The appropriate government is whichever government, the Centre or the State, a labour Code makes responsible for a particular establishment. It decides who writes the rules, who appoints the inspectors and conciliation officers, and which office receives your registrations and returns under the four Labour Codes.

Which establishments go to the Centre

Each Code carries its own definition, and the wording is close but not identical. In the OSH Code, the Centre is the appropriate government for establishments run by or under the authority of the Central Government, plus railways (metro railways included), mines, oil fields, major ports, air transport, telecommunication, and banking or insurance companies set up under a Central Act. Corporations created by a Central Act, central public sector undertakings, their subsidiaries and autonomous bodies controlled by the Centre are also covered, along with the contractors working inside those establishments. A central PSU stays with the Centre even if government holding drops below 50 per cent.

Everything else is the State’s. The OSH Code names factories, motor transport undertakings, plantations, newspaper establishments and beedi and cigar establishments as State matters, with the State where the unit sits as the appropriate government. The Code on Wages and the Industrial Relations Code use a similar split: a listed set of central-sphere establishments, and the State for any other establishment. The IR Code adds one useful rule: a dispute between a contractor and his contract labour goes to whichever government controls the establishment where the dispute first arose.

Why HR should care

The answer changes the rulebook you follow. The quarterly overtime cap, for example, is 144 hours in the central sphere under the Central Rules, while state-sphere establishments follow their own state’s figure. A typical private company in a state capital deals with the State; a telecom or bank unit deals with the Centre. A company with several units may deal with both, and with different State governments, so map each unit separately. Check the labour codes state tracker before assuming a rule has reached your state.

Frequently asked questions

Is a private bank under the Centre or the State?

The wording differs by Code. The Wages and IR Codes list banking and insurance companies in the central sphere, while the OSH Code limits it to those established by a Central Act, so read the definition in the Code you are applying rather than assuming one answer.

Which government applies to a factory?

The State where the factory is situated, per the OSH Code’s explanation to the definition. Your factory licence and the inspections that follow sit with that State’s machinery.

Does a contractor’s staff follow the principal employer’s government?

Often yes, because the central-sphere definitions expressly include contractors’ establishments, and the IR Code applies the same logic to contractor disputes.

For who actually turns up at your door, read labour inspector, now called the Inspector-cum-Facilitator.