Labour Hub › OSHWC Code › Sections › Section 43

Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 · X

Section 43: Employment of women

Reviewed by Finin2min Editorial Desk · Last reviewed 30 August 2026

Section 43 — Governs employment of women and the rights, duties, powers or procedure expressly stated in this section. Key operative text: Women shall be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work under this Code and they may also be employed, with their consent before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. subject to such conditions relating to…

Full official textSource checked: 20 August 20261 direct Central Rule link(s)

Current-law status

All provisions were brought into force from 21 November 2025 under S.O. 5321(E), subject to the Central/State appropriate-Government split and provision-specific appointments/notifications.

Primary sources

Provision / India Code ↗ · Official Act PDF ↗ · 2026 Central Rules ↗

Finin2min analysis — what the section actually does

Operative clauses

Women shall be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work under this Code and they may also be employed, with their consent before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. subject to such conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours or any other condition to be observed by the employer as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.

Provisos, explanations & qualifications

No proviso/explanation was separately extracted from this section text.

Thresholds and timelines in the text

Employment of women.—Women shall be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work under this Code and they may also be employed, with their consent before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. subject to such conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours or any other condition to be observed by the employer as may be prescribed by…

Actors expressly appearing in the text

Employer, Appropriate Government

Full statutory text — Section 43

Official English text transcribed from the current India Code consolidation; page headers/line breaks are normalised for web reading. The Gazette/India Code PDF remains authoritative for typography, amendment footnotes and schedules.

43. Employment of women.—Women shall be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all
types of work under this Code and they may also be employed, with their consent before 6 a.m. and
beyond 7 p.m. subject to such conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours or any other
condition to be observed by the employer as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.

How to apply this provision

Primary statutory test — Women shall be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work under this Code and they may also be employed, with their consent before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. subject to such conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours or any other condition to be observed by the employer as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.
Numerical or timing control — Employment of women.—Women shall be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work under this Code and they may also be employed, with their consent before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. subject to such conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours or any other condition to be observed by the employer as may be prescribed by…
Central Rule mapping — 83. Read the mapped provision together with this text rather than treating the concordance as a substitute for it.
Evidence file — retain facts and records proving the role/status of: Employer, Appropriate Government.

Why this is section-specific: the operative-clause, exception, threshold and cross-reference panels above are extracted from Section 43 itself rather than a generic “trigger/control/evidence” template.

Rules, forms and cross-references

Direct 2026 Central Rule mapping

Rule 83

Forms mapped

No prescribed form is directly mapped in the current concordance.

Other sections cited in this text

None expressly mapped in the current concordance.

Related Labour Hub resources

State overlays Forms Labour litigation

A direct concordance is not exhaustive. Central/State jurisdiction, schemes, authority appointments, saved instruments and later notifications may change the practical route without changing the section wording.

Worked example

A woman worker is rostered for a night shift. The employer should not treat the roster as a simple scheduling decision: test the worker-consent requirement, prescribed safety/transport or other conditions, and any sector-specific restrictions under the Code and applicable Rules before the shift is assigned. Retain consent, roster and safety-control evidence.

Illustration only; it is not statutory text or a substitute for applying the actual facts, jurisdiction, current rule/scheme and official instrument.

Q&A — Section 43

What does Section 43 of the OSHWC Code cover?

What is the main legal requirement or power in Section 43?

The first operative clause identified from the official text is: “Women shall be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work under this Code and they may also be employed, with their consent before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. subject to such conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours or any other condition to be observed by the employer as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government.” Read it with the remaining subsections and any proviso below.

Does Section 43 contain a proviso or explanation?

No standalone proviso or explanation was extracted from this section text. Check the full text below for clause-level qualifications.

What time limit, percentage or amount appears in Section 43?

The provision contains this numerical/time expression: “Employment of women.—Women shall be entitled to be employed in all establishments for all types of work under this Code and they may also be employed, with their consent before 6 a.m. and beyond 7 p.m. subject to such conditions relating to safety, holidays and working hours or any other condition to be observed by the employer as may be prescribed by…” Apply it only in the clause and context in which it appears.

Which 2026 Central Rules are linked to Section 43?

The current concordance maps Section 43 to Central Rule(s) 83.

Is Section 43 currently operative?

All provisions were brought into force from 21 November 2025 under S.O. 5321(E), subject to the Central/State appropriate-Government split and provision-specific appointments/notifications.

Source & verification trail

Act: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 — official India Code PDF ↗

Central Rules: Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026 — G.S.R. 345(E), 8 May 2026 ↗

Official library: Ministry of Labour & Employment — Labour Codes ↗

Source check: 20 August 2026. Individual professional interpretation should be re-reviewed when the section, rules, notification, scheme, State overlay or controlling judgment changes.

Reliance note: This page is an educational legal-reference layer. Verify the current official text, the applicable Central/State rules, notifications, schemes and judicial decisions before acting on a live matter.