Under Section 6(1)(c) of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, every employer is required to provide, free of cost, an annual health examination or health check-up to employees of which age or above, as generally prescribed by the appropriate Government?

Section 6(1)(c) of the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 casts a duty on every employer to provide free-of-cost annual health examinations or tests to employees of such age, or such class of employees of such establishments, as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government. Acting on this provision, the widely followed statutory standard prescribes this mandatory free annual health check-up for employees who have attained forty years of age, across all establishments covered by the Code - a significant expansion compared to the earlier position under the Factories Act, 1948, where periodic medical examinations were largely confined to workers engaged in hazardous processes. Workers engaged in hazardous processes or dangerous operations notified under Section 2(za) or Section 82 of the Code continue to receive mandatory health examinations irrespective of age.