EBC's Social Security Code, 2020: A Commentary by Dr. J. K. Verma (1st Edition 2026)

Eastern Book Company publishes the First Edition (2026) of Social Security Code, 2020: A Commentary by Dr. J. K. Verma, Advocate, Patna High Court. It is a 408-page hardback section-by-section commentary on the labour code that rewrites the whole of India's statutory social security — provident fund, state insurance, gratuity, maternity benefit, employees' compensation and the welfare of construction, unorganised, gig and platform workers — into a single enactment.

Why this Code matters

The Code on Social Security, 2020 consolidates and repeals nine central enactments by force of Section 164, among them the Employees' Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948, the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the Employees' Compensation Act, 1923, the Building and Other Construction Workers' Welfare Cess Act, 1996, the Unorganised Workers' Social Security Act, 2008, the Cine-Workers Welfare Fund Act and the Employment Exchanges Act. For any employer or practitioner, the first question is where a familiar provision has gone — and that is what this book is built to answer.

Key features

• A comparative table setting the provisions of the new Code against the corresponding provisions of the nine repealed enactments, so the old law can be traced into the new.
• Relevant notifications issued under the Code, reproduced at the provisions they relate to rather than relegated to an appendix.
• Full coverage of the Code on Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026.
• Table of cases and the notifications on enforcement of the Code.
• A detailed subject index for fast reference.

Contents

• Table of Cases; Comparative Table; Notifications on Enforcement
• Introduction to the Code
• Preliminary provisions
• Social security organisations and their constitution
• Employees' Provident Fund
• Employees' State Insurance Corporation
• Gratuity
• Maternity Benefit
• Employees' Compensation
• Social security and cess in respect of building and other construction workers
• Social security for unorganised workers, gig workers and platform workers
• Finance and accounts
• Authorities, assessment, compliance and recovery
• Offences and penalties
• Employment information and monitoring
• Miscellaneous provisions
• The Code on Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026
• Subject Index

Who should buy this book

• Labour law practitioners and advocates appearing before the EPF and ESI authorities, the appellate tribunals and the High Courts.
• Employers, HR, payroll and compliance teams responsible for provident fund, ESI, gratuity and maternity benefit obligations.
• Principal employers and contractors engaging construction and unorganised workers, and aggregators now brought within the net for gig and platform workers.
• Trade unions and worker representatives.
• Academics, law students and judicial service aspirants reading labour and social security law under the new codes.

About the author

Dr. J. K. Verma is an Advocate at the Patna High Court and a writer on service and labour law. For Eastern Book Company he has revised the standard works Departmental Enquiries and Misconduct in Employment, and he is the author of EBC's companion commentaries on the Code on Wages, 2019 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.