Labour Laws and Practice · Law of Welfare and Working Condition

Working Hours, Leave and Women Employees under OSH Code 2020

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Under the OSH Code, 2020, a worker cannot be made to work more than eight hours a day or six days a week. Overtime is paid at twice the rate of wages, with consent. Annual leave is one day per twenty days worked, after 180 days. Women may work before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. with consent and prescribed conditions.

Understand Working Hours, Leave and Women Employees

The OSH Code, 2020 sets limits on how long a worker can be made to work, so that work does not harm health. These limits sit in Sections 25 to 28, 32 and 43. Think of them as a package: daily hours, weekly rest, extra pay for extra work, paid leave, and special rules for night work by women.

Daily hours (Section 25). No worker can be required or allowed to work more than eight hours a day. The appropriate Government notifies the intervals and spread-overs, which fix how the day's work is arranged. Special rules apply to mines, motor transport workers, working journalists and adolescents.

Weekly rest and overtime (Sections 26 and 27). No worker can work more than six days in a week. If an exemption removes a weekly holiday, the worker gets compensatory holidays within that month or the two months after it. Work beyond the hours prescribed by the appropriate Government, on a daily or weekly basis, is paid at twice the rate of wages. The worker must consent to overtime.

Annual leave (Section 32). A worker who has worked 180 days or more in a calendar year earns leave with wages. The normal rate is one day for every twenty days worked. Leave can be carried forward and encashed within limits.

Women (Section 43). Women may be employed in all establishments for all types of work. They may also work before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m., but only with their consent and subject to safety, holiday and working-hours conditions prescribed by the appropriate Government.

Key rules to remember

Daily hours limit: Maximum work per day = 8 hours (Section 25(1)(a)); Intervals and spread-overs are as notified by the appropriate Government.
Weekly limit: Maximum working days per week = 6 (Section 26(1)); Motor transport undertakings have a proviso: no more than ten consecutive days without a full-day holiday.
Overtime wages: Overtime wages = 2 × rate of wages (Section 27); Applies beyond hours prescribed by the appropriate Government. Calculated daily or weekly, whichever is more favourable to the worker. Worker's consent is required.
Annual leave entitlement: Leave = days worked ÷ 20 (adult worker); ÷ 15 (adolescent or below-ground mine worker); Needs 180 days or more worked in the calendar year. Round-off is not stated in the text you were given, so follow the rules.
Part-year joiners: Eligible if worked at least 1/4 of the days in the remainder of the calendar year; Section 32(1)(v). The same rate applies.
Carry-forward cap: Carry forward ≤ 30 days (Section 32(1)(vii)(a)); Leave refused despite application can be carried forward without limit. Leave above 30 days can be encashed.
Compensatory holidays: Within the month due or the next two months, equal in number; Section 26(3).
Night shift past midnight: Weekly holiday = 24 consecutive hours from shift end; Section 28. Hours after midnight count in the previous day.
Women's work window: Before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. only with consent and prescribed conditions; Section 43.

How to solve Working Hours, Leave and Women Employees questions

Most questions give a scenario with hours, days or leave figures and ask whether the employer complied. Use the provision, analysis, conclusion pattern.

1Identify the issue: daily hours, weekly rest, overtime, annual leave or women's work.
2State the rule with its section number and exact conditions.
3List the facts with numbers: hours per day, days per week, days worked in the year, any consent given.
4Apply the rule to each fact. For leave, check the 180-day test first, then divide by 20, 15 as applicable.
5Check special cases: adolescent, below-ground mine, part-year joiner, shift past midnight, exit during the year.
6Check what the Code leaves to rules or notifications, such as overtime thresholds, and say so instead of guessing figures.
7Conclude clearly: complied or not, and what the employer must do.
8Add practical points: registers under Section 33, wage slips, displayed notices.

Quickest way: Four-check scan

When to use it: When time is short and the problem is a short scenario with figures.

Check hours: more than 8 a day?
Check days: more than 6 in a week, and was a compensatory holiday given?
Check extra work: was consent taken and was pay twice the rate?
Check leave: 180 days done, then days ÷ 20 (or 15), then the carry-forward limit of 30.
For women, check consent plus prescribed safety conditions.

Common mistakes in Working Hours, Leave and Women Employees

Saying overtime is paid at 1.5 times the wage.
Students mix it with older laws or other countries.
Fix: Write twice the rate of wages, as Section 27 says.
Treating overtime as compulsory once the employer asks.
Students forget the proviso.
Fix: State that the worker's consent is required for overtime.
Saying women cannot work at night.
Old restrictions are still in memory.
Fix: Women may be employed in all establishments and may work before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. with consent and prescribed conditions.
Applying the 180-day test to part-year joiners and denying leave.
Students miss clause (v).
Fix: A joiner after 1 January qualifies if worked one-fourth of the days in the rest of the year.
Forgetting the exit rule in leave.
Students read only the 180-day condition.
Fix: On discharge, dismissal, quitting, superannuation or death, wages in lieu of accrued leave are payable even without the required days: within the second working day for discharge, dismissal or quitting, and within two months for superannuation or death.
Using 20 days for every worker.
Students remember only the general rate.
Fix: Use 15 days for adolescents and below-ground mine workers.

Worked examples

Example 1

Sunrise Textiles Ltd., Coimbatore, employs Ramesh, an adult worker, who worked 240 days in the calendar year, including 20 days of annual leave taken earlier that year. How much leave has he earned in this year, and does he qualify?

Show the solution

Rule: Section 32(1) needs 180 days or more worked in the calendar year, and leave is one day for every twenty days of work.
Under clause (iii), annual leave availed counts toward the 180 days but does not earn leave.
Days counted for qualifying: 240, which is at least 180, so he qualifies.
Days that earn leave: 240 − 20 = 220.
Leave earned = 220 ÷ 20 = 11 days.

Answer: Ramesh qualifies and earns 11 days of leave with wages.

Example 2

Meera, a worker at Kaveri Logistics Pvt. Ltd., is asked to work until 9 p.m. on the night shift, and then on all seven days of a week. She was never asked for consent. Advise on compliance.

Show the solution

Women's work: Section 43 allows women to be employed beyond 7 p.m. only with their consent and prescribed safety, holiday and hours conditions. Consent was not taken, so this is a breach.
Weekly limit: Section 26(1) bars work for more than six days in a week. Seven days breaches this, unless an exemption under Section 26(2) applies.
If an exemption applied and she lost a holiday, she must get an equal number of compensatory holidays within the month or the two months that follow (Section 26(3)).
Hours beyond the prescribed daily or weekly limits are overtime, paid at twice the rate, and need her consent (Section 27).
Practical: record hours and attendance in the register under Section 33 and issue wage slips.

Answer: The employer has not complied. It needs Meera's consent and the prescribed conditions for work beyond 7 p.m., must not make her work more than six days a week, and must pay double wages for overtime done with consent.

Exam tips

Quote the section number with each rule. Examiners reward the provision, analysis, conclusion structure.
For leave problems, show the 180-day check and the division by 20 or 15 in separate lines.
Do not invent overtime thresholds or notified hours. Say they are prescribed by the appropriate Government.
Add compliance points: registers, wage slips and notices under Section 33, and the Inspector-cum-Facilitator returns.
Mention special categories briefly: adolescents, mines, motor transport, journalists.

Practice questions from Law of Welfare and Working Condition

Working Hours, Leave and Women Employees in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

CMA IntermediateWorking Hours, Weekly Holidays and Overtime

Working Hours, Leave and Women Employees: frequently asked questions

What is the daily working hour limit under the OSH Code 2020?

No worker can be required or allowed to work more than eight hours a day. Intervals and spread-overs are as notified by the appropriate Government. Special rules cover mines, motor transport workers and journalists.

How much leave does a worker earn after 180 days?

A worker who has worked 180 days or more in a calendar year earns one day of leave for every twenty days worked. Adolescents and below-ground mine workers earn one day for every fifteen days.

Can a worker be forced to do overtime?

No. Overtime needs the worker's consent. Overtime is paid at twice the rate of wages, calculated on a daily or weekly basis, whichever is more favourable.

Can women work night shifts under the OSH Code?

Yes. Women may be employed before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. with their consent. The employer must follow the safety, holiday and working-hours conditions prescribed by the appropriate Government.

How much leave can be carried forward?

Unused leave can be carried forward up to thirty days. Leave refused despite application can be carried forward without limit. A worker can encash leave above thirty days.