India: Health & Safety

The overlap between Central and State labour laws could be a source of complexity for employers in India. The constitutional principles suggest that central legislation ordinarily prevails over State laws on matters in the concurrent list. This issue came into focus pursuant to notification of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (“OSH Code”).

On 21 November 2025, the Ministry of Labour and Employment notified India's four Labour Codes, the Code on Wages, 2019 (Wage Code); the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (IR Code); the Code on Social Security, 2020 (SS Code); and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code), bringing one of the most sweeping overhauls of Indian employment regulation since Independence into force.

The Bar Council of India issued workplace safety guidelines on March 3, 2026, making POSH Act compliance mandatory for all legal bodies including bar associations, law firms, and individual chambers.

"Being a victim of such a deplorable act not only dents the esteem of a woman but also takes a toll on her emotional, mental, and physical health."

The Supreme Court in Dr. Sohail Malik v. Union of India & Anr., has clarified the jurisdiction of Internal Complaints Committees ("ICC") under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 ("POSH Act").

As of November 21, 2025, the Labour Codes represent a major change for India in terms of their labour and employment law regime, impacting over 29 central labour law statutes.

5 years in the making, yet enforced with limited prior warning, India's Labour Codes [the Code on Wages, 2019 ("Wage Code"); the Code on Industrial Relations, 2020 ("IR Code"); the Code on Social Security...

The safety and dignity of women is not negotiable. Institutions that fail to protect women fail the Constitution itself! While every person in an ideal world should agree with the above quote...

The court ruled that certain airline pilots must be classified as "workmen" under the ambit of the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 (ID Act).