The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020 Explained (2026)

Explainer · Labour Law · India

Updated for 2026 · Claw Editorial

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 sets the workplace rules: who must register and get a licence, how many workers make a place a factory, how contract and migrant labour is treated, what safety and health duties the employer owes, and the limits on working hours. It replaces thirteen old laws and raises several coverage thresholds. The four labour codes, including this one, were brought into force on 21 November 2025, with provisions and state rules rolling out in stages. This explainer covers what the Code changes and the rules that matter most. Last verified October 2026.

01Why a new safety and conditions law

Workplace safety and conditions were governed by more than a dozen separate laws, each for a particular kind of workplace: factories, mines, docks, construction sites, and more. An employer running several kinds of sites had to deal with many registrations, licences and returns. Contract and migrant workers were covered unevenly.

The OSH Code, 2020 folds these laws into one, aims for a single registration and licence where possible, and sets common duties on safety, health and working conditions.

02What the Code replaces

The Code consolidates thirteen central laws. The best known are:

• the Factories Act, 1948;
• the Mines Act, 1952;
• the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970;
• the Inter-State Migrant Workmen Act, 1979; and
• the Building and Other Construction Workers Act, 1996, among others.

So the rules for very different workplaces now share one framework, though states still run their own shop and establishment laws alongside.

03Who is covered: factory and other thresholds

The Code raises the thresholds at which a place counts as a factory. A factory now means a place where a manufacturing process is carried on with 20 or more workers where power is used, or 40 or more workers where power is not used. The old figures were 10 and 20. Between 10 and 20 workers, an establishment generally still has to register.

Raising the factory threshold to 20 workers with power, and 40 without, takes many small units out of the heaviest compliance.

Establishments above the thresholds must register and, where required, get a licence. The Code moves towards a single, often electronic, registration in place of multiple ones.

04Contract labour and migrant workers

The Code applies its contract-labour licensing to establishments employing 50 or more contract workers. The earlier threshold was 20. It keeps duties on the principal employer for wages and welfare where the contractor defaults.

Inter-state migrant workers get a clearer definition and portable benefits. A migrant worker can register on a portal, and the Code provides for benefits such as a journey allowance and access to ration and welfare schemes in the state of work. This is meant to fix the long-standing gap in cover for workers who move across states for jobs.

05Appointment letters, health and safety

The Code makes a written appointment letter a right for every employee, which helps workers prove their employment and claim benefits. Employers owe general duties to provide a safe workplace, and establishments of notified classes must arrange free annual health check-ups for workers. The draft rules point to free medical examination for workers above the age of 45 in factories, mines, docks and construction work, with the exact classes to be fixed by rules.

Welfare facilities, such as drinking water, toilets, canteens and creches, apply above size thresholds set under the Code.

06Working hours and women at work

The Code sets daily working hours, with a maximum generally of eight hours a day, and overtime permitted with the worker's consent and paid at twice the ordinary rate. Weekly limits and spread-over are set by rules.

On women at work, the Code allows women to be employed in all types of establishments, and to work at night, between 7 pm and 6 am, with their consent and subject to safety measures, such as proper transport and workplace safeguards. This removes old blanket bars on night work.

07Where Claw fits

Claw is an all-in-one legaltech platform for Indian advocates, law firms, and corporate legal teams, combining AI-based case search, an AI legal assistant (Legal GPT), case management, and compliance automation across all Indian courts and tribunals.

An OSH Code matter, be it a licensing dispute, a contract-labour claim, a safety prosecution or a migrant-worker benefit, can travel from a departmental authority to a tribunal and on to the High Court. Claw tracks the cases, orders and hearings of such matters across 9,102 courts, benches and forums, so you follow yours at whichever forum it sits. To see how the Code, and the older factory and mines law behind it, has been read, you can search 30 crore+ judgments by party or advocate name and get results in under 5 seconds.

Claw does not use the documents you upload to train its AI models. Open a free Claw account to keep an OSH matter on watch and research how the Code is being applied. For the wider picture, see the four new labour codes, or run case search across Indian courts.

08Sources and further reading

• Ministry of Labour and Employment: labour.gov.in
• PRS Legislative Research (OSH Code, 2020): prsindia.org
• India Code (official statute text): indiacode.nic.in
• Claw: clawlaw.in

This explainer is general information, not legal advice. The codes are being rolled out in stages and rules differ by state, so check the current notifications and take advice from counsel before you act.

09Frequently asked questions