Mandatory Offer Letter Contents in India Under the OSH Code

The direct answer: the rule and where it comes from

Section 6 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 puts a duty on the employer to issue a letter of appointment to every employee when the person is appointed. The Code took effect on 21 November 2025, together with the other three labour codes. Section 6(1)(f) is the provision most commentators cite for the duty. The content is set by the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026, which were notified on 8 May 2026 through G.S.R. 345(E). Rule 6 of those Rules says that no employee may be employed in an establishment unless an appointment letter has been issued in the prescribed format.

The prescribed particulars cover the employee's name and identity details, the employer's details, designation and category of work, the type of employment (regular, fixed-term or contractual), skill category, the date employment begins, wages and allowances with the wage period, whether PF and ESI apply, and the broad nature of duties. For women employees, the letter also has to say which maternity benefits apply under the Code on Social Security, 2020. The employer signs it, by hand or digitally. A short offer email that states the role and salary does not meet this test.

How to build the letter, step by step

Most HR teams get stuck on the order of work rather than on the law itself. Working through the steps below in sequence keeps the letter complete and avoids rewrites.

1. Confirm that the establishment is covered. The Code generally reaches establishments with ten or more workers, with sector-specific coverage for factories, mines, construction and similar work. Commentators read the letter duty differently for very small units, so a business under ten should confirm its position with a lawyer rather than assume either way.
2. Collect identity data from the employee file: legal name, father's or mother's name, date of birth if your records hold it, and the UAN and ESIC numbers where they apply.
3. Write the job facts: designation, skill category, employment type, place of work, date of joining, and a plain description of the duties.
4. Split the pay into components, then run the 50% test set out in the worked example below before you publish the figures.
5. Add the terms the Code leaves to the contract: probation, notice, working hours and weekly off, leave, and grounds for termination.
6. Sign and issue the letter on or before the first working day, and keep a dated copy in the employee file.

The 50% test, with a worked example

The wage split matters because of the definition of wages in Section 2(y) of the Code on Wages, 2019. Certain allowances, such as house rent allowance and conveyance, can be excluded from wages. The excluded items may not exceed 50% of total remuneration. Any amount above that cap is added back to wages. The resulting wage figure is then the base for PF, gratuity and bonus calculations, so the split has real money consequences.

Take a new hire joining an office in Pune on a monthly package of ₹60,000.

Half of total remuneration is ₹30,000. The excluded items add up to ₹40,000, which is ₹10,000 above the cap. That ₹10,000 is added back to wages, so statutory wages come to ₹30,000 (basic of ₹20,000 plus ₹10,000), not ₹20,000. The letter still shows the actual components, so the employee sees what is paid. Payroll and PF workings then use the statutory figure. If the same package had been structured with a basic of ₹30,000 and excluded items of ₹30,000, nothing would be added back.

Cases that change the answer

Resignation and exit. None of the four labour codes sets a notice period for resignation, so the number of days has to come from the letter and the contract. If the two documents disagree, the dispute starts on paper. On money, the Code on Wages requires wages due to be paid within two working days of resignation or termination. The letter should name who handles the final settlement and what documents the employee must return.

Contract type. Fixed-term employees are covered by the duty. The Ministry of Labour and Employment's own FAQ says the Code applies to fixed-term workers with the same benefits, including appointment letters. Under the labour codes, fixed-term staff can earn gratuity after one year rather than five, so the letter should state the end date of the term and the gratuity position in plain words. For contract labour, the contractor issues the letter, but the principal employer should check that it was done.

Minimum service and existing staff. The letter is due from the first day of work, not after probation. Employees who were already on the rolls without a letter had to receive one within three months of the Code's start, which meant by 21 February 2026. That window has closed, so any gap should be closed now. The letter can record the original joining date.

Caps on in-kind pay. If part of the pay is paid in kind, the Explanation to Section 2(y) counts that value toward wages only up to 15% of total wages payable. The value above that is ignored for the statutory calculation, so value any in-kind benefits before writing them into the letter.

State rules. The central format applies mainly where the Central Government is the appropriate government, such as railways, mines and banks. Most private establishments fall under the state government, so the state's rules set the exact form and timelines. Andhra Pradesh, for example, issued final OSH and working conditions rules in August 2026, with its own appointment letter rule. Other states may still be drafting theirs, so ask which rules apply to your site before you finalise the template.

Penalties. Commentators quote different amounts for breach of the general penalty in Section 94 of the OSH Code, ranging from up to ₹50,000 for a first offence to ₹2 to 3 lakh. Read the text of Section 94 before you budget for the risk. The uncertainty is a reason to fix the letters now, not to wait.

Common mistakes

The most common error is treating the offer letter as the appointment letter. An offer letter usually confirms the job and the salary before joining. The appointment letter has to carry the full set of prescribed particulars, and many employers send the first document and forget the second.

Probation without an end date comes next. No single law fixes a probation length for private employers, so the contract must say how long probation lasts, what notice applies during it, and how confirmation happens. Silence on confirmation invites argument when an early exit occurs.

Mismatched notice clauses are the third problem. A letter that says 30 days and a contract that says 60 days is a dispute waiting to happen. Choose one figure and copy it into every document that mentions notice.

Wage tables that do not match payroll cause trouble at the first audit. If the letter shows a basic of ₹20,000 but payroll pays ₹22,000 under a different label, the gap is visible to anyone who checks. Build the letter from the payroll master record rather than from a fresh spreadsheet.

Finally, many employers issue letters only to new hires. The duty reaches long-serving staff too, and a file with no letter for a five-year employee is the kind of gap an inspector notices.

What to check with HR or a lawyer

Four points need a human decision. First, confirm the coverage and the state rules that bind your site, since the central rules may not be the ones that apply to you. Second, have a lawyer or an experienced labour consultant review the probation, notice and termination clauses against your standing orders or HR policy. Third, have your accountant confirm the wage split and any 50% add-back, because the result changes PF, gratuity and bonus figures. Fourth, check the signatory and the record-keeping, so the signed copy can be produced quickly if an inspector asks.

Automation has limits here. A template and a checklist can make every letter complete, but they cannot decide the right notice period for your business, judge whether a particular clause will hold, or replace a state-level review. Those decisions stay with the owner, HR and counsel.

How employers take the routine HR and payroll work off their staff

Once the rules are set, most of the letter work is repetitive. Names, dates and pay components are copied from one system to another, and a single missed field is the usual reason a letter goes out incomplete. AI workers can read the joining record, pull the pay components from payroll, run the wage split check, fill the prescribed fields, flag anything missing or inconsistent for a person to review, and send the letter for signature. The HR head still approves the terms, decides the exceptions and signs.