The Institute undertakes research projects on various current and emerging issues concerning Labour and employment. The research projects are largely action oriented. The research is also undertaken to evaluate implementation of present Labour laws enforcement machinery, and various programmes and projects concerning Labour & employment. The research findings are helpful for shaping training programmes for preparing training material in the field of Labour. They are also helpful to Government and Labour administrators for evolving policies and programmes and their effective implementation.

The main area of research activities are : Industrial Relation- Trade Unionism - Participative Management - Behavioural Aspects - Labour Laws and Labour Judiciary - Industrial Safety - Work Environment - Employment and Poverty - Unorganised Labour - Home Based Workers - Child Labour - HRD - Training & Rehabilitation - Wages & Working Conditions - Welfare and Social Security.

The Institute undertakes various training programmes for the trade union workers, organised and unorganised labour in rural and urban areas including child labour, women labour, and agricultural labour. It also undertakes training of the labour judiciary, officers of the labour commissionerate, and other departments employing labour in large numbers and public enterprises, to provide them exposure to labour laws, labour welfare, and labour relations etc. However, in organising the training programme, the Institute has its thrust on unorganised labour and rural labour. The objective is to help them unite and reap the benefits of various welfare programmes and to equip them with the required knowledge, appropriate skills and the right attitude to ameliorate their working conditions.

The Institute has started organising Rural/Urban camps or shibirs by moving out in remote rural and urban areas to benefit a large number of unorganised labour and to facilitate them to avail extension services of the Institute in their own surroundings. Shibirs are organised to create awareness and encourage leadership among them, to apprise them about the various labour welfare laws and schemes being implemented for their benefits and to guide them about the supplementary alternative employment avenues of earning available to them. The camps are organised in cooperation with the local organisations and administrative development machinery.