Notified Social Security Code (Central) Rules, 2026: What Employers Need to Know

Vide notification dated May 08, 2026, the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India has notified the Code on Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 (“SS Rules”), framed under the Code on Social Security, 2020 (“SS Code”). The SS Rules operationalize several key aspects of the SS Code relating to provident fund, employee state insurance, gratuity, maternity benefits, employee compensation, building and construction workers, gig and platform workers, and compliance/reporting obligations under a consolidated framework.

The key features of the notified SS Rules are summarized below:

1. Employees’ Provident Fund and Employees’ State Insurance

• The SS Rules operationalise the exemption/inapplicability framework under the employees’ provident fund (“EPF”) or employees’ state insurance (“ESI”) chapters, requiring employers to obtain consent of majority employees and furnish self-certified proof of statutory compliance and contribution remittances before seeking exemption 

• Applications for exemption/inapplicability are deemed approved if not decided within sixty (60) days, which is commercially significant for large establishments and exempted PF trusts seeking certainty on coverage position

• An establishment covered under the EPF/ESI framework ordinarily cannot seek inapplicability before completion of five (5) years from the date of applicability, thereby restricting short-term restructuring attempts to exit social security coverage

• The SS Rules subject exempted EPF and ESI establishments to continuing compliance obligations even after exemption, including compliance with scheme conditions, maintenance of records/returns and fresh exemption requirements upon specified corporate restructuring events

2. Employee Compensation

3. The SS Rules prescribe a structured procedural framework for reporting workplace accidents, transmission of compensation amounts, filing and adjudication of compensation claims, including through specified electronic and physical forms 

4. Where compensation payable under the chapter is not paid within thirty (30) days from the date it becomes due, the employer is liable to pay simple interest at 12% per annum or such other notified rate

5. The SS Rules prescribe inter-state and cross-border procedural mechanisms for transfer of compensation amounts, records and proceedings between competent authorities, including where employees or dependants reside outside India

6. Competent authorities are empowered to call for detailed reports, records and transfer of monies relating to workplace accidents where jurisdictional transfers arise or further inquiry is required

7. Employers are specifically required, at the time of employment, to inform employees in writing and electronically, in a language understood by the employee, of their right to compensation under the SS Code

8. The increased procedural formalisation around accident reporting, claims management, transmission of records and employee disclosures may require employers to strengthen internal workplace incident documentation and compensation handling processes

9. Gratuity

• Employees are required to submit nominations in Form III, ordinarily within ninety (90) days of completion of one (1) year of service (or within ninety (90) days from commencement of the SS Rules for existing employees), with fresh nominations/modifications also required upon acquiring a family or change in nominee details; employers are required to verify and return attested copies within thirty (30) days of receipt

• Applications for gratuity are required to be filed in Form IV, by personal service or by speed post, ordinarily within thirty (30) days from the date gratuity becomes payable in case of employees/nominees and within one (1) year in case of legal heirs, though delayed applications may also be entertained upon sufficient cause being shown

• The SS Rules specifically recognise gratuity entitlement for employees engaged on fixed term employment upon completion of at least one (1) year of service, with service exceeding six (6) months being rounded off as one (1) additional year

• Within fifteen (15) days of receipt of a gratuity application, the employer is required to issue notice in Form V admitting or rejecting the claim, and where the claim is admitted, gratuity is required to be paid through demand draft or bank transfer not later than thirty (30) days from receipt of the application

• The SS Rules prescribe a detailed adjudicatory framework for gratuity disputes with gratuity claim-related applications and appeals ordinarily required to be disposed of within six (6) months, extendable by a further three (3) months for recorded reasons

4. Maternity Benefit and Crèche Facilities

• The SS Rules prescribe detailed procedural requirements relating to maternity benefit claims, including submission of notices in Form-XI, production of medical certificates in Form-X issued by specified medical or local authorities, nomination requirements, and payment procedures in cases involving death of the employee or child

• Maternity benefit, medical bonus and other dues are required to be paid to the employee or nominee in the prescribed manner, including: (i) payment of maternity benefit and other dues within two (2) months from the date of death of the employee where payable to nominees/legal representatives; and (ii) payment of nursing break wages within forty-eight (48) hours of production of the prescribed certificate

• The SS Rules prescribe detailed standards for crèche facilities in establishments employing fifty (50) or more employees, including location within one (1) kilometre of the establishment (subject to specified relaxations), infrastructure standards, staffing requirements, working hours aligned with employee shifts, first-aid and feeding facilities, and minimum space requirements for children below six (6) years of age

• The SS Rules also permit employers, through agreements with the negotiating union/council or majority employees, to provide a crèche allowance in lieu of crèche facilities, subject to a minimum allowance of INR 500 per month per child, admissible for up to two children except in specified multiple-birth situations

• Each nursing break under the SS Code is prescribed to be of fifteen (15) minutes, with an additional travel period of up to fifteen (15) minutes permitted depending upon the distance to the crèche facility

5. Social Security and Cess in Respect of Building and Other Construction Workers

6. Employers are required to furnish project information in Form-XV within sixty (60) days of commencement of work / payment of cess, and any modification to the disclosed particulars must be intimated in the same form within thirty (30) days of such change

7. Employers are required to pay cess in advance on a self-assessment basis certified by a chartered engineer at the stage of approval or before commencement of work. Construction cost is required to be computed using CPWD / State PWD / applicable notified schedule rates or RERA-disclosed project costs in Form-XVI. In projects requiring statutory approvals, proof of online cess payment is required to accompany the approval application

8. In case of stoppage or reduction of construction activity, employers are required to file Form-XVII within sixty (60) days. On completion of the project, employers are required to submit Form-XVIII within sixty (60) days of completion. The SS Rules also prescribe a refund mechanism for excess advance cess paid in cases of project foreclosure, reduction or abandonment

9. Employers are required to respond to reassessment / scrutiny notices relating to undervaluation or short-payment of cess within thirty (30) days of receipt of notice, failing which assessment may be completed on the basis of available records. Appeals against assessment or penalty orders are required to be filed within ninety (90) days, along with prescribed supporting documents, deposit proof and appeal fee

10. Employers / contractors are responsible for registration of eligible building workers on the designated portal within thirty (30) days of eligibility, with Aadhaar-linked registration and generation / updation of universal registration numbers. In case of inter-State migration of workers, employers are required to update the worker’s registration details on the destination State portal within thirty (30) days of the worker joining the muster roll

11. Social Security for Unorganised Workers, Gig Workers and Platform Workers

12. Unorganised workers above the age of sixteen (16) years must self-register on the designated Central Government portal using Aadhaar and prescribed documents; the appropriate Government must facilitate such registration and issuance of digital identity cards and Universal Account Numbers (UANs)

13. Aggregators must register gig and platform workers on the designated portal within forty-five (45) days from commencement of the SS Rules, and thereafter update onboarding and exit details of workers on a real-time or daily basis through API/electronic modes

14. Aggregators are required to periodically update worker particulars electronically; failure to ensure updation may result in workers becoming ineligible for notified social security benefits

15. Eligibility for social security benefits for gig and platform workers may be subject to additional conditions notified by the Central Government; however, such workers must have been engaged for at least ninety (90) days with one (1) aggregator, or one hundred and twenty (120) days cumulatively across multiple aggregators in the previous financial year. A worker earning any income on a calendar day is deemed engaged for that day, and engagement with multiple aggregators on the same day is counted cumulatively

16. Aggregators must assess and deposit provisional social security contributions in Form-XX by thirtieth (30^th) June each year, and submit the final return in Form-XXI along with any balance contribution by thirty-first (31^st) October after finalisation of audited accounts

17. Claims for refund of excess contribution must be made in Form-XXI, and refunds are to be processed electronically within ninety (90) days; delayed contribution payments attract interest at the rate of one percent (1%) per month or part thereof

18. Employment Information and Reporting of Vacancies

19. Employers in the public sector shall report vacancies to the notified Career Centre before filling them; employers in the private sector employing twenty (20) or more employees, or such number as may be notified, are also required to report vacancies from the date specified by the appropriate Government through notification

20. Vacancies shall be reported in Form-XXV manually, electronically or digitally; vacancies reported to a Career Centre (Regional) must be notified at least fifteen (15) days before the last date of receipt of applications, while vacancies reported to a Career Centre (Central) must be notified at least forty (40) days prior

21. Employers shall furnish information regarding the result of selection against reported vacancies to the concerned Career Centre within thirty (30) days from the date of selection

22. The appropriate Government may, through notification, require private sector establishments (or specified classes/categories thereof), from a notified date, to maintain employment records, including details of employee strength, recruitments, occupational data, hard-to-fill vacancies, and anticipated vacancies for the next financial year 

23. Employers shall furnish yearly Employment Information Returns in Form-XXVI to the concerned Career Centre (Regional) within thirty (30) days from the due date, i.e., thirty-first (31^st) March of the relevant year

24. Registers, Records and Annual Returns

25. Employers must maintain prescribed registers including: employee register, attendance-cum-muster roll, wage/overtime/deduction register under the Wages Rules, and register of women employees (Form-XXII); existing registers maintained under the Code on Wages, 2019 or Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 are deemed compliant

26. Registers may be maintained electronically or otherwise, must be kept updated, preserved for five (5) calendar years from the last entry

27. Employers must issue wage slips in Form-V electronically or otherwise on or before payment of wages

28. Records must ordinarily be maintained within the workplace premises or within a radius of three (3) kilometres; employers must also display a notice specifying the authorised officer for receiving notices under the SS Code

29. Employers covered under Chapter V (gratuity) and Chapter VI (maternity benefit) must upload an annual unified return in Form-XXIII by the twenty-eighth (28^th) / twenty-ninth (29^th) February each year; in case of sale, abandonment or discontinuance of establishment, a further return must be filed within one (1) month or four (4) months, as applicable 

Anhad Laws’ Perspective 

Significantly, under the framework of the labour codes in India, the applicability of the Central Rules and the State Rules depends upon which authority is designated as the “appropriate government” for a particular establishment. The Central Rules are applicable to establishments and sectors where the Central Government is recognised as the appropriate government under the relevant labour laws. These typically include industries and establishments operating under the authority or control of the Central Government, such as the banking sector, insurance companies, telecommunications, civil aviation, major ports, mines, oil fields, railways, and central public sector enterprises (CPSUs). Accordingly, employers operating in these sectors are required to comply with the IR (Central) Rules which have been brought into force on May 08,2026.

In contrast, for most other establishments, including private limited companies engaged in IT/ITES, software development, consulting and other services, trading, and manufacturing activities, the appropriate government is generally the respective State Government in which location the establishment is situated. Consequently, although the labour codes have been enacted at the central level, the operational implementation for such establishments will substantially depend upon the notification and enforcement of the corresponding State Rules by the concerned State Governments. Therefore, companies having offices, factories, or operations in different States will need to monitor the status of the State Rules in each relevant jurisdiction, as the compliance obligations under the labour codes would become fully applicable only upon notification and enforcement of the respective State Rules by those states.

Notwithstanding the same, the notification of the SS Rules is a significant step towards operationalisation of the IR Code. The SS Rules substantially increase procedural, documentation and digital compliance obligations across the employment lifecycle, including worker registration, nomination management, statutory filings and welfare administration. Employers may need to reassess existing HR, payroll, contractor management and compliance systems to ensure alignment with the prescribed forms, timelines and portal-based requirements under the SS Rules. 

Businesses engaging construction workers, contractual labour, migrant workers, or gig/platform workers should particularly evaluate worker-tracking and vendor compliance processes in light of the enhanced accountability framework. Employers should also closely monitor subsequent Central and State Government notifications.

In parallel, several State Governments are also in the process of publishing and finalising their respective draft rules under the SS Code. Once notified, establishments falling under the jurisdiction of the respective State Governments will be required to comply with the applicable State-specific rules framed under the IR Code.

© Anhad Law 

Disclaimer: The contents of the above publication are based on interpretation, analysis and understanding of applicable laws and updates in law, within the knowledge of the authors. Readers should take steps to ascertain the current developments, given the everyday changes that may be occurring in India and internationally on the subject covered hereinabove. This is not a legal opinion, analysis, or interpretation. This is an initiative to share developments in the world of law, or as may be relevant for a reader. No reader should act on the basis of any statement made above without seeking professional and upto-date legal advice.