Rights of Employees With Disabilities Under India's Labour Codes

Your entitlements across ten heads under the four labour codes

This table lists what the four labour codes give every worker, you included, using only the provisions supplied. Where a head is not covered by those provisions, it says so plainly rather than guessing. Read the caption before relying on any single cell.

Based only on the supplied extracts of India's four labour codes. Cells marked 'Not stated in supplied text' mean these extracts do not cover that head, not that no right exists elsewhere. The intervals, the spread-over of the working day, and any alternative pay timeline are set by Government notification, not fixed in the code text (rule-set). The wage timelines shown are statutory; any timing example elsewhere on this page uses assumed dates for illustration only.

What your employer must give you

Under India's four labour codes you have the same core protections as any other worker. There is no separate, lower, or special set of code rules that applies to you because you have a disability. So read the protections below as yours in full.

Rights that are specific to persons with disabilities, such as workplace accommodation or reservation, come from a separate law, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, which sits outside these four codes and outside the scope of this page, so it is not described here.

Your wages must reach you by the deadline for your wage period. If you are paid monthly, that is before the seventh day of the following month. If you are paid daily, at the end of the shift; weekly, before the weekly holiday; fortnightly, within two days of the fortnight ending. If your job ends, whether you are removed, dismissed, retrenched, resign, or the workplace closes, your wages must be paid within two working days.

Your employer cannot trim your pay as it pleases. The only deductions allowed are the ones the Code itself authorises. Anything else is not a lawful deduction.

Your working day is capped at eight hours. The exact intervals and the spread-over of that day are fixed by Government notification, so the shape of your day can vary while the eight-hour cap stays.

Illustrative example: if you are paid monthly and your August wages are still unpaid after the seventh of September, that statutory deadline has passed. If you were dismissed on a Monday, your final wages should reach you within two working days. These dates are assumed for illustration; the seventh-day limit and the two-working-day limit are the statutory ones.

• Full wages by your pay deadline, and within two working days if your job ends [COW Section 17]
• No deductions except those the Code authorises [COW Section 18]
• A working day capped at eight hours, with intervals and spread-over set by notification [OSH Section 25]
• Gratuity on qualifying exit, including disablement [SS Section 53]

What to do if you are denied

Act in order, and keep a paper trail at every step. Written records make your case far stronger later.

First, gather your evidence: payslips, your appointment terms, dates worked, and the dates money was due and paid. Note exactly which entitlement was denied and when.

Second, raise it in writing with your employer or HR and ask for the shortfall to be corrected. Keep a copy of what you send and any reply.

Third, if it is not resolved and your establishment employs twenty or more workers, take it to the Grievance Redressal Committee. Do not wait too long: there is a one-year window from when the cause of action arises.

• Collect payslips, terms, and dates before you complain
• Put the complaint to your employer in writing first
• Escalate to the Grievance Redressal Committee if the workplace has twenty or more workers
• File within one year of the cause of action [IR Section 4]

Where to complain: authority, form and time limit

The authority for an individual grievance is the Grievance Redressal Committee. Every industrial establishment employing twenty or more workers must have one or more such committees to resolve disputes arising out of individual grievances.

Who can file: any aggrieved worker, for a dispute that is an individual grievance. You file it yourself.

Time limit to file: within one year from the date on which the cause of action of the dispute arises. Miss that window and the committee may not take it up.

How long it takes: the committee may complete its proceedings within thirty days of receiving your application, and its decision is made on the basis of majority.

The form and the manner of filing are prescribed by the rules. The exact form number is not fixed in the code text, so check the form your applicable rules prescribe before you file (rule-set).

How the committee is built: equal numbers of employer and worker members, not more than ten in total, with women workers represented at least in proportion to their share of the workforce, and a chairperson chosen from the employer and worker sides alternately, rotating each year.

• Authority: Grievance Redressal Committee in an industrial establishment with twenty or more workers [IR Section 4]
• Who: any aggrieved worker
• Time limit to file: one year from the cause of action [IR Section 4]
• Decision: the committee may finish within thirty days, decided by majority [IR Section 4]
• Form: the manner and form are prescribed by rules; confirm the form number your rules set

Where to check your state

The codes leave several things to be notified by the appropriate Government, which can be the Centre or your State. That includes the intervals and spread-over of your working day, any alternative wage-payment timeline the Government may allow, and the manner and form for filing before the Grievance Redressal Committee.

Because states notify their own rules and thresholds, the precise numbers and deadlines that bind your workplace can differ from another state. Before you rely on a specific figure or filing date, confirm the position your own State has notified.

• Working-day intervals and spread-over: set by Government notification
• Alternative wage-payment timelines: the appropriate Government may set these [COW Section 17]
• Manner and form of filing a grievance: prescribed by rules
• Always confirm your State's notified rules before acting

If you leave work because of disablement: gratuity

Gratuity is a lump sum for service. Normally you must have completed at least five years of continuous service to qualify, and it becomes payable on superannuation, retirement, resignation, or the end of a fixed-term contract.

The important point for you: that five-year requirement does not apply where your employment ends due to disablement from accident or disease, or due to death. In those cases gratuity is still payable even if you had not completed five years.

If a worker dies, the gratuity goes to the nominee, or to the heirs if there is no nomination, and a minor's share is deposited as the law directs.

Note: the supplied code text does not give the gratuity formula or amount, so this page does not state how much you would receive: that rate is set elsewhere and you should confirm it separately.

• Five years continuous service is the normal qualifying period [SS Section 53]
• The five-year rule is waived where the exit is due to disablement from accident or disease, or death [SS Section 53]
• On death, gratuity goes to the nominee or heirs; a minor's share is deposited [SS Section 53]
• The amount or formula is not in the supplied text, so no figure is stated here

Frequently asked questions