Notification Record & Forms
Notification details and the forms every employer needs, in one place.
- Issuing authority
- Labour Welfare and Skill Development Department, Government of Tamil Nadu
- Notified
- 11 April 2022, Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary No. 216, G.O. Ms. No. 38 (Notification No. SRO A8(c)/2022)
- Objection window
- 45 days from the date the Gazette copies were made available to the public. This window closed years ago and remains open only in the sense that the state has not yet acted on it.
- Legal basis
- Sections 133 and 135 of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Central Act 37 of 2020), read with Section 23 of the General Clauses Act, 1897
- Supersedes
- Tamil Nadu Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Rules, 1975; Tamil Nadu Interstate Migrant Workmen (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Service) Rules, 1983; Tamil Nadu Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Rules, 1968; Tamil Nadu Building and Other Construction Workers (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Rules, 2006; Tamil Nadu Factories Rules, 1950; Tamil Nadu Safety Officers (Duties, Qualifications and Conditions of Service) Rules, 2005; Tamil Nadu Factories (Welfare Officers) Rules, 1953; Tamil Nadu Control of Industrial Major Accident Hazards Rules, 1994; Tamil Nadu Plantations Labour Rules, 1955; Tamil Nadu Motor Transport Workers Rules, 1965
- Status as of
- 21 July 2026: still a draft, final notification pending
The Tamil Nadu government published these rules as a draft on 11 April 2022 through Gazette Extraordinary No. 216. The 45 day objection period that followed closed years ago, but the state has still not issued a final notification. The four central Labour Codes came into force on 21 November 2025, and the central government finalised its own OSH Rules in May 2026, yet Tamil Nadu remains one of the states still working from a draft. Until a final notification appears in the Gazette, the ten older Tamil Nadu rules listed below stay in force and this draft has no independent legal effect.
These draft rules bring ten separate Tamil Nadu labour laws together under one framework built on the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020. They cover factories, contractors, interstate migrant workers, beedi and cigar units, building and construction sites, and plantations across the state. For employers, the biggest change is the shift to a single online registration, a common set of forms, and one annual return in place of the separate paperwork each of the older rules used to demand.
Forms under the State Rules
Due Dates
Compliance deadlines, forms and how often each one recurs.
| Compliance | Form | Compliance Frequency | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Registration of a new or existing establishment | FORM I | One time | Within 60 days of the Code becoming applicable |
| Notice of commencement or cessation | FORM II | Event based | Within 30 days of commencement or cessation |
| Annual health examination for workers aged 45 and above | FORM III | Annual | Within 120 days of the start of the calendar year |
| Notice of accident or dangerous occurrence | FORM IV | Event based | Within 12 hours of the occurrence |
| Follow up report where disablement continues | FORM V | Event based | Within 28 days, then every fortnight until closure |
| Annual return | FORM IX | Annual | On or before 31 January, for the prior calendar year |
| Renewal of contract labour licence | FORM XII | Once each licence period | At least 30 days before expiry |
| Renewal of factory licence | FORM XXI | Annual, or up to 15 years at once | At least 2 months before expiry |
| Preservation of statutory registers | FORM VII, VIII, X, XI | Ongoing | 3 calendar years from the last entry |
| Deposit of compounding amount for an offence | FORM XXX | Event based | Within 15 days of the compounding notice |
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 law | Ten separate Tamil Nadu rules, each tied to a different central Act | One rulebook under the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 |
| Registration | Separate registration or licence under each Act | One registration certificate and Labour Identification Number covering every applicable sector |
| Factory definition | 10 or more workers with power, 20 or more without power | 20 or more workers with power, 40 or more without power |
| Contract labour licence threshold | 20 or more workmen under the 1975 Rules | 50 or more workmen |
| Filing mode | Physical applications and paper registers | Mandatory online filing through the Directorate of Industrial Safety and Health and Labour Department portals |
| Factory licence validity | Renewed every year | Occupier can opt to pay once for up to 15 years |
| Inspecting officer | Inspector | Inspector cum Facilitator, combining enforcement with an advisory role |
| Annual filing | Separate returns under different rules | One unified annual return in FORM IX |
Applicability
Who the Code covers, and who gets special or exempt treatment.
Covered
- Factories with 20 or more workers using power, or 40 or more without power
- Establishments in industry, trade, business or occupation with 10 or more workers
- Motor transport undertakings, newspaper establishments, audio video production units, building and construction works, and plantations with 10 or more workers
- Contractors or principal employers engaging 50 or more contract workmen
- Interstate migrant workers recruited through a contractor
- Beedi and cigar manufacturing establishments
- Mines, ports and dock work areas, for registration purposes, with 10 or more workers
Exempted / special treatment
- Factories and establishments below the worker counts listed, unless the activity is hazardous or life threatening and notified by the Central Government
- Factories with fewer than 50 workers using power, or 100 without power, do not need a written health and safety policy under Rule 87, unless a hazardous process schedule already covers them
- Apprentices engaged under the Apprentices Act, 1961
- Mines and dock work, which stay under their own separate central inspection mechanism beyond registration
Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to what employers ask us most about this rule.
Q. What are the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Tamil Nadu) Rules, 2022?
A. They are Tamil Nadu's draft state rules under the central OSH Code, 2020. They bring registration, licensing, registers and returns for factories, contractors and several other sectors under one rulebook.
Q. Have these rules come into force yet?
A. Not yet. They were published as a draft on 11 April 2022 and remain unnotified as of July 2026. The ten older Tamil Nadu rules stay in force until the final notification appears.
Q. Which older rules will this draft eventually replace?
A. Ten rules, including the Tamil Nadu Factories Rules, 1950, the Contract Labour Rules, 1975, the Interstate Migrant Workmen Rules, 1983, the Beedi and Cigar Workers Rules, 1968, the Building and Other Construction Workers Rules, 2006, and five others covering safety officers, welfare officers, major accident hazards, plantations and motor transport workers.
Q. Who has to register under these rules?
A. Any factory, contractor or establishment covered by the OSH Code definitions, generally those with 10 or more workers, and factories with 20 or more using power or 40 or more without power.
Q. How long does a new establishment have to register?
A. 60 days from the date the Code becomes applicable to it, using FORM I on the online portal.
Q. What does registration cost?
A. The fee is based on headcount, from Rs 200 for up to 9 workers to Rs 20000 for 5001 or more.
Q. When is the annual return due?
A. On or before 31 January, covering the previous calendar year, filed in FORM IX.
Q. How quickly must an accident be reported?
A. Within 12 hours, in FORM IV. If the worker cannot return to work within 21 days, a further report in FORM V follows within 28 days.
Q. What is the threshold for needing a contract labour licence?
A. 50 or more contract workmen, up from 20 under the earlier Contract Labour Rules, 1975.
Q. Can a factory licence be renewed for several years at once?
A. Yes. The occupier can choose to pay for up to 15 consecutive calendar years instead of renewing annually.
Q. Who is an Inspector cum Facilitator?
A. The officer who inspects establishments under these rules and is also meant to guide employers on compliance, replacing the older Inspector role.
Q. Can an employer settle a violation without going to court?
A. Yes, through compounding under Rule 148. The employer applies in FORM XXX and must pay the compounding amount within 15 days of the notice.
Q. How long must statutory registers be preserved?
A. For 3 calendar years from the date of the last entry, longer if a dispute or inspection is still pending.
Q. Can employers still send objections on this draft?
A. The original 45 day window closed years ago. Any fresh changes depend on when Tamil Nadu issues the final rules, so employers should track the state Gazette directly.
Sources
Where every fact on this page comes from.
- → Tamil Nadu Government Gazette Extraordinary No. 216, dated 11 April 2022, G.O. Ms. No. 38, Labour Welfare and Skill Development (H2) Department, Notification No. SRO A8(c)/2022 (official)
- → Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Central Act 37 of 2020) (official)
- → General Clauses Act, 1897 (Central Act X of 1897) (official)
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.