Second Schedule explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
The Second Schedule lists the classes of persons who are "employees" for the purpose of Chapter VII (employee's compensation). The third proviso to section 2(26) says that, for Chapter VII, "employee" means only persons specified in the Second Schedule and others added to it by notification.
For Chapter VII, an "employee" is a person in the Second Schedule plus anyone the Central or State Government adds by notification (s.2(26), third proviso). The Schedule has fifty entries, (i) to (l), covering railways, factories, mines, shipping and ports, construction, power and telegraph lines, plantations, warehouses, hazardous work and more. Entry (l) also brings in any employee of an establishment to which the Employees' Compensation Act, 1923 applied in any State immediately before the Code began. Section 74(3) uses the Schedule for occupational diseases after six months' continuous service. The appropriate Government can only add to it (s.152(2)).
Why it matters
Chapter VII applies to employers and employees to whom Chapter IV (ESI) does not apply (First Schedule). Within that space, this list decides which workers can claim employee's compensation. Employers who run construction, warehousing, plantation or hazardous operations should check whether their roles fit an entry and insure or budget accordingly. Our labour law compliance service can help you map roles to entries and check your compensation exposure. Compensation itself is covered in sections 73 to 75.
Where the Schedule is used
| Provision | Use of the Second Schedule |
|---|---|
| s.2(26), third proviso | For Chapter VII, "employee" means persons in the Schedule and others added by notification |
| s.74(3) | If an employee in an employment in the Schedule contracts a Third Schedule disease peculiar to that employment after not less than six months' continuous service with the employer, it is deemed an injury by accident and, unless the contrary is proved, deemed to arise out of and in the course of employment |
| s.74(5) | The Central or State Government, after at least three months' notice, may modify or add employments to the Schedule (and diseases to the Third Schedule) |
| s.132 | Mentioned in the heading of the Schedule; s.132 itself applies the Income-tax Act's Second and Third Schedules to recovery (a different Schedule) |
| s.152(2) | The appropriate Government may amend the Schedule by addition only |
What the fifty entries cover
The Schedule reads: "any person who is" employed in the listed work. The entries group as follows (numbers in brackets are the entry numbers in the Schedule):
| Area | Examples |
|---|---|
| Railways and transport | Lift or vehicle operation on railways (i); persons employed upon a railway through a contractor (xii); railway mail service, signallers and outdoor work in the Posts and Telegraphs Department (xiii); ferry boats carrying more than ten persons (xvii); loading or unloading mechanically propelled vehicles (xxxvii) |
| Factories and manufacturing | Premises where a manufacturing process is carried on with steam, water or other mechanical or electrical power (ii); making, altering, repairing or finishing articles (iii); explosives (iv) |
| Mines and oil | Mining operations and work below ground (v); natural petroleum or gas (xiv); blasting (xv); excavations using explosives or deeper than twelve feet (xvi) |
| Ships and ports | Masters and seamen of powered ships and sea-going ships (vi); port and dock work (vii); sea fishing (xxxiv) |
| Construction | Buildings more than one storey or twelve feet to the roof apex, dams or embankments of twelve feet or more, roads, bridges, tunnels, canals, marine work (viii); aerial ropeways, pipelines, sewers (x); tube-wells and wells (xxx, xliii) |
| Power and telecom | Telegraph, telephone and overhead electric lines (ix); generation, transmission and distribution of electricity or supply of gas (xix); electric fittings in buildings (xxxi) |
| Plantations and agriculture | Estates growing cardamom, cinchona, coffee, rubber or tea (xviii); mechanised farming, harvesting and threshing (xxix, xlv); pesticide spraying (xliv); cultivation, livestock, forest operations or fishing (xli) |
| Hazardous and special work | Fire brigade (xi); lighthouse (xx); cinematograph production (xxi); radium, X-ray and radioactive substances (xxvii); diving (xxv); handling snakes or poisonous animals (xxxv); cleaning sewers or septic tanks within a local authority's limits (xxxviii) |
| Other | Warehouses and markets (xxvi); circus (xxxii); watchmen in a factory or establishment (xxxiii); newspaper establishments for outdoor work (xlviii); sales promotion employees (xlix); artists drawing on advertisement boards at 3.66 metres or more (xlvii) |
| Residual | Any other employee or class of employees in an establishment or class to which the Employees' Compensation Act, 1923 applied in any State immediately before the Code began (l) |
The entries carry detailed qualifiers (for example, the manufacturing entry requires that steam, water or other mechanical or electrical power is used; the construction entry sets height tests). Read the entry text before concluding that a role is covered.
Three features to note
- The list is of employment, not of job titles. A person is covered if employed in the described work.
- Entry (l) preserves earlier coverage. Employees of establishments that were covered by the 1923 Act in any State just before the Code are brought in, so earlier coverage is not lost.
- Central and State additions. The Government can add employments, with the diseases peculiar to them, after at least three months' notice (s.74(5)). The State can add for its own territory.
Central Rules, 2026
Rule 63 of the Central Rules, 2026 requires every employer, at the time of employment, to inform the employee in writing and by electronic means of his right to compensation under the Code, in English, Hindi or the official language of the area that the employee knows. Where the State Government is the appropriate Government, the State's own rules apply.
A worked example
A contractor engaged to build a four-storey office building employs a mason. The work is "construction of any building designed to be more than one storey in height", entry (viii)(a), so the mason is an employee for Chapter VII, provided Chapter IV does not cover the contractor. A sales promotion employee of a consumer goods company falls under entry (xlix). An office clerk in a small firm with no listed activity is not in the Schedule, unless entry (l) applies because the firm's establishment was covered by the 1923 Act before the Code or the Government has added the employment. (Illustrative.)
Need help mapping employees to the Schedule?
Coverage turns on the exact wording of each entry and on whether ESI applies. Our labour law compliance team can help you review each role against the Second Schedule and the First Schedule and plan compensation cover and notices.
Key takeaways
- For Chapter VII, "employee" = persons in the Second Schedule plus notified additions.
- There are 50 entries, ending with a residual for establishments covered by the 1923 Act before the Code.
- Occupational disease after six months' continuous service in a listed employment is treated as an accident (s.74(3)).
- The appropriate Government can only add to the Schedule, with three months' notice under s.74(5).
- Rule 63: employers must tell employees in writing about their right to compensation.
Read next
- Third Schedule: Occupational diseases
- First Schedule: Applicability of chapters
- Section 76: Amount of compensation
- ESI benefits: medical, sickness, maternity and disability
Disclaimer: Based on the Code on Social Security, 2020 (as enacted) and, where noted, the Code on Social Security (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 344(E), 8 May 2026), as on 30 September 2026. The Code is in force from 21 November 2025; some provisions may be notified later, and State Governments make their own rules for establishments where the State is the appropriate Government. Verify the current position before acting.