Attendance and overtime rules in India under the OSH Code

Attendance is where payroll accuracy begins: if the day records are wrong, pay, overtime and statutory figures are wrong too. Since 21 November 2025 working hours, overtime, weekly holidays and annual leave in factories and covered establishments are governed by the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (the OSH Code), which replaced the Factories Act, 1948, with the details set by state rules. Shops and commercial establishments also follow their state Shops and Establishments Act.

Working hours and overtime under the OSH Code

Rule	Position under the Code
Daily hours	No worker may be required to work more than 8 hours a day
Weekly hours and spread-over	As notified by the appropriate Government in its rules
Overtime	Paid at twice the ordinary rate of wages, with the worker's consent
Overtime limit	A quarterly cap as notified in the state rules
Weekly holiday	At least one day off in every seven
Annual leave	One day for every 20 days worked, once the worker has worked 180 days in a calendar year
Women at night	Permitted with consent and the safety conditions the government prescribes

The 180-day threshold for annual leave is lower than the 240 days under the Factories Act. Check the quarterly overtime cap and the weekly limit in your state's rules; several states have notified their own figures.

What a clean day-close needs

Turning raw punches into a payroll-ready day means applying the same rules to everyone:

Element	What to configure
Grace period	How late an in-punch can be before it counts as late
Half-day and short-day	The hours that trigger each
Overtime	When it starts, the rate, consent and the quarterly cap
Weekly off and holidays	How they interact with attendance and pay
Regularisation	Who can fix a missed punch, and the approval path

Shift work and rosters

Rotating and night shifts add rules: minimum rest between shifts, limits on consecutive days, the weekly limit and the conditions for women on night shifts. Check coverage and working-time compliance before a roster is published, so you neither understaff a shift nor quietly breach a rest rule. Night allowances and shift premiums must reach payroll correctly. See our guide to shift management and rostering and night shifts for women employees.

Pay at risk

The most useful thing attendance can tell you before payroll is where pay is at risk. Unjustified absences and missing punches become loss of pay unless regularised. Surfacing them while there is still time to approve a regularisation avoids a smaller payslip at month end. See loss of pay calculation.

Biometric, mobile and field capture

Factory and office staff punch on biometric terminals; distributed teams use mobile check-in; field staff use geofenced attendance. Whatever the method, punches must deduplicate and map to the right employee and shift before the day closes. See biometric attendance integration.

Common mistakes

• Paying overtime at the single rate, or without consent.
• Ignoring the quarterly overtime cap in the state rules.
• Applying the old 240-day rule for annual leave.
• Breaching rest and consecutive-day rules in rosters.
• Discovering loss of pay only after payroll is computed.

FAQs

Is overtime always at twice the rate? For workers covered by the OSH Code, yes. Shops and establishments follow their state Act, which usually also sets twice the rate.

What is the quarterly overtime limit? The figure in your state's rules under the OSH Code. Check the current notification.

Can employees fix their own missed punches? Through a regularisation request that a manager approves, not by editing attendance.

When does annual leave start? After 180 days of work in a calendar year, at one day for every 20 days worked.

Key takeaways

• Working hours and overtime are now under the OSH Code, with details in state rules.
• 8 hours a day, overtime at twice the rate with consent, a quarterly cap as notified.
• Annual leave after 180 days at one day per 20 days worked.
• A configurable day-close and early pay-at-risk prevent payroll surprises.

NeevHR ingests biometric, mobile and field punches, applies a configurable day-close with grace, half-day and overtime rules, checks overtime against the configured cap, and shows pay at risk before payroll closes. See attendance management and the overtime calculator.

This article provides general information for educational purposes. Statutory rules, thresholds, rates and filing requirements may change; verify with the relevant authority or a qualified professional. Last reviewed: 03 Nov 2026.