For years the appointment letter was a matter of practice: some employers issued one, some issued an offer letter and nothing else, some issued nothing. Since 21 November 2025 it is a statutory duty, and in Karnataka it has been one since 1998. If you do not have one, you are not asking a favour when you ask for it.
The duty under the safety Code
The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 sets out the duties of an employer, and among them is the duty to issue a letter of appointment to every employee on his appointment in the establishment, with such information and in such form as may be prescribed by the appropriate Government. The same clause deals with people already on the rolls: where an employee has not been issued such an appointment letter on or before the commencement of the Code, he shall be issued one within three months of that commencement. Since the Code commenced on 21 November 2025, that window for existing employees closed in February 2026.
Two features of the drafting matter. It says every employee, not every worker, so it is not limited by the managerial or supervisory exclusions that narrow other parts of the Code. And the form and contents are prescribed, so the fields your letter must carry are set out in the rules rather than left to the employer's taste. Ask for the letter in the prescribed form, not merely for a letter.
The Karnataka Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1961 was not repealed by the codes. It requires every employer employing any person in or in connection with the establishment to issue an appointment order in writing indicating the name, designation and wage scale of that person and the terms and conditions of his employment, and to serve it on him within thirty days from the date of appointment. For employees who were already in service when that requirement was introduced, the employer had to communicate the same particulars in writing within thirty days of its commencement. Note the content: name, designation, wage scale, and terms and conditions. A one line confirmation of joining does not satisfy it. Note also the limit: the Act does not apply to persons occupying positions of management.
Why this matters more than it looks
- Status. Whether you are a worker or a person employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity decides which remedies are open to you, and the letter is usually the first document a forum reads on that question. Our note on whether you count as a worker under the Industrial Relations Code sets out what actually decides it, and why a designation alone does not.
- Wages and service. The wage structure recorded in the letter is what the fifty per cent test in the codes' definition of wages applies to, and it drives the provident fund base, gratuity and notice pay. The date of appointment on it is the date every qualifying period runs from.
- Notice and exit. The notice period, the recovery clauses and the disciplinary procedure all come from the letter and the policies it incorporates. Our guide on what an Indian employment agreement should contain sets out what those clauses must say to be worth anything.
- Classification disputes. Where a person is put on a consultancy or retainer paper while working as an employee, the absence of an appointment letter is not neutral: it is now the absence of a document the employer was obliged by statute to issue.
If you do not have one
- Ask in writing. One email to HR asking for the letter of appointment in the prescribed form, and, if the employer is a shop or commercial establishment in Karnataka, for the appointment order with the name, designation, wage scale and terms and conditions. Keep the delivery record.
- Escalate to the inspecting officer. This is a compliance obligation, and the codes are administered by Inspector-cum-Facilitators appointed by the appropriate Government. A written complaint costs nothing and is frequently enough on its own.
- Assemble the substitutes in the meantime. The offer letter, joining and induction emails, payslips, bank credits, the provident fund passbook showing the employer's name, Form 16, the access card, appraisals and the organisation chart. Together these establish the relationship, the date and the pay, which is what the letter would have proved.
- Do not accept a backdated document that misstates your terms. A letter produced late that records a lower wage, a different designation or a later joining date is worse than no letter, and it is the document you will be arguing against later.
What the letter should carry
- Your name, the employer's legal name, and the establishment where you are posted
- Designation and a description of the role, since designation alone decides nothing
- Date of appointment and, for a fixed term engagement, the start and end dates on the face of the contract
- Wage scale and the full break up of the salary structure
- Notice period on each side, and any recovery or set-off clause
- The disciplinary procedure or the policy that contains it
- The statutory benefits you are enrolled in, with the relevant identification numbers
Refusal is itself evidence. An employer that will not put your designation, wage scale and date of appointment in writing is usually keeping one of those three flexible for a reason, and knowing which one tells you where the risk sits. For why the older material on this obligation cites statutes that no longer exist, see our overview of what the four labour codes changed for employees.