Model Standing Orders: Who Must Adopt Them

Sector applicability and the adoption-to-certification steps in order

The table sets out the adoption and certification path in the exact order the Code lays it down, with the timing the Code attaches to each stage. Which certifying authority runs that path is not the same for everyone: it turns on your sector, because your sector decides your appropriate Government, which the section below covers. The table uses no assumed numbers, and the worker-count size that makes this Chapter apply to an establishment is not stated in the source text.

Stages and timings are drawn from Section 30 of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020. No assumed or illustrative values appear in this table. The worker-count size at which this Chapter applies to an establishment is not stated in the source text.

The rule in plain words

Standing orders are the written rules of employment an industrial establishment runs on. The Code gives every covered employer a duty to have them, and two routes to reach that point. The first route is to adopt the model standing orders the Central Government makes. The second is to prepare your own rules and have a certifying officer certify them.

If you draft your own, the draft must be built on those model standing orders and must provide for every matter in the First Schedule that applies to your establishment. You may add any other matter you consider necessary for your kind of activity, as long as nothing you add is inconsistent with the Code. The Code sets a six month window from the date it commenced for preparing and forwarding that draft.

Before the draft goes in, you must consult the Trade Unions, the recognised negotiating union, or the members of the negotiating council for your establishment. Only after that consultation does the draft travel to the certifying officer for certification.

Which government certifies depends on your sector

The Code does not place every establishment under the same authority. Who your appropriate Government is decides which certifying officer handles your standing orders, and that turns on your sector. The certifying officer is an officer the appropriate Government appoints by notification to perform the certifying functions under the standing orders Chapter.

One number this page cannot state: the size at which the Chapter starts to apply to an establishment. The Code refers to the date its provisions become applicable to your establishment, but the specific worker count that triggers it is set by the Code's application provision and rules and is not in the text used here. Confirm the current figure before assuming you are out of scope.

• The Central Government is the appropriate Government for establishments it runs or controls, for a controlled industry it specifies, and for railways including metro railways, mines, oil fields, major ports, air transport service, telecommunication, and a banking or insurance company.
• The Central Government also applies to a corporation or authority set up by a Central Act, to a central public sector undertaking and its subsidiaries and autonomous bodies, and to any company in which the Central Government holds not less than fifty-one per cent of the paid-up share capital.
• For a central public sector undertaking, the Central Government stays the appropriate Government even if its holding later falls below fifty per cent.
• For every other industrial establishment, including State public sector undertakings and the subsidiaries and autonomous bodies owned or controlled by a State Government, the State Government is the appropriate Government.

A worked example

Take a staffing company whose establishment is covered by the standing orders Chapter (coverage assumed for illustration). The dates below are illustrative inputs used only to show the timing mechanics; they are not statutory figures.

Draft route: on the Code commencing, the employer prepares the draft within the six month window, consults the unions, and forwards it to the certifying officer. Suppose (illustrative) the officer receives the draft on 1 March. The sixty day clock then means the officer should complete certification by about 30 April; if the officer does not, the draft is deemed certified on the expiry of that period. Within seven days of certifying, authenticated copies go to the employer and the union side.

Model route: if the employer instead simply adopts the Central Government model standing order, it is treated as certified straight away. The employer only forwards the adoption information to the certifying officer in the prescribed manner. If the officer later raises an observation, the employer amends the adopted standing order within the period the rules prescribe.

Exceptions and fine print

• Deemed certification by adoption: adopt the Central Government model and your standing order is treated as certified without the full drafting and hearing process, under Section 30(3). The trade-off is that the officer can still direct you to amend it.
• Deemed certification by delay: if the officer misses the sixty day window, the draft or the modifications are deemed certified on expiry, so on timing, silence runs in the employer's favour, under the proviso to Section 30(5).
• No union, still consulted: where there is no Trade Union, the officer seeks comments from worker representatives chosen in the prescribed manner, so the consultation step still happens, under Section 30(5).
• Existing rules continue: standing orders already in force when the relevant provisions commence carry on, so far as they are not inconsistent with the Code or its rules, under Section 30(11).
• Fairness test: the certifying officer, and the appellate authority, can judge whether the provisions are fair and reasonable, measured against the model standing orders, under Section 30(7).
• Left to the rules: the worker-count threshold, the manner of forwarding adoption information, the period to amend, the manner of choosing representatives, the particulars in the workers' statement, the conditions for a joint group draft, and the manner of authenticating copies are all to be prescribed and are not stated here.

What an employer must do

• Confirm whether the standing orders Chapter applies to your establishment; the triggering size is set by the Code's application provision and rules, so check the current threshold rather than assume.
• Decide your route: adopt the Central Government model standing orders for speed, or prepare a tailored draft covering every applicable First Schedule matter.
• If drafting, keep the draft consistent with the Code, cover all applicable First Schedule matters, and add any extra matter your activity needs.
• Consult the Trade Unions, the recognised negotiating union, or the negotiating council before you submit, under Section 30(2).
• Forward the draft, electronically or otherwise, to the certifying officer, with the required statement of particulars about your workers and their unions, under Section 30(2) and 30(9).
• Prepare and submit any modifications within six months from the date the Chapter becomes applicable to your establishment, under Section 30(4).
• Keep the authenticated certified copies the officer sends within seven days of certification, under Section 30(8).
• If you adopt the model, forward the adoption information to the certifying officer in the prescribed manner, and be ready to amend if the officer raises an observation, under Section 30(3).

What a worker can do

• Through your Trade Union, recognised negotiating union, or negotiating council, expect to be consulted on the employer's draft before it is submitted, under Section 30(2).
• Where there is no union, you may be among the worker representatives the certifying officer notifies for comments, under Section 30(5).
• Submit your comments to the certifying officer and ask for the opportunity of being heard before the standing orders are settled, under Section 30(5).
• Raise fairness or reasonableness concerns: the officer and the appellate authority weigh the provisions against the model standing orders, under Section 30(7).
• Ask your employer or union for the authenticated certified copy, which the officer sends to the union or worker representatives within seven days of certification, under Section 30(8).

Group drafts and standing orders already in force

Employers in similar establishments do not each have to go it alone. A group of them may submit a joint draft of standing orders, subject to conditions to be prescribed, and for the certification proceedings the terms employer, Trade Union, and negotiating union or council then cover all the employers and unions of those similar establishments together, under Section 30(10).

You are also not starting from zero if rules already exist. Standing orders relating to an establishment that are in force when the relevant provisions of the Code commence continue, so far as they are not inconsistent with the Code or the rules made under it, under Section 30(11).

Frequently asked questions