Can a contract worker's child use the factory crèche?

Yes. The Code on Social Security counts a person employed through a contractor as an employee, and section 67 requires a crèche for the children under six of employees where fifty or more are ordinarily employed. The OSH Code makes the principal employer provide its welfare facilities to contract labour, and the OSH Central rules require the crèche to be free and accessible to all employees.

Does the contractor or the site have to provide the crèche?

The site. Section 67 of the Code on Social Security puts the duty on the establishment, and section 53 of the OSH Code says the welfare facilities under section 24, which include the crèche, are provided by the principal employer to contract labour. The contract between site and contractor can share the cost, but not limit the crew's access.

How far can the crèche be from the workplace?

Within one kilometre of the establishment, under rule 37 of the Social Security (Central) Rules 2026, and conveniently accessible to the employees whose children use it. The limit can be relaxed where a common crèche serves a notified industrial park or area. The OSH Central rules prefer the crèche inside the workplace, or nearby and accessible.

Can several companies share one crèche?

Yes. Section 67 of the Code on Social Security and section 24(3) of the OSH Code both allow an establishment to use a common crèche run by the government, a municipality, a private entity or an NGO, or set up by a group of establishments pooling resources. The shared crèche must still meet the standards in the rules and be open to the contract crew.

Can contract workers use the site crèche?

Yes. The Code on Social Security 2020 counts a person employed through a contractor as an employee, and requires a crèche for the children of employees once fifty or more are ordinarily employed (s.67). The OSH Code 2020 has the principal employer provide its welfare facilities to contract labour (s.53), and its Central rules require every crèche to be "free and accessible to all employees".

Two Codes, one crèche

Both Codes require a crèche at around fifty, with slightly different words, and a site meets both with one facility. The table sets them side by side; our article on thresholds covers how the two counts differ at exactly fifty.

	Code on Social Security, s.67 and SS (Central) Rules r.37	OSH Code, s.24(3) and OSH (Central) Rules r.58
Trigger	Fifty or more employees ordinarily employed	More than fifty workers ordinarily employed
Contract staff counted	Yes: an employee includes one employed "through a contractor" (s.2(26))	The rule says "workers"; see our thresholds article
Children covered	Under six, of such employees	Under six, of employees
Location	Within one kilometre; relaxable where a common crèche serves a notified industrial park or area	Within the workplace as far as possible, or nearby and accessible
Access	Four visits a day for the mother, including rest intervals	"Free and accessible to all employees"

Both crèche powers sit with the Central Government: section 67 leaves the number and the distance to be prescribed by the Centre, and section 24(3) of the OSH Code gives the crèche rule-making power to the Centre. Rule 37 of the Social Security (Central) Rules 2026 and rule 58 of the OSH (Central) Rules 2026 therefore set the standard for a Tamil Nadu site as well [VERIFY: whether Tamil Nadu has notified any crèche rule of its own under either Code].

Who provides it for a contract crew

The site. Section 67 places the duty on the establishment: every establishment with the required number of employees "shall have the facility of crèche", and the count includes the contract crew. Section 53 of the OSH Code separately says the welfare facilities specified under sections 23 and 24 "shall be provided by the principal employer" to the contract labour in the establishment, and the crèche is a section 24 facility. A contractor's worker whose child is under six is, on both Codes, entitled to the same crèche as the site's own staff.

What the site can settle with the contractor is cost and logistics, not access. The contract can say who bears a share of the crèche's running cost; it cannot keep a contract worker's child out of it. And the four visits a day that section 67 allows a working mother have to be released by whoever supervises her shift, which on a contract crew is the contractor's supervisor.

What the crèche must have

A safe building, trained staff and hours that match the shifts. Rule 37(2) of the Social Security rules and rule 58 of the OSH rules between them set a detailed list:

Space and building. A safe, rain-proof building with at least ten square feet of floor area per child and a fenced play area (r.37(2)(ii)–(iii)); away from fumes, dust, odours and noisy processes (r.58(v)).
Hours. Corresponding to the working hours of the employees, and it may work in shifts (r.37(2)(iv)). A site that runs a night shift needs a crèche that does too, or the mothers on that shift cannot use it.
Staff. A woman with midwifery qualification or crèche training in charge, with one ayah for every ten children once there are more than ten (r.37(2)(v)); police verification of the person in charge, support staff and guard (r.58(x)).
Feeding and care. Arrangements for mothers to feed children under fifteen months during intervals, toilets and washbasins, first aid, a kitchen, and drinking water, milk and refreshments (r.37(2)(vii)); nutritious food for all children (r.58(xvi)).
Safety. Attendance on arrival and pick-up, hand-over only to an authorised person, CCTV during working hours, an evacuation plan and emergency numbers on display (r.58(xii), (xiii), (xxi), (xxvi), (xxvii)).

50employees ordinarily employed, contract staff included: the crèche threshold under the SS Code (s.67; r.37(1))

1 kmmaximum distance from the establishment, relaxable in a notified industrial park with a common crèche (r.37(2)(i))

4visits a day allowed to a mother, including her rest intervals (s.67(1), first proviso)

1 : 10ayahs to children once a crèche has more than ten children (r.37(2)(v))

A common crèche instead of your own

Allowed, and often the practical answer for a mid-sized site. The proviso to section 67, and the matching proviso to section 24(3) of the OSH Code, let an establishment use a common crèche run by the Central or State Government, a municipality, a private entity or a non-governmental organisation, or one set up by a group of establishments pooling their resources. Where the common crèche serves a notified industrial park or area, the one-kilometre limit can be relaxed (r.37(2)(i)).

The duty does not shrink when it is shared. A common crèche still has to meet the standards above, and the site still has to make sure its contract crew can actually use it: that the crèche knows the crew's children are entitled, and that its hours cover the crew's shifts.

What a site should check

The count includes the crew. Employees ordinarily employed, direct and contract, against fifty.
The crew knows. A notice at the gate, in the crew's language, saying the crèche is open to their children under six, and how to enrol them.
The supervisors release the visits. The contractor's supervisors told in writing that a mother on their crew gets four visits a day.
The contract says who pays. A clause on the crèche's cost for the contract crew, so access is never the thing that gets negotiated.

How Velura Services helps

We count our crew into your welfare thresholds, brief women workers on the crèche at induction, and make sure our supervisors release the feeding visits the Code allows. If your contract needs a clause on sharing crèche costs, we will work through it with you before deployment.

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Sources

The Code on Social Security, 2020 (Act 36 of 2020), Gazette text hosted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment — s.2(26) (employee, including one employed through a contractor), s.67 (crèche at fifty employees; four visits a day; common crèche). Opened and read.
The Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 344(E) dated 8 May 2026 — r.37 (crèche for fifty or more employees; within one kilometre and the industrial-park relaxation; building, space, hours, staff, feeding and facilities). Opened and read from a mirrored copy of the Gazette [VERIFY: against the e-Gazette original].
Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act 37 of 2020), Gazette text hosted by DGFASLI — s.24(3) (crèche at more than fifty workers; common crèche), s.53 (welfare facilities under ss.23 and 24 provided by the principal employer to contract labour). Opened and read.
Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (Central) Rules, 2026, G.S.R. 345(E) dated 8 May 2026 — r.58 (crèche free and accessible to all employees; location; staff verification; safety and care standards). Opened and read from a mirrored copy of the Gazette [VERIFY: against the e-Gazette original].