Overtime Pay and Working Hours in Private Jobs: What the OSH Code Says

If you're a "worker" under India's labour codes, the general rule is a maximum of eight hours of work a day, and overtime beyond the hours your state prescribes must be paid at twice your normal rate of wages. Overtime also needs your consent. These rules come from the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (the OSH Code), which has been in force since 21 November 2025. Whether they apply to you depends mainly on your role and pay, and that's where most of the confusion lies.

Who counts as a "worker"

The OSH Code defines a worker as anyone employed in an establishment to do manual, unskilled, skilled, technical, operational, clerical or supervisory work for hire or reward. That covers a large share of private-sector employees: factory and warehouse staff, retail and hospitality staff, drivers, security guards, clerical and back-office staff, and many technical roles.

It excludes, among others:

• people employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity, and
• people in a supervisory capacity earning more than ₹18,000 a month, or a higher amount notified by the central government.

So a delivery associate, a store cashier or a data-entry operator is very likely covered. A team manager in a corporate office probably isn't. In between, it depends on what you actually do, not just your job title. A "Senior Executive" who does clerical work all day may still be a worker.

Many state shops and establishments laws also set working hours and overtime rules for shops, offices and commercial establishments, and the specific limits on spread-over and intervals are set by the appropriate government. Check your state labour department's website for the rules that apply where you work.

Hours, rest and weekly holiday

Under the OSH Code:

• No worker is to be required or allowed to work more than eight hours in a day, with the daily period, intervals and spread-over as notified by the appropriate government.
• Workers are generally not to work more than six days a week, with a weekly holiday. If you're made to work on your weekly holiday under an exemption, you're entitled to compensatory holidays.
• Overtime is paid at twice the rate of wages, calculated on a daily or weekly basis, whichever is more favourable to you.
• You can be required to work overtime only with your consent, and the government may cap the total overtime hours.

The government's summary of the labour codes, issued on 21 November 2025, also highlights consent-based overtime at double wages and paid leave for workers across sectors.

What "twice the rate of wages" means in practice

If your daily wage works out to ₹800 for eight hours, your normal hourly rate is ₹100. Each overtime hour should then be paid at ₹200. In practice, employers calculate the base using the definition of wages in the Code on Wages, which centres on basic pay and dearness allowance and excludes certain allowances. If you aren't sure how your overtime is worked out, ask HR for the calculation in writing.

A common problem: overtime is worked but never recorded. Keep your own simple log of the date, the hours you worked beyond your shift, and who asked you to stay. It makes a query or a claim much easier.

If you're not a "worker"

If you're in a managerial or senior role, statutory overtime usually doesn't apply. Your contract, company policy and any applicable state law decide your hours. Many IT and corporate roles have no overtime pay at all, and long hours are treated as part of the job. That's legal for those roles, but it's still worth discussing workload honestly with your manager if it's affecting your health. Some companies offer comp-offs for weekend work; ask what the policy says.

If long hours are constant and you can't fix it internally, it's a legitimate reason to look elsewhere. When comparing offers, ask about typical hours and on-call expectations; see comparing offers beyond CTC.

Raising an overtime issue

Start with a written request to HR or your supervisor listing the dates and hours, and asking how the overtime was or will be paid. Keep it factual. If you get no response or the employer refuses to pay legitimately owed overtime, you can approach your state labour department. Claims for unpaid wages, including overtime, can also be made under the Code on Wages. Our guide on what to do when salary isn't paid on time explains the escalation steps.

This guide is general information about the labour codes, not legal advice. Working-hour rules involve both central and state notifications, so for a specific dispute, check with your state labour department or an employment lawyer.

If you work in shifts, such as retail, logistics, or hospitality, browse roles on CareerCola under retail, transportation and hospitality, and use the interview to ask about shift length, weekly offs and overtime pay before you accept.