Workplace safety in India is now governed by the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, while the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 -- POSH -- remains a fully separate, standalone statute unaffected by the 2025 Labour Codes rollout, requiring an Internal Complaints Committee in every workplace with 10 or more employees.
POSH Act, 2013 remains standalone -- not merged into the OSH Code
A point worth stating clearly because it is sometimes assumed otherwise: the Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) was not folded into, absorbed by, or
repealed by the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code). The two operate as
entirely separate statutes. Every workplace, government or private, with 10 or more employees must constitute
an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) -- at least four members, at least half of them women, headed by a
senior woman Presiding Officer, and including one external member from an NGO or association working on
women’s issues. Workplaces with fewer than 10 employees, or complaints against the employer, are routed
to a Local Complaints Committee constituted by the District Officer.
Occupational safety and working conditions -- OSH Code, 2020
The OSH Code separately governs safety, health, and working conditions -- it makes no reference to sexual
harassment. Standard working hours are capped at 8 hours a day and 48 hours a week, though flexible
arrangements permitting up to 12 hours a day on a 4-day work week are allowed provided total weekly hours stay
within the cap and any overtime is both consensual and paid at double the normal wage rate. Annual/earned
leave eligibility was reduced from 240 to 180 working days in a calendar year, a worker-favourable change from
the earlier Factories Act, 1948 standard. Creche facilities are mandatory for establishments with 50 or more
workers, and -- unlike the older maternity-benefit framework -- this obligation is gender-neutral rather than
tied only to women employees.
Enforcement realities
Compliance gaps with the POSH Act’s ICC-constitution requirement remain a documented, ongoing concern
-- commentary in 2026 continued to flag instances of organizations, including some national-level bodies, not
having properly constituted committees. This is a practical enforcement issue rather than a change in the
underlying law, and an employee facing non-compliance can escalate to the Local Complaints Committee or, in
appropriate cases, to court.
Does a company with 8 employees need to set up an Internal Complaints Committee?
No -- the POSH Act’s mandatory ICC requirement applies to workplaces with 10 or more employees.
Employees at smaller workplaces are protected by the Act too, but their complaints are handled by the Local
Complaints Committee constituted by the District Officer rather than an internal committee.
Did the 2025 Labour Codes change the POSH Act’s protections?
No -- the POSH Act, 2013 is a completely separate statute from the four Labour Codes that took effect on
21 November 2025, and none of those Codes reference or modify its sexual-harassment provisions or ICC
requirements.
Can an employer require more than 8 hours of work a day under the OSH Code?
Standard working hours are capped at 8 hours a day/48 hours a week, but the OSH Code permits a flexible
arrangement of up to 12 hours a day on a 4-day work week, provided total weekly hours don’t exceed the
cap and any hours beyond the standard are both consensual and compensated at double the normal wage rate.
