Appointment Letters Are Now Mandatory for Every Worker: What to Include and How to Catch Up
Since 21 November 2025, the OSH Code requires a written appointment letter for every employee, including helpers and existing staff. It must state the type of employment, skill category, wages and allowances, PF and ESI status, and maternity benefits for women. Employers who missed issuing letters to existing staff should do it now.
In many factories and shops, helpers, drivers and loaders work for years without a single document. Under the OSH Code, which came into force on 21 November 2025, that is no longer allowed. Every employee needs a written appointment letter.
The rule
- ✓An employer must issue an appointment letter to every employee when they join.
- ✓Existing employees should have been given one within about three months of the Code coming into force.
- ✓The Central Rules prescribe what the letter must record.
What the letter must state
| Item | Example |
|---|---|
| Name and personal details | Name, father's or spouse's name, address |
| Type of employment | Regular, fixed-term or contractual |
| Designation and skill category | Unskilled, semi-skilled, skilled or highly skilled |
| Wages and allowances | Monthly wage, allowances, wage period |
| Social security | Whether PF and ESI apply |
| For women employees | Maternity benefits available under the Code on Social Security |
| Date of joining and place of work |
If you have not caught up
Many employers missed the deadline for existing staff. Issue letters now: late is far better than never if an inspector or a dispute asks for them.
- List every person working for you, including helpers, cleaners, drivers and part-timers on your own payroll.
- Use one template in English and the local language, such as Gujarati or Hindi.
- Fill in the actual wage and category, checked against the minimum wage for that category.
- Get acknowledgement, a signature or thumb impression, or an electronic acknowledgement in your HRMS.
- Store it in the employee's file, physical or digital.
Contract workers get their letters from the contractor. As principal employer, check that the contractor has issued them.
A worked example
A Morbi ceramics unit has 140 workers, 60 of them on its own payroll. It issued bilingual letters to all 60 in a week, using its HRMS to fill in each worker's wage, category and PF/ESI status, and collected e-signatures on the workers' phones. For the 80 contract workers, it asked each contractor for copies.
Frequently asked questions
Do interns and trainees need letters?
Anyone employed by you needs one. Interns on stipend should at least have a written engagement letter.
Does an offer letter count?
Only if it contains everything the Code requires. Most offer letters do not state the skill category or PF/ESI status.
Is an electronic letter valid?
Yes, if the employee can access it and acknowledges it.
Sources
- ✓Appointment letters and HR records under the new labour codes, CalcGuru
- ✓Appointment letter mandatory under the OSH Code, IndianHRM
- ✓OSH Code key provisions, Lakshmikumaran & Sridharan
This is a summary, not legal advice. Confirm with a labour-law professional.
Written by
HR Manager, Airwix Technologies (Sleet)
Nihit Dobariya is the HR Manager at Airwix Technologies in Ahmedabad, where he runs HR and payroll for the team behind Sleet. He writes about payroll, PF and ESIC, professional tax, the labour codes and everyday HR practice for Indian employers, and checks each rule against the official notification before it is published.
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