Employee health checkups are no longer just a nice-to-have benefit. With India’s new labour codes, preventive healthcare at the workplace is becoming a serious compliance and business priority. In this blog, we explain what the labour codes say about health checkups, whether they are mandatory, what types of health checkups HR teams can offer, how health checkup at home works, and how companies can build a compliant, scalable program with Pazcare.
In recent years, health authorities such as the National Institutes of Health have highlighted a steady rise in lifestyle-related conditions like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, often linked to sedentary work routines, poor dietary habits, and increasing stress levels (Source). Today’s corporate workforce is dealing with chronic stress, heart health concerns, posture-related problems, early-onset diabetes, and burnout. The real challenge is that most of these conditions develop quietly and only become visible when they are already serious and harder to manage.
For employers, this is a business issue. Poor employee health shows up in the form of higher absenteeism, lower productivity, rising insurance claims, and increasing long-term healthcare costs. This is why the focus is shifting from reactive treatment to preventive care. A preventive health checkup helps identify risks early, long before they turn into expensive or disruptive medical problems, allowing employees to take timely action and companies to avoid unexpected downtime and costs. As a result, preventive health checkup packages are no longer seen as optional perks. They are becoming a core part of a responsible and future-ready employee benefits strategy.
This shift has become even more important after the introduction of the new labour codes. Employee health and safety is an internal policy decision and a legal responsibility. Employers are now expected to take a more structured and documented approach to employee wellbeing, including periodic medical examinations for certain categories of workers. Together, rising health risks and tighter regulations are pushing companies to rethink their health checkup programs not just from a benefits perspective, but from a compliance, risk management, and long-term workforce sustainability point of view.
India has introduced four consolidated labour codes to simplify, modernize, and unify the country’s employment laws. From an employee health perspective, the most important of these is the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, which places a much stronger emphasis on workplace safety, medical fitness, and preventive care.
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Under this code, the government has the authority to mandate medical examinations for certain categories of employees. This includes periodic health checkups, pre-employment and ongoing fitness assessments for high-risk roles, and employer-funded medical examinations for defined groups of workers. In simple terms, health checkups are no longer just a voluntary benefit in many cases, they are becoming a compliance requirement.
These rules are especially relevant for industries where employees are exposed to physical, chemical, or environmental risks. This includes factories and manufacturing units, construction and infrastructure projects, mining and chemical industries, and any role that involves hazardous processes, machinery, or materials. In such environments, periodic medical checkups are critical not just for compliance, but for preventing serious workplace incidents and long-term health damage.
The legal intent behind these provisions is clear: shift from a reactive approach to a preventive one. Instead of responding only after accidents, illnesses, or health complications occur, the labour codes aim to catch risks early, protect workers proactively, and reduce long-term operational and legal risk for employers. For companies, this means employee health checkups are now part of a broader responsibility toward safety, compliance, and sustainable workforce management.
Health checkups are not legally mandatory for every employee across all roles and age groups. However, the law does place clear responsibilities on employers for specific categories of workers. Employers are required to provide free medical examinations for certain employees, particularly those in hazardous or high-risk roles, where periodic health monitoring is essential for workplace safety. In addition, employees above a defined age threshold (commonly 40 years and above) are covered under preventive health checkup provisions aimed at early detection of lifestyle and age-related health conditions.
For employees who do not fall into these categories, health checkups may not be strictly mandatory under the labour codes. That said, they are strongly recommended as a best practice. From a practical standpoint, many organizations are now including health checkups as part of routine compliance, audit preparedness, and risk management. As regulatory scrutiny around employee wellbeing increases, offering structured health checkup programs is quickly becoming an expectation rather than an exception.
When designing an employee health program, HR teams have several options depending on workforce needs, risk profiles, and budgets. The most effective approach is to combine a strong baseline checkup with smarter, role-based customization.
A full body health checkup is the most common foundation of corporate health programs. It provides a broad overview of an employee’s health and helps detect early signs of common lifestyle and chronic conditions. These checkups typically include blood tests, heart health screening, liver and kidney function tests, basic imaging, and a doctor consultation. For most organizations, this serves as the starting point for building a structured and preventive healthcare approach.
For most employees, an annual health checkup is sufficient to track health trends and catch issues early. However, bi-annual checkups make sense for senior leadership, employees in high-stress roles, or individuals with higher health risks. More frequent screening in these groups helps identify problems sooner and reduces the chances of sudden medical emergencies or long periods of absence.
Progressive HR teams avoid a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, they customize health checkup packages based on age groups, job roles, risk exposure, and existing health patterns within the organization. This makes preventive health checkup packages not only more effective for employees, but also more cost-efficient for the company by focusing resources where they are needed most.
Yes, health checkup at home is widely accepted under most employer policies and is increasingly being adopted by companies with remote and hybrid teams. As long as the tests are conducted by certified labs or authorized medical partners, reports are properly documented, and employee data privacy is strictly maintained, home-based health checkups are considered fully valid for corporate health programs.
Home health checkups make preventive care far more accessible. They significantly increase participation by removing location and travel barriers, making them ideal for distributed teams spread across cities or even countries. For employees, this means less disruption to work schedules and a much smoother experience. For HR teams, it means higher utilization of health benefits and better overall program effectiveness.
From a compliance perspective, HR teams must ensure that the service provider is certified, all medical records are properly maintained, and health reports are stored securely in line with data protection requirements. As long as these checks are in place, health checkups at home can be confidently included as part of a compliant and scalable employee health strategy.
Want to launch a compliant, easy-to-manage employee health checkup program? Talk to Pazcare and set it up in days, not months.
Marketing Analyst
A preventive health checkup is a medical screening done to detect health risks early, before symptoms appear.
They are mandatory for certain age groups and for employees working in hazardous or high-risk roles.
It typically includes blood tests, heart screening, organ function tests, and a doctor consultation.
Yes, as long as it is done by certified labs and properly documented.
Most companies offer them annually, while high-risk roles or senior employees may benefit from bi-annual checkups.
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