eCourtsIndia
IndiaCode Laws
Act35
Enacted 2020

The Industrial Relations Code, 2020

In force 104 sections Labour and Employment

An Act to consolidate and amend the laws relating to Trade Unions, conditions of employment in industrial establishment or undertaking, investigation and settlement of industrial disputes and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

Act 35 of 2020 Enacted 28 Sep 2020

Administered by. Ministry of Labour and Employment · Other Acts of 2020

Preamble

THE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS CODE, 2020

ACT NO. 35 OF 2020

[28th September, 2020.]

An Act to consolidate and amend the laws relating to Trade Unions, conditions of employment in industrial establishment or undertaking, investigation and settlement of industrial disputes and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

BE it enacted by Parliament in the Seventy-first Year of the Republic of India as follows:---

What this Act covers

Summary of The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (Act No. 37 of 2020) – Brief Summary

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code, 2020 consolidates and amends laws relating to the occupational safety, health, and working conditions of employees in India. It replaces 13 Central labour laws, including the Factories Act, 1948, the Mines Act, 1952, and the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970, creating a unified framework for workplace safety and labour welfare. The Code was enacted on 28 September 2020 and came into force on 21 November 2025.

Objectives

• To consolidate 13 labour laws into a single comprehensive code.

• To ensure safe, healthy, and humane working conditions for employees.

• To simplify labour law compliance and promote ease of doing business.

• To improve welfare and protection of workers across different sectors.

Key Provisions

• Introduces single registration for eligible establishments and common licensing for contractors, including all-India licences in specified cases.

• Specifies the duties of employers to provide a safe working environment, health measures, welfare facilities, and necessary protective equipment.

• Provides for working hours, annual leave with wages, welfare facilities, and occupational safety standards.

• Covers provisions relating to contract labour, inter-State migrant workers, mines, factories, plantations, construction workers, beedi and cigar workers, and audio-visual workers.

• Allows employment of women in all establishments, including night shifts, subject to prescribed conditions relating to safety, consent, and welfare.

• Empowers Inspector-cum-Facilitators to conduct inspections and assist establishments in ensuring compliance.

• Prescribes penalties for violations of safety, health, and welfare requirements.

Significance

• Replaces multiple overlapping labour laws with a single, simplified legal framework.

• Strengthens workplace health, safety, and welfare standards across industries.

• Reduces regulatory complexity through streamlined registration, licensing, and compliance procedures.

• Balances worker protection with improved ease of doing business, contributing to a more efficient and transparent labour regulatory system

Sections

Type to filter. 104 sections.

  1. 1Short title, extent and commencement
  2. 2Definitions
  3. 3Works Committee
  4. 4Grievance Redressal Committee
  5. 5Registrar of Trade Unions
  6. 6Criteria for registration
  7. 7Provisions to be contained in constitution or rules of Trade Union
  8. 8Application for registration, alteration of name and procedure thereof
  9. 9Registration of Trade Union and cancellation thereof
  10. 10Appeal against non-registration or cancellation of registration
  11. 11Communication to Trade Union and change in its registration particulars
  12. 12Incorporation of a registered Trade Union
  13. 13Certain Acts not to apply to registered Trade Unions
  14. 14Recognition of negotiating union or negotiating council
  15. 15Objects of general fund, composition of separate fund and membership fee of Trade Union
  16. 16Immunity from civil suit in certain cases
  17. 17Criminal conspiracy in furtherance of objects of Trade Union
  18. 18Enforceability of agreements
  19. 19Right to inspect books of Trade Union
  20. 20Rights of minor to membership of Trade Union
  21. 21Disqualification of office-bearers of Trade Unions
  22. 22Adjudication of disputes of Trade Unions
  23. 23Proportion of office-bearers to be connected with industry
  24. 24Change of name, amalgamation, notice of change and its effect
  25. 25Dissolution
  26. 26Annual returns
  27. 27Recognition of Trade Unions at Central and State level
  28. 28Application of this Chapter
  29. 29Making of model standing orders by Central Government and temporary application
  30. 30Preparation of draft standing orders by employer and procedure for certification
  31. 31Certifying officers and appellate authority to have powers of civil court
  32. 32Appeals
  33. 33Date of operation of standing orders and its availability
  34. 34Register of standing orders
  35. 35Duration and modification of standing orders
  36. 36Oral evidence in contradiction of standing orders not admissible
  37. 37Interpretation, etc., of standing orders
  38. 38Time limit for completing disciplinary proceedings and liability to pay subsistence allowance
  39. 39Power to exempt
  40. 40Notice of change
  41. 41Power of appropriate Government to exempt
  42. 42Voluntary reference of disputes to arbitration
  43. 43Conciliation officers
  44. 44Industrial Tribunal
  45. 45Finality of constitution of Tribunal
  46. 46National Industrial Tribunal
  47. 47Decision of Tribunal or National Industrial Tribunal
  48. 48Disqualifications for members of Tribunal and National Industrial Tribunal
  49. 49Procedure and powers of arbitrator, conciliation officer, Tribunal and National Industrial Tribunal
  50. 50Powers of Tribunal and National Industrial Tribunal to give appropriate relief in case of discharge or dismissal of worker
  51. 51Transfer of pending cases
  52. 52Adjustment of services of presiding officers under repealed Act
  53. 53Conciliation and adjudication of dispute
  54. 54Reference to and functions of National Industrial Tribunal
  55. 55Form of award, its communication and commencement
  56. 56Payment of full wages to worker pending proceedings in higher Courts
  57. 57Persons on whom settlements and awards are binding
  58. 58Period of operation of settlements and awards
  59. 59Recovery of money due from employer
  60. 60Commencement and conclusion of proceedings
  61. 61Certain matters to be kept confidential
  62. 62Prohibition of strikes and lock-outs
  63. 63Illegal strikes and lock-outs
  64. 64Prohibition of financial aid to illegal strikes or lock-outs
  65. 65Application of sections 67 to 69
  66. 66Definition of continuous service
  67. 67Rights of workers laid-off for compensation, etc
  68. 68Duty of an employer to maintain muster rolls of workers
  69. 69Workers not entitled for compensation in certain cases
  70. 70Conditions precedent to retrenchment of workers
  71. 71Procedure for retrenchment
  72. 72Re-employment of retrenched worker
  73. 73Compensation to workers in case of transfer of establishment
  74. 74Sixty days’ notice to be given of intention to close down any undertaking
  75. 75Compensation to workers in case of closing down of undertakings
  76. 76Effect of laws inconsistent with this Chapter
  77. 77Application of this Chapter
  78. 78Prohibition of lay-off
  79. 79Conditions precedent to retrenchment of workers to which Chapter X applies
  80. 80Procedure for closing down an industrial establishment
  81. 81Duty of an employer to maintain muster rolls of workers
  82. 82Certain provisions of Chapter IX to apply to industrial establishment to which this Chapter applies
  83. 83Worker re-skilling fund
  84. 84Prohibition of unfair labour practice
  85. 85Power of officers of appropriate Government to impose penalty in certain cases
  86. 86Penalties
  87. 87Cognizance of offences
  88. 88Offences by companies
  89. 89Composition of offences
  90. 90Conditions of service, etc., to remain unchanged under certain circumstances during pendency of proceedings
  91. 91Special provision for adjudication as to whether conditions of service, etc., changed during pendency of proceedings
  92. 92Power to transfer certain proceedings
  93. 93Protection of persons
  94. 94Representation of parties
  95. 95Removal of doubts in interpretation of award or settlement
  96. 96Power to exempt
  97. 97Jurisdiction of civil courts barred
  98. 98Protection of action taken in good faith
  99. 99Power of appropriate Government to make rules
  100. 100Delegation of powers
  101. 101Power to amend Schedules
  102. 102Amendment of Act 7 of 2017
  103. 103Power to remove difficulties
  104. 104Repeal and savings

Schedules

This Act has 3 schedules. A schedule is published as a document of its own; the text is reproduced on its page where it has been read, and the document is mirrored here either way.

Related Acts

Source and method. Compiled from the enactments of Parliament and of the State legislatures as published on India Code, and republished together with commentary and other original matter under section 52(1)(q)(ii) of the Copyright Act, 1957. Structured, cross-referenced and maintained by eCourtsIndia. Every one of the 104 sections of this Act has its own page. This page is not a substitute for legal advice.