Notification Record & Forms
Notification details and the forms every employer needs, in one place.
- Issuing Authority
- Labour, Factories, Boilers and Insurance Medical Services (Lab.II) Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh
- Notified
- G.O.Rt.No.68, dated 1 April 2026
- Objection Window
- 45 days from the date the Gazette copy is made public
- Legal Basis
- Sections 133, 135 and 137 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020
- Supersedes
- Draft Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Andhra Pradesh) Rules, 2022, G.O.Rt.No.205, dated 13 June 2022
- Status
- Draft, published for public consultation, awaiting final Gazette notification
The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 became operational across India from its appointed day of 21 November 2025, and Andhra Pradesh has now put out the state specific rulebook that tells employers exactly how to comply with it. These rules quietly retire eight separate central laws that businesses in the state used to track on their own, including the Factories Act 1948, the Contract Labour Act 1970, the Building and Other Construction Workers Act 1996, the Interstate Migrant Workmen Act 1979, the Motor Transport Workers Act 1961, the Plantation Labour Act 1951, the Beedi and Cigar Workers Act 1966, and the Dock Workers Act 1986. In their place is a single code, a single registration, and mostly a single online portal. This guide walks through what an employer in Andhra Pradesh needs to file, the forms that land on the employer's desk rather than the government's, the deadlines attached to each, and how the new regime compares with the law it replaces.
Forms under the State Rules
Due Dates
Compliance deadlines, forms and how often each one recurs.
| Compliance | Form | Compliance Frequency | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| New establishment registration | Form I | One time | Within 60 days of the Code becoming applicable |
| Deemed registration if application is complete | Form II | One time | Auto granted if not decided within 7 days |
| Appointment letters for existing employees without one | One time | Within 3 months of the rule coming into force | |
| Annual free health checkup, workers 40 and above | Form V | Annual | Within 120 days of the start of the calendar year |
| Notice of a fatal accident | Form VI | As it occurs | Immediately by phone, confirmed in writing within 12 hours |
| Notice of an accident causing 48 hours or more disability | Form VI | As it occurs | Within 12 hours of the 48 hour period ending |
| Retention of registers and records | Forms VIII to XI | Ongoing | 5 calendar years from the last entry |
| Annual return | Form XII | Annual | On or before 1 February each year |
| Half yearly return by a contractor | Form XII(A) | Half yearly | For January to June and July to December |
| Contractor's license renewal application | Form XIII | Per license cycle | 30 to 90 days before expiry |
| Payment of wages to contract labour | Every wage period | Before the 7th day after the wage period ends | |
| Notice of change of factory manager | Form XXVIII | As it occurs | Within 7 days of the change |
| Factory license grant or renewal decision | Form XXIV | Per application | Within 7 working days, deemed granted if not decided |
| Annual factory license fee | Annual | Due before 31 December of the preceding year | |
| Public objections to the draft rules | One time | Within 45 days of the Gazette copy being made public |
Key Provisions
What changed under the Code, and what it means for payroll.
Old Law vs. New Law
What employers followed before, against what applies now — point matched against point.
| On this point | Before — earlier law | Now — the new Code |
|---|---|---|
| Governing laws | 8 separate central Acts, including the Factories Act 1948, the Contract Labour Act 1970, the BOCW Act 1996 and the ISMW Act 1979 | One OSH Code, 2020, with one set of state rules covering all of them |
| Factory threshold, with power | 10 or more workers | 20 or more workers |
| Factory threshold, without power | 20 or more workers | 40 or more workers |
| Contract labour licensing threshold | 20 or more contract workers | 50 or more contract workers |
| Creche threshold | 30 or more workers | 50 or more workers |
| Canteen threshold | 250 or more workers | 100 or more workers |
| Welfare Officer threshold | 500 or more workers | 250 or more workers |
| Registrations | Separate registration under each applicable Act | One registration certificate in Form I |
| Licenses | Separate license for factories, contractors and beedi establishments | Common or single license option across categories or districts |
| Returns | Separate periodic returns under each Act | One integrated annual return in Form XII, covering four Codes |
| Appointment letters | Not mandatory in most sectors | Mandatory for every employee, in a prescribed 20 point format |
| Approval timelines | No statutory deadline in most cases | Deemed approval in 7 days for registration, 7 working days for factory approvals |
| Women's night work | Prohibited or heavily restricted in many establishments | Permitted with consent and prescribed safety measures |
| Filing mode | Physical registers and paper returns in most offices | Electronic filing through the state portal |
Applicability
Who the Code covers, and who gets special or exempt treatment.
Covered
- Factories using power, 20 or more workers
- Factories without power, 40 or more workers
- Any hazardous process, regardless of headcount
- Building and other construction works
- Motor transport undertakings
- Plantations as notified by the state
- Beedi and cigar establishments
- Contract labour, 50 or more contract workers
- Interstate migrant workers engaged through a contractor
- Audio visual production, sales promotion employees, working journalists
Exempted / special treatment
- Factories with power and under 20 workers fall outside the factory licensing chapter, though basic safety duties still apply
- Factories without power and under 40 workers are outside the licensing requirement
- No minimum worker threshold applies once a hazardous process is involved
- Small works below a value notified by the government may be exempted by order
- Owner operators with no employees fall outside the Code
- Kitchen gardens and non commercial holdings are excluded
- Purely home based work outside an establishment structure is treated differently
- Below 50 workers, no license is needed, though wage and welfare duties still apply
- Workers recruited directly are covered under the direct employer instead
- No special exemption; covered as soon as the establishment itself qualifies
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to what employers ask us most about this rule.
Is the Andhra Pradesh OSH Rules 2026 already in force?
Not yet. It is currently a draft notification, published under G.O.Rt.No.68 dated 1 April 2026 for public objections. It becomes law only after final publication in the Official Gazette, though the underlying Code on Wages, Industrial Relations, Social Security and OSH Code became applicable across India from 21 November 2025.
Which businesses in Andhra Pradesh need to register under these rules?
Factories, building and construction sites, motor transport undertakings, plantations, beedi and cigar establishments, newspaper establishments, and any establishment engaging contract labour or interstate migrant workers. Most of these need registration once they employ 10 or more workers, though the factory threshold itself is 20 workers with power or 40 without.
How much time does an employer get to register a new establishment?
60 days from the date the Code becomes applicable to that establishment. The application is filed electronically in Form I, along with a registration fee that scales with the number of workers.
What happens if the registration application is not decided within 7 days?
The certificate is treated as automatically issued, and an auto generated Form II is deemed to have been granted. Employers do not need to keep following up once a complete application has been submitted.
Does every worker in Andhra Pradesh now need a written appointment letter?
Yes. Every employee must be issued a written appointment letter covering 20 specified details, including Aadhaar number, wage structure and social security coverage. Employees who joined before this rule and never got one must be issued a letter within 3 months of the rule coming into force.
Who is entitled to the free annual health checkup?
Any employee aged 40 or above, in factories, motor transport undertakings, plantations, beedi and cigar establishments, sales promotion roles, working journalism and construction work. The checkup has to happen within 120 days of the calendar year starting, and the employer bears the cost.
What is the deadline for filing the annual return?
1 February each year, for the calendar year that just ended. This single Form XII covers requirements under the OSH Code, the Industrial Relations Code, the Code on Social Security and the Code on Wages together, replacing what used to be several separate returns.
Do contractors need a separate license under the new rules?
Only once they engage 50 or more contract workers. Below that threshold, no license is required, though wage, welfare and safety obligations toward contract workers still apply. Where a license is needed, it is applied for online in Form XIII with a security deposit of Rs 1,000 per worker.
Has the contract labour licensing threshold really gone up from 20 to 50 workers?
Yes, that is a genuine change from the old Contract Labour Act, 1970. It reduces the number of contractors who need a formal license, though it does not remove any worker's entitlement to minimum wages, safety measures or welfare facilities, which apply regardless of the contractor's size.
What records must every employer maintain, and for how long?
A register of employees, an attendance register cum muster roll, a wages and overtime register, a leave register, and an accident register, each of which can be kept electronically. All of these have to be preserved for 5 calendar years from the date of the last entry.
Sources
Where every fact on this page comes from.
- → ● G.O.Rt.No.68, Labour, Factories, Boilers and Insurance Medical Services (Lab.II) Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh, dated 1 April 2026, notifying the draft Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Andhra Pradesh) Rules, 2026
- → ● The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Central Act No. 37 of 2020), Gazette of India No. 62, dated 29 September 2020
For informational purposes only — not legal advice. State rules referenced here are subject to change on final notification. Verify current status with our compliance team before acting.