The Industrial Relations Code, 2020

On September 22, 2020, Parliament passed the Industrial Relations Code; the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code; and the Code on Social Security. The three were made Acts on September 28. These, along with the Code on Wages, 2019, aim to combine India’s 29 labour laws into four codes.The first Code mentioned here – the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 – seeks to consolidate and amend the laws relating to trade unions, conditions of employment in an industrial establishment or undertaking, investigation and settlement of industrial disputes, and connected matters.The 56-page Code contains 14 chapters: Preliminary (Chapter I); Bi-partite Forums (Chapter II); Trade Unions (Chapter III); Standing Orders (Chapter IV); Notice of change (Chapter V); Voluntary reference of disputes to arbitration (Chapter VI); Mechanism for resolution of industrial disputes (Chapter VII); Strikes and lock-outs (Chapter VIII); Lay-off, Retrenchment and Closure (Chapter IX); Special provisions relating to lay-off, retrenchment and closure in certain establishments (Chapter X); Worker re-skilling fund (Chapter XI); Unfair labour practices (Chapter XII); Offences and penalties (Chapter XIII); and Miscellaneous (Chapter XIV).