What are Gujarat's rules under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020?
Jurisdiction: Gujarat state rules under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020.
Gujarat notified its Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions rules by notification No. GR/2025/76/FAC/142021/68396/M3 dated 6 June 2025, published in the Gujarat Government Gazette, Extraordinary, Part IV-A, on 12 June 2025. The rules cover registration, employer and worker duties, health examinations, accident notice, the safety machinery, working hours and overtime, registers, women's employment, contract labour and migrant workers. This page synthesizes them from the gazette; the verbatim text is on the linked /states page and the source PDF is below.
Key facts
- Parent code
- Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
- Jurisdiction
- Gujarat (state rules)
- Notified
- 12 June 2025
- Gazette reference
- No. GR/2025/76/FAC/142021/68396/M3, dated 6 June 2025, Government of Gujarat, Labour, Skill Development and Employment Department, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, published in the Gujarat Government Gazette, Extraordinary, Part IV-A (Extra No. 87), 12 June 2025
- Source gazette length
- 81 pages
Key obligations
Scope, commencement and coverage
Source: Rules 1 to 2 (Chapter I) and the notification's rule-making clause
Chapter I titles the rules and the rule-making clause supersedes six earlier labour instruments the Code now consolidates.
- The rules are made under sections 133 and 135 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, and come into force as provided in rule 1 (short title, extent, application and commencement).
- They are made in supersession of the Gujarat Factories Rules, 1963, the Gujarat Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2003, the Gujarat Motor Transport Workers Rules, 1965, the Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) (Gujarat) Rules, 1968, the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) (Gujarat) Rules, 1972, and the Inter-State Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) (Gujarat) Rules, 1981 (rule-making clause).
- Chapter I also carries the definitions used across the rules (rule 2).
Registration of establishments, fees and appeals
Source: Rules 3 to 8 (Chapter II)
Chapter II sets how factories, construction work and establishments register under sections 3 to 5 and how commencement and cessation of operations are notified.
- An application for registration is made under section 3 (rule 3) and a certificate of registration is granted for factories, building or other construction work and establishments (rule 4), on payment of the fees fixed by rule 5.
- An existing factory furnishes its details before implementation of the Code (rule 6), and an appeal against a registration decision lies as provided in rule 7.
- The employer of every establishment gives notice of commencement and of cessation of operations under section 5 (rule 8).
Employer and worker duties, health, accidents and diseases
Source: Rules 9 to 14 (Chapter III)
Chapter III sets the annual health examination, appointment letters, accident and disease notices, and the duties and rights of employees.
- The employer arranges a free annual medical examination, within 120 days from the start of the calendar year, for every worker who has completed 45 years of age, conducted by a qualified medical officer in Form 5, with the certificate given to employer and employee (rule 9).
- No employee is employed without a letter of appointment in the prescribed format, and an employee not already issued one is given an appointment letter within three months of the rule coming into force (rule 10).
- On an accident causing death or likely to cause death, serious bodily injury, or a dangerous occurrence listed in the Schedule, the occupier or manager immediately notifies the Inspector-cum-Facilitator by telephone and messenger, and confirms it in writing in Form 6 within 12 hours (rule 11).
- Notifiable diseases are reported under section 12 (rule 12), and Chapter III also sets the duties of employees (rule 13) and their rights, including on imminent danger (rule 14).
State Board, Safety Committee and Safety Officers
Source: Rules 15 to 23 (Chapter IV)
Chapter IV constitutes the State Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board and sets the Safety Committee and Safety Officer requirements.
- The State Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board is constituted under section 17, with its officers and staff appointed under the same section (rules 15 to 16).
- A Safety Committee is required under section 22, with its composition and functions specified in the rules (rules 17 to 19).
- Safety Officers are required against the thresholds in the Schedule (for building work, one safety officer up to 250 workers, scaling to four up to 1,000 and one more for every additional 500), with prescribed qualifications, duties and facilities (rules 20 to 23).
Weekly holiday, overtime and working hours
Source: Rules 24 to 28 (Chapter V)
Chapter V sets the weekly and compensatory holidays, overtime at twice the ordinary rate, and the notice of periods of work.
- A worker is allowed a weekly holiday, with substitution permitted but capped so no worker works more than ten days consecutively without a whole holiday, and compensatory holidays so spaced that not more than two are given in one week (rule 24).
- A worker who works more than eight hours in a day or 48 hours in a week is entitled to overtime wages at twice the ordinary rate of wages, and for building or other construction work no worker is allowed overtime exceeding 125 hours in any quarter of a year (rule 25).
- A printing press attached to a newspaper office is exempted from the overlapping-of-shift restriction subject to badge, notice and identity-card conditions (rule 26), and the Inspector-cum-Facilitator may allow employment in more than one factory on a day where weekly limits and holidays are met (rule 27).
- A notice of periods of work for adults is displayed in Form 12 and sent in duplicate to the Inspector-cum-Facilitator before work begins (rule 28).
Registers, records and returns
Source: Rules 29 to 38 (Chapter VI)
Chapter VI sets the registers of attendance, wages and overtime, the leave and identity records, and the annual return.
- The employer maintains a register of attendance, wages, overtime, fine and deduction for damage or loss (rule 29) and a register of adult workers (rule 30), and issues an identity card to each worker (rule 31).
- A leave with wages register is kept in Form 19 and preserved for three years after the last entry, with a leave card and overtime slips issued to workers (rules 32 to 34).
- A notice board is displayed (rule 35), a register of accidents and dangerous occurrences is kept (rule 36), and an annual return is filed (rule 37), with other provisions on registers, records and returns in rule 38.
Inspector-cum-Facilitator, buildings and medical officer
Source: Rules 39 to 44 (Chapter VII)
Chapter VII sets the inspection powers, the safety and maintenance of buildings and machinery, and the appointment and duties of a medical officer.
- The powers of the Inspector-cum-Facilitator are set out in rule 39, and rules 40 to 42 cover the safety and maintenance of buildings and machinery and the power to require specification of a defective part or a test of stability.
- The State Government or the Chief Inspector-cum-Facilitator may appoint a medical officer, subject to eligibility conditions, and the medical officer's duties are prescribed (rules 43 to 44).
Women, contract labour, migrant, beedi and factory licensing
Source: Rules 45 to 79 (Chapters VIII and IX)
Chapters VIII and IX set the conditions for employing women at night and the special provisions for contract labour, inter-state migrant workers, audio-visual workers, beedi and cigar work and factory licensing.
- Women may be employed during night or before 6.00 a.m. and beyond 7.00 p.m. only on conditions including the woman's consent, adequate to-and-from transport, well-lit and nearby toilet, washroom and drinking facilities, and compliance with the sexual-harassment law (rule 45).
- A contractor's licence conditions require hours of work under section 25 and wages under the Code on Wages, with a licence applied for online in Form 25, granted in Form 26, and a bank guarantee of 1,000 rupees per worker deposited, plus a graded fee ranging from nil below 50 contract workers up to 40,000 rupees above 20,000 workers (rules 46 to 49).
- A contractor intimates a contract work order within 15 days, pays wages within seven days of the wage period through bank transfer, and unpaid wages may be met from the security deposit; a licence is renewed at least 30 days before expiry (rules 50 to 57).
- An inter-state migrant worker who has worked at least 180 days in the preceding twelve months is paid a lump-sum to-and-from journey allowance once in twelve months (rule 59), and a toll-free helpline is provided for such workers (rule 60).
- Part V of Chapter IX sets factory licensing under section 79, including certificates of stability, validity, revocation, presumption of sanction and the prohibition on using premises as a factory without a licence (rules 70 to 79).
Frequently asked questions
Official gazette PDF
No. GR/2025/76/FAC/142021/68396/M3, dated 6 June 2025, Government of Gujarat, Labour, Skill Development and Employment Department, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, published in the Gujarat Government Gazette, Extraordinary, Part IV-A (Extra No. 87), 12 June 2025