The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 consolidates 13 earlier central laws, the Factories Act being the most relevant to most employers, into one safety and working-conditions framework.

Working hours, and what it absorbed

The Code sets the daily overtime threshold at 8 hours, down from 9 under the old Factories Act, with a 48-hour weekly cap and spread-over capped at 12 hours a day. Quarterly overtime is capped at 144 hours for establishments under central jurisdiction, per Central Rules notified 8 May 2026, while state-sphere establishments follow their own state’s limit until that state notifies its own OSH rules. Besides the Factories Act, the Code also absorbed the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, raising the national contract-labour registration threshold to 50 workmen from the earlier 20, along with laws covering mines, plantations, dock workers and construction workers. It took central effect 21 November 2025, and in states that haven’t yet notified their own OSH rules, the older Factories Act framework continues operating in practice under savings-clause provisions.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Factories Act completely gone now?

Not everywhere yet, it remains the practical compliance reference in states still transitioning to their own OSH Code rules.

Did the contract labour threshold really change?

Yes, from 20 to 50 workmen nationally under this Code, though some states had already set their own higher threshold before the change. See the CLRA Act.

Does this Code apply to office employees, not just factories?

Only the factory-specific provisions it absorbed apply to manufacturing premises, offices are more commonly governed by the state Shops and Establishments Act instead.

See overtime pay for the full mechanics of this threshold, and the Factories Act it’s absorbing.