Act 37 of 2020 · in force 21 November 2025
Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
One licence. Safer floors. Written appointment.
Thirteen laws — factories, contract labour, migrants, mines, journalists, beedi, docks, construction — collapse into one code on safety, health, hours, welfare and working conditions.
Establishments employing the notified number of workers, including factories, mines, plantations, motor transport, beedi, contract labour, inter-state migrants, audio-visual, construction, docks and others as specified.
Offices of the Central and State Governments (with caveats), and establishments or activities specifically exempted by notification. Domestic work in a household is outside the classic factory/establishment frame.
What changed
Every employer of an establishment to which the Code applies must issue a letter of appointment to every employee on commencement of employment, in the prescribed form.
One registration for an establishment, one licence where licensing applies (contract labour, factories, etc.), and provision for a common return.
Women may work before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. with their consent, in conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours, and with night transport as prescribed.
Factory: 20 workers with power / 40 without (was 10 / 20). Contract labour: 50 (was 20). Inter-state migrant: 10. Standing applicability still interacts with state rules.
Section 3
Registration of establishments
Every employer of an establishment to which the Code applies shall register the establishment electronically on the designated portal within the prescribed period. A single registration is intended to stand in place of multiple legacy registrations.
Register once on the portal. Keep the registration number on display and on appointment letters.
Section 6
Duties of employer
Ensure that the workplace is free from hazards; comply with occupational safety and health standards; provide annual health examinations to employees as prescribed, free of cost; issue appointment letters; ensure disposal of hazardous and toxic waste.
Document the risk assessment, the health checks, and the appointment letters. These are the first things an inspector-cum-facilitator will ask for.
Section 6(1)(f)
Letter of appointment
Every employer shall issue a letter of appointment to every employee of the establishment on their appointment in the establishment, in the prescribed form.
Template the letter: name, designation, wages, social-security IDs, and nature of work. Issue it on day one.
Section 13
Duties of employees
Take reasonable care of their own safety and that of others; comply with safety instructions; report unsafe conditions; not interfere with safety devices.
Employee duties do not dilute the employer’s primary duty of a safe workplace.
Section 25–26
Daily and weekly hours
No worker shall be required or allowed to work more than 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week, subject to the Code and rules. Spread-over, rest intervals and overtime (at twice the rate of wages) are prescribed. The appropriate Government may notify different hours for a class of establishments, subject to the weekly cap.
States are notifying hours. Do not assume a 12-hour day is freely available without OT and consent architecture.
Section 43
Employment of women
Women shall be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work. They may work night hours with consent and with conditions relating to safety, holidays, working hours, and transportation facilities.
Keep written consent, CCTV / access control, and door-to-door night transport records.
Section 45+
Contract labour
The contract-labour part applies to establishments and contractors employing 50 or more contract labour (the appropriate Government may notify a lower number). Licensing of contractors, welfare facilities, and a liability on the principal employer to pay wages if the contractor defaults, continue.
The threshold moved from 20 to 50 — states can pull it back down. Core-perennial work still attracts ‘sham contract’ litigation.
Section Migrant
Inter-state migrant workers
Applies to establishments employing 10 or more inter-state migrant workers. Displacement allowance, journey allowance, and facilities (including portability of public distribution and social-security benefits to the extent notified) are provided. A toll-free helpline and a portal are contemplated.
If you bring 10+ workers across a state line, the migrant chapter is not optional.
Definitions
- Establishment
- A place where any industry, trade, business, manufacture or occupation is carried on, including a factory, motor transport undertaking, newspaper establishment, audio-visual production, building and construction, mine, plantation, and contractor’s establishment as specified.
- Contract labour
- A worker deemed to be employed in or in connection with the work of an establishment when the worker is hired in or in connection with such work by or through a contractor, with or without the knowledge of the principal employer.
- Hazardous process
- Any process or activity in relation to a specified industry where, unless special care is taken, raw materials, products, or wastes would cause impairment to the health of persons engaged or result in pollution of the general environment.
Penalties
| Offence | First | Repeat |
|---|---|---|
| Contravention causing serious bodily injury | Imprisonment up to 2 years and/or fine up to ₹2,00,000 (as provided) | Enhanced imprisonment and fine; possible death-related offences if a fatal accident follows a contravention |
| Operating a factory / contractor without registration or licence | Fine, and in some cases imprisonment | Enhanced penalty; continuing offence may attract a daily fine |
| Failure to issue appointment letters or maintain prescribed notices | Fine as notified for general contraventions | Enhanced fine |
Subsumed acts
- Factories Act, 1948Now read inside this code
- Plantations Labour Act, 1951Now read inside this code
- Mines Act, 1952Now read inside this code
- Working Journalists Act, 1955Now read inside this code
- Working Journalists (Wages) Act, 1958Now read inside this code
- Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961Now read inside this code
- Beedi and Cigar Workers Act, 1966Now read inside this code
- Contract Labour Act, 1970Now read inside this code
- Sales Promotion Employees Act, 1976Now read inside this code
- Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979Now read inside this code
- Cine-Workers Act, 1981Now read inside this code
- Dock Workers Act, 1986Now read inside this code
- Building & Other Construction Workers Act, 1996Now read inside this code
Questions people actually ask
Is a 12-hour shift legal now?
Only if daily/weekly hours, rest intervals, spread-over and double-rate overtime in the Code and the applicable state rules are met. The Code does not give a blanket 12-hour working day without OT.
My office has 18 people and no ‘factory’. Does OSH apply?
The Code applies to ‘establishments’ as defined and to thresholds notified for each chapter. A small office may still owe appointment letters and general duties once it is an establishment under the Code / state shops law. Read the registration chapter with your state rules.
Are journalists still covered?
Yes. Working journalists and other newspaper employees, previously under 1955/1958 Acts, sit inside the OSH Code, with special provisions retained in spirit.
From the Gazette Library · 1 source document
Source: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act 37 of 2020), with commencement notification S.O. 5321(E) dated 21.11.2025 · ·
- Repeals 13 Acts from the commencement notification date, including the Factories Act, 1948; Plantations Labour Act, 1951; Mines Act, 1952; Motor Transport Workers Act, 1961; Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970; Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979; and BOCW (RE&CS) Act, 1996
- All provisions in force from 21 November 2025
- The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 — Act No. 37 of 2020, assented to on 28 September 2020
Plain-language guide to the four labour codes, not a substitute for the Gazette, state rules, or advice from an advocate. Thresholds and schemes can still be notified or varied by the appropriate Government.