slew of measures promising rest and cooling facilities for their partners. Amazon India announced a network of 250 cooled resting centres for its delivery partners, and Zomato and Blinkit have also rolled out “cooling vests”, enhanced health insurance coverage, and introduced resting points for partners.Unions are opposing the recommendatory nature of the advisory. “The point is that platforms need to be held accountable. If they are rolling out resting points, it needs to be checked how accessible and useful they are for workers. Every restaurant or shop should have provisions for resting space and washrooms, and platforms shouldn’t engage with establishments that cannot provide it,” said Gorana, who also believes gig workers should entitled to fixed minimum wages under the Code of Wages.In its written submission, the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers said that instead of advisories, what was needed “is a statutory conversion of these protections into enforceable minimum standards that apply consistently across aggregators and locations during notified extreme heat events.”The Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers’ submission, dated April 21, proposes linking heat protection measures with entitlement schemes like insurance under the Social Security code. “The Code on Social Security should introduce a heat-risk protection scheme covering heat-related illnesses, income loss during heatwaves, emergency medical support, and death linked to heat exposure. This should be funded through aggregator contributions, possibly through a dedicated heat or climate-risk welfare fund,” said Ananya Tiwary, a Project Associate at HeatWatch which co-authored the IFAT’s submission.Among the recommendations it makes are allowing paid cooling breaks of at least 20 minutes per two hours of logged work on heatwave days. Instead of generic guidelines like providing drinking water and ORS, the submission also recommends making water, shade, and rest a “verifiable mandate” by making platforms maintain a water access plan with regular audits. Heat-related time off shouldn’t be met with penalties, and platforms should be required to provide an earnings-protection formula “so that time off is compensated. Any adverse action must be human-reviewed, recorded, and appealable via the worker’s Universal Account Number (UAN).”Investigative media reports have revealed that some platforms had linked health insurance to coverage to the number of deliveries made, while others penalised gig workers for turning down orders.Occupational safety hazards lawIdeally, inclusions for heat protection measures should come from the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code (OSH), which governs health and safety at the workplace, said Deepa Padmar, a senior resident fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.The OSH code combines 13 labour laws covering entitlements for factory, construction, mining, dock, contract workers, and others. It does not, however, include gig workers, who instead find coverage under the Social Security code.Before the OSH code was consolidated, laws such as the Factories Act 1948 included health and safety conditions around heat and ventilation that employers were bound to comply with, which is no longer the case.“Neither the OSH code nor the draft rules specify temperature or ventilation thresholds, even for factory workers. The language around heat management has been broadened,” said Padmar. Under the erstwhile Factories Act, states had the power to notify their own thresholds and appoint inspection officers to check compliance. For example, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat notified their own rules mandating wet bulb temperatures not exceed 30 degrees celsius, beyond which work was considered unsafe. Wet bulb temperatures are a measure of both heat and humidity.But section 23 of the new OSH code has centralised this provision, enabling only the central government to prescribe ventilation, temperature and humidity standards. “Even if states wanted to make such provisions in their own draft rules, it’s unclear to what extent they are empowered to do so,” Padmar added.The failure of the code and draft rules to include provisions for heat could constitute a violation of International Labour Organisation conventions, the Amazon Workers Union has argued. “Though Chapter III of the [OSH] Code deals with responsibilities of the employer, no specific responsibilities are set out in the Rules, leaving it to the discretion of the Central government to issue necessary notifications, with no minimum requirement,” the submission adds. The lack of specificity will lead to “more worker injury, accident, and deaths if not clarified, enforced, and regulated at both the Central and State government level with appropriate consultation with workers and unions.”Integration with Heat Action PlansFor outdoor workers who don’t clearly receive entitlements under the labour codes, like street vendors and hawkers, workers groups are demanding better integration within Heat Action Plans – policy strategy documents outlining how states, districts, and urban local bodies should prepare for and manage extreme heat.“In response to rising temperatures, street vendors are compelled to create temporary shade using tarpaulins, cloth, or other materials. However, these necessary coping mechanisms are frequently met with eviction drives, confiscation of goods, and harassment by local authorities on grounds of encroachment,” the National Hawkers Federation says. Inclusion as priority stakeholders in Heat Action Plans could ensure such retaliatory action stops.This article was first published on Mongabay.