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Inter-State Migrant Worker Register for Indian Employers

Who counts as a migrant worker, the six duties the OSH Code and its rules put on you, and the yearly fare home, with a register and five more formats to run it.

Register and status check at joining
Journey allowance and 180-day certificate
Accident report to both States

Instant download. No card needed.

Attendo presents

Migrant Worker Pack

For Indian employers

formats, status to policy

Attendo presents

What's inside

What is inside the pack

Six formats. Moving a worker between States? See the transfer letters.

Formats 01 and 02

Status check and register

Home State, how the job came and wages at joining, then one row a worker, alongside your other statutory registers.

Format 03

Journey allowance slip

The yearly to and fro fare: from, to, mode and class, amount and the date paid.

Format 04

Previous employer certificate

The worker's certificate of days with a previous employer, so the 180 days carry across a change of job.

Formats 05 and 06

Accident report and policy

A report to both States and the next of kin, and a policy clause with every choice in capitals.

Guide

Who counts and what is owed

The two kinds of migrant worker, the ten-worker threshold, six duties, a worked 180-day count and what is still open.

Attendo

Every branch, one account

Attendo (formerly Petpooja Payroll) keeps each employee's record across branches in one account, with consolidated reports.

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Why this matters

Why migrant workers need their own register

Because the Code owes them things it does not owe anyone else, and nothing in an ordinary payroll marks who they are. The yearly fare home is the one almost nobody pays.

The definition is wider than the word suggests. It catches a worker recruited in one State for a job in another, and one who came on their own and found work, earning up to ₹18,000 a month in wages as the Code counts them. That is not gross pay, since HRA and conveyance stay out up to half of pay, but it is not just basic and DA either: a special allowance counts. Contract workers count too, and the duties start at ten in the last twelve months.

The duties are short but specific: suitable conditions, every benefit other workers get, ESI and provident fund included, and an accident report to both States and the next of kin, on top of the ordinary accident notice.

The fare is yearly. For the Central sphere, rule 102 says by train at not less than II Class sleeper or by bus, after 180 days in the last twelve months. That binds railways, mines, ports, banks, insurers, central public sector undertakings and their contractors; a factory or most private businesses follow their State's rules for the manner, though the duty itself is in the Code.

And lending needs care. Section 65 extinguishes a debt to the contractor or principal employer left unsettled when the job ends, so an advance is best recovered while the worker is still with you.

Preview

Three things the pack settles

Each one is where migrant worker compliance usually slips.

The count. Everyone from another State, recruited or not, contract or direct, in a plant, a hotel or on a site.
The 180 days. Counted across a change of employer on the worker's certificate, not restarted.
The accident. Reported to the home State and the next of kin as well as where it happened, with the report ready to send.

Duties

Duty	Provision	Who	When	Sphere	Format
Identify and count	s.2, s.59	Employer	At joining	Both	01, 02
Yearly fare home	s.61, rule 102	Employer	After 180 days	Both	03, 04
Accident report	s.60(ii)	Contractor or employer	On the event	Both	05
Equal benefits	s.60(iii)	Contractor or employer	Always	Both	06
Portal statistics	rule 13	Employer	As ordered	Central	02, the count

Key stats

Three numbers behind the pack

10 migrant workers in twelve months

Part II applies to every establishment in which ten or more inter-State migrant workers are, or were on any day of the preceding twelve months, employed.

Source: OSH Code, 2020, s.59

₹18,000 a month, the wage ceiling

Wages not exceeding ₹18,000 a month, or a higher notified amount, counted as the Code defines wages: HRA and conveyance stay out until they pass half.

Source: OSH Code, 2020, s.2(1)(zf)

180 days before the fare is due

In the Central sphere, the yearly fare is paid once the worker has 180 days in the establishment in the preceding twelve months.

Source: OSH (Central) Rules, 2026, rule 102

Common mistakes

6 Migrant Worker Mistakes Indian Employers Make

Counting only the people you brought in

A worker who came on their own and found a job with you is a migrant worker too.

Leaving contract workers out

Contract labour includes migrant workers. Write the fare into the contract and ask for proof it was paid.

Paying the fare only at exit

The fare is yearly: once in twelve months, after 180 days, under the Central rules.

Thinner benefits for migrants

Every benefit other workers get, including provident fund and the medical check-up.

Reporting an accident only locally

Both States' authorities and the next of kin are told, under section 60(ii).

Lending to be settled after exit

Section 65 extinguishes a debt to the contractor or principal employer unsettled at the end of employment.

Comparison

An ordinary muster roll against this pack

A muster roll

Names and days

No home State recorded
Contract workers missing
No fare ever paid
Accidents reported locally
Nothing for the return

Free either way

This pack

Six formats and a guide

Status checked at joining
Contractors' workers counted
Yearly fare, slip and date
Both States told
The count for Form XVII

Count them, then pay the fare

Run the status check, fill the register, and diarise each fare. The rest of the Codes follow the same way.

FAQ

Common questions

Is this migrant worker pack really free? +

Yes, completely. No card and no trial. The form asks for your name, work email, phone and city, then the Word file downloads straight away. The Attendo team may follow up about payroll software, and you are free to say no thanks.

Who is an inter-State migrant worker under the OSH Code? +

Someone recruited in one State for a job in another, or someone who came on their own from another State and found work, earning up to ₹18,000 a month. That is wages as section 2(1)(zzj) of the OSH Code defines them: all pay except listed items such as HRA and conveyance, which come back in once they pass half. So it is not gross, but a special allowance counts. The duties apply once ten or more such workers are or were employed on any day in the last twelve months.

Is a journey allowance compulsory for migrant workers? +

Yes, where the Code applies. Section 61 makes the employer pay a yearly to and fro fare to the worker's native place. For the Central sphere, rule 102 says by train at not less than II Class sleeper, or by bus, after 180 days' work in the last twelve months.

Do days with a previous employer count towards the 180 days? +

Under rule 102(2) of the Central rules, yes: where the worker changed employer and the previous one did not pay the allowance, the worker's certificate of those days counts, and the present employer pays.

Can we recover an advance from a migrant worker after they leave? +

Be careful. Section 65 deems a debt to the contractor or principal employer, unsettled when the employment ends, to be extinguished. Recover any advance during the employment, within the fifty per cent limit.

About Attendo

Attendo (formerly Petpooja Payroll) is payroll and attendance software used by 40,000+ businesses across manufacturing, corporate offices, retail, hospitals and education. General guidance, not legal advice. This pack is one of our free labour code packs, each built from the law rather than from other templates.