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Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSH) Code, 2020

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For decades, an Indian factory manager had to satisfy the Factories Act, the Contract Labour Act, the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, and ten other laws, each with its own registration, its own forms, and its own inspector. The OSH Code ends that. Thirteen laws are now one, and the paperwork that came with them has been cut to a fraction.

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 is the law that governs workplace safety, working hours, leave, welfare facilities, and contract labour in India. It came into force on 21 November 2025, replacing 13 central labour laws with a single Code. It applies to establishments with 10 or more workers, and to any hazardous workplace regardless of size.

What is the OSH Code, 2020?

The OSH Code is one of India’s four labour codes. It brings together every law that deals with how safe a workplace is, how long people work, what facilities they get, and how contract labour is engaged.

Before the Code, these rules sat in 13 separate Acts written between 1948 and 1996. Each had its own definitions, its own registers, and its own compliance calendar. The Code puts them under one law with one set of definitions, one registration, and one return.

The other three codes handle wages, industrial relations, and social security. Together they form the biggest change to Indian labour law since independence, explained in our guide to labour law in India.

Is the OSH Code in Force Now?

Yes. The government brought all four labour codes into force on 21 November 2025, confirmed in the Press Information Bureau factsheet on the OSH Code.

But this is a transition, not an overnight switch. Central and state rules under the Code are still being finalised, and until they are notified, existing rules and notifications continue to operate. In practice, your safety, working hours, and leave duties continue as before, while the new framework settles in. Track your state’s rules as they are notified, as part of your wider statutory compliance plan.

The 13 Laws the OSH Code Replaces

Two points people often get wrong. The Factories Act, 1948 sits here, not under the Code on Social Security. And these 13 Acts now stand repealed, so from 21 November 2025 your factory duties come from the OSH Code, even though existing licences and state factory rules continue during the transition.

How Much Compliance Work Actually Reduces

The government’s own figures show the scale of the simplification:

For a company running a factory with contract labour and migrant workers, this is the difference between six registration files and one.

What Changed for Employers?

1. Appointment Letters are Now Compulsory

Every employee must be given a written appointment letter stating designation, category, wages, and social security details. This is not optional any more, and it is the change most office-based employers overlook. Where an employee never received one, the Code requires the employer to issue it.

2. One Registration, One Licence, One Return

Registration is electronic and applies at a uniform threshold of 10 employees. New establishments must apply within 60 days. Licences are all-India and valid for five years, and approvals are time-bound with deemed permission if the authority does not respond within 30 days. Tell the officer within 30 days if ownership changes, and within 30 days of closing the business.

3. Higher Factory Thresholds

A factory now means a workplace with 20 or more workers with power, or 40 or more without power. The earlier limits were 10 and 20. Smaller units therefore fall outside factory licensing, though safety and welfare duties still apply to them as establishments.

4. Working Hours and Overtime

No worker may work more than 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week. Overtime needs the worker’s consent and is paid at double the ordinary wage rate.

The Code also allows flexible week patterns within the same weekly limit:

A worker cannot be made to work more than six days a week. Your working hours policy should state which pattern your establishment follows.

5. Paid Leave Becomes Easier to Earn

Leave eligibility falls from 240 days of work to 180 days in a calendar year. The accrual rate stays at one day of leave for every 20 days worked, and 1 for 15 for adolescent workers and workers below ground in mines.

Carry-forward is capped at 30 days; anything beyond 30 days must be encashed, so leave no longer simply lapses. See how this aligns with other leave laws in India, and use a leave management system to automatically apply accrual and encashment rules.

6. Contract Labour: The Threshold Doubles

Contract labour provisions now apply at 50 or more contract workers, up from 20. A contractor engaging fewer than 50 needs no licence.

The Code also defines core and non-core activity. Contract labour cannot be used for core activities, with three exceptions: where the activity is ordinarily done through a contractor, where it does not need full-time workers for most of the day, or where there is a sudden rise in work volume. Support functions such as security, housekeeping, canteen, gardening, and transport are treated as non-core.

One duty to note: if the contractor fails to pay wages, the principal employer must pay them.

7. Creche and Welfare Facilities

Establishments with more than 50 workers must provide a creche for children below six years, either their own or a shared one. The important shift is that this facility is now for all workers, not only women employees.

Other welfare duties by size:

8. Free Annual Health Check-Ups

Employers must provide free annual health examinations to prescribed classes of employees, and no charge may be recovered from any employee for anything done for workplace safety or health.

9. Safety Committees and Safety Officers

10. Women Can Work at Night, with Safeguards

Women are entitled to work in all establishments and in all types of work. They may work before 6 a.m. and after 7 p.m. with their consent, provided the employer arranges safety and transport. This links directly to your obligations under the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 for the same workforce.

11. Inter-State Migrant Workers

The definition now covers workers hired directly, through a contractor, or those who migrated on their own, drawing wages up to ₹18,000 a month. The provisions apply at 10 or more such workers. They are entitled to a to-and-fro journey allowance to their native place once every 12 months, portability of construction cess benefits and ration, and access to a toll-free helpline.

12. Inspection Becomes Facilitation

Inspectors are now Inspector-cum-Facilitators, and inspections are web-based and randomly allotted. Start-ups and notified establishments can use third-party audit and certification instead of a departmental inspection.

A Practical Example

Take a garment unit in Surat with 120 workers on power-operated machines, plus 60 contract workers for packing and 15 migrant workers from Odisha. Here is what the Code changes for it:

Now take the same unit with 18 workers. It is no longer a factory, because the limit is 20 with power. It still registers as an establishment at 10 workers, and it still owes appointment letters, safe working conditions, and correct working hours.

Penalties under the OSH Code

Two provisions soften this in practice. Courts can direct that at least half the fine goes to the victim or the legal heirs in case of death. And first-time offences can be compounded, which means settled by paying 50% of the maximum fine for fine-only offences, or 75% where imprisonment is also possible. Employers also get a 30-day improvement notice to fix the problem before any legal action starts.

Employer Action Checklist

• Issue written appointment letters to every employee, including those hired before the Code
• Check whether your factory still needs a licence under the new 20 and 40 worker thresholds
• Recount your contract workers against the new 50-worker threshold
• Update your leave rules for 180-day eligibility, the 30-day carry-forward cap, and mandatory encashment above it
• Fix your working hours pattern and get written consent for overtime, paid at double the rate
• Arrange a creche if you have more than 50 workers, and remember it now covers all workers
• Schedule free annual health check-ups for the prescribed employee groups
• Set up a safety committee if you cross the worker limits in the table above
• Move registers and returns to electronic records, since 84 registers are now 8
• Track your state’s OSH rules as they are notified

Conclusion

The OSH Code does two things at once. It cuts the compliance load sharply, from 13 laws to one and 21 returns to a single filing. At the same time, it raises the bar on worker protection through compulsory appointment letters, easier eligibility for leave, universal safety coverage, and free health check-ups.

For most employers, the practical work is not dramatic. Issue the appointment letters, recheck your thresholds, update your leave rules, and move your registers online. Do those four now, and the full switchover will be quiet when your state’s rules arrive.

FAQs

Is the OSH Code 2020 Applicable Now?

Yes. The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 came into force on 21 November 2025, along with the other three labour codes. Central and state rules are still being finalised, and until they are notified, existing rules continue to operate. (Ministry of Labour and Employment; PIB Factsheet on the OSH Code, 22 November 2025)

Which Laws does the OSH Code Replace?

It replaces 13 central labour laws, including the Factories Act 1948, Mines Act 1952, Contract Labour Act 1970, Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act 1979, Plantations Labour Act 1951, Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996, and Motor Transport Workers Act 1961. (PIB Factsheet, OSH Code, 2020)

What is the Applicability Threshold of the OSH Code?

The Code applies to establishments with 10 or more workers. A factory means 20 or more workers with power, or 40 or more without power. The government can extend the Code to any establishment with even one employee if the work is hazardous or life-threatening. (PIB Factsheet, OSH Code, 2020)

How Many Working Hours are Allowed under the OSH Code?

A maximum of 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week. Overtime requires the worker’s consent and is paid at double the normal wage rate. Within the weekly limit, daily hours can be 12 in a 4-day week, 9.5 in a 5-day week, or 8 in a 6-day week. (PIB Factsheet, OSH Code, 2020)

What is the Leave Rule under the OSH Code?

A worker earns paid leave after 180 days of work in a calendar year, reduced from 240 days, at one day of leave for every 20 days worked. Carry-forward is capped at 30 days, and leave above 30 days must be encashed. (Section 32, OSH Code, 2020; PIB Factsheet)

What are the Penalties under the OSH Code?

General contravention attracts ₹2 lakh to ₹3 lakh, with ₹2,000 per day for continuing breaches. A safety breach causing death can bring up to 2 years imprisonment or a fine of at least ₹5 lakh. Courts may direct at least half the fine to the victim or their heirs. (Chapter XII, OSH Code, 2020)

Does the OSH Code Require Appointment Letters?

Yes. Every employer must issue a written appointment letter to every employee, stating designation, category, wages, and social security details. Employees who were never issued one must be given it after the Code’s commencement. (Section 6, OSH Code, 2020; PIB Factsheet)

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