The strike and lock-out notice timeline under Section 62
Section 62 stacks several timing gates on top of one another. A notice starts the clock, a fixed wait follows, and the action is only lawful if it lands inside the notice window and stays clear of the conciliation, tribunal, arbitration and award freezes. The conciliation window is marked as the core cooling-off period.
| Point on the timeline | Rule in Section 62 | Effect on a strike or lock-out |
|---|---|---|
| Notice served | The notice of strike or lock-out must be given within sixty days before the intended action | Sets the sixty-day window inside which the action must fall |
| Report to authorities | Within five days of the notice, the employer reports the number of notices to the appropriate Government or the prescribed authority and to the conciliation officer | Puts the conciliation officer on notice of the dispute |
| Fourteen-day wait | No strike or lock-out within fourteen days of giving the notice | A compulsory cooling period |
| Named date | No action before the date of strike or lock-out specified in the notice | The action cannot start early |
| Conciliation window (marked) | No action while conciliation before a conciliation officer is pending, and for seven days after it concludes | The core conciliation freeze |
| Tribunal or National Industrial Tribunal | No action while proceedings are pending, and for sixty days after they conclude | Extended freeze during adjudication |
| Arbitration | No action while proceedings are pending, and for sixty days after they conclude, where the required arbitration notification has been issued | Extended freeze during arbitration |
| Settlement or award in force | No action on matters covered by a settlement or award while it is in operation | Subject-matter freeze |
Timeline built from Section 62 of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020. The day-counts (sixty, fourteen, seven, sixty, five) are the statutory figures. No calendar dates are used in this table.
The rule in plain words
Section 62 puts the same brakes on two very different actions: employees in an industrial establishment going on strike in breach of contract, and an employer locking out its own workers. Neither can be done on impulse. A notice has to come first, a fixed wait has to pass, and even then the action is lawful only if it falls inside a defined window and stays clear of several protected periods.
In practice the section works like a sequence of gates. Miss any one of them and the strike or lock-out is out of step with the law.
- Notice first: the notice of strike or lock-out must be given within sixty days before the intended action.
- A wait: no strike or lock-out within fourteen days of giving that notice.
- The named date: no action before the date of strike or lock-out specified in the notice.
- Conciliation freeze: no action while conciliation before a conciliation officer is pending, and for seven days after it concludes.
- Adjudication freeze: no action while a case before a Tribunal or a National Industrial Tribunal is pending, and for sixty days after it concludes.
- Arbitration freeze: no action while arbitration is pending, and for sixty days after it concludes, where the required arbitration notification has been issued.
- Settlement or award: no action on matters covered by a settlement or award while that settlement or award is in operation.
A worked example: reading the clock
The day-counts are statutory; the calendar dates below are assumed only to show how the clock runs. Suppose a union serves a strike notice on an illustrative 1 March and names 20 March as the strike date.
- Fourteen-day wait: measured from 1 March, so on that ground alone the strike could not begin until after 14 March (illustrative).
- Named date: the notice names 20 March, and the action cannot start before the named date, so 20 March governs, being later than the fourteen-day point.
- Five-day report: the employer must report the number of notices to the appropriate Government or the prescribed authority and to the conciliation officer within five days, that is by an illustrative 6 March.
- Conciliation freeze: if the conciliation officer opens proceedings on an illustrative 10 March and concludes them on 25 March, the strike is barred throughout and for seven days after, so not before 2 April (25 March plus seven days, illustrative).
- Sixty-day window: because the notice must sit within sixty days before the action, a strike delayed well past the notice would call for a fresh notice.
Exceptions and fine print
- Action already under way: if a strike or lock-out is already in existence, no fresh notice is needed, but the employer must send intimation of it, on the day it is declared, to the authority the appropriate Government has specified for that area or class of service.
- Breach of contract framing: the strike bar in sub-section (1) is expressed as a bar on going on strike in breach of contract.
- Left to the rules: how many persons must give the strike notice, to whom it goes, and the manner of both the strike notice and the lock-out notice are set by the rules, not fixed in the section itself.
- Consequences: whether a non-compliant strike or lock-out is treated as illegal, and any penalty, are dealt with by provisions outside the text this page relies on, so no such figure is stated here.
What an employer must do
- Give any lock-out notice within sixty days before the intended lock-out, in the manner the rules prescribe.
- Respect the fourteen-day wait, the named date, and every freeze period: conciliation and seven days after, tribunal and sixty days after, arbitration and sixty days after, and any live settlement or award.
- Report within five days: on any day the employer receives a strike notice or gives a lock-out notice, report the number of such notices to the appropriate Government or the prescribed authority and to the conciliation officer.
- If a strike or lock-out is already on, send same-day intimation to the authority the appropriate Government has specified.
What a worker can do
- See that the strike notice is given within the sixty-day window, by the number of persons and in the manner the rules require.
- Do not begin the strike inside the fourteen days, before the named date, or during any protected period.
- Follow any conciliation closely: the strike stays barred while it is pending and for seven days after it ends.
- Check for a live settlement or award: a strike on matters it covers is barred while it is in operation.
Strike and lock-out: a mirror image
Section 62 is built symmetrically. Sub-section (1) governs employees who strike; sub-section (2) governs an employer who locks workers out. The gates read almost identically on both sides, so each faces the same notice, the same fourteen-day wait, and the same conciliation, tribunal, arbitration and award freezes. The clearest difference is administrative: the five-day reporting duty falls on the employer, whether the employer has received a strike notice or has given a lock-out notice.
Who the notice and report reach
The notice and the report point at two recipients: the appropriate Government and the conciliation officer. Under the Code's definitions, the appropriate Government is the Central Government for establishments such as railways, mines, major ports, banking and insurance, telecommunication and central public sector undertakings, and the State Government for most other establishments. The five-day report is what brings the dispute to the conciliation officer promptly, which is why a conciliation freeze can follow soon after a notice. Where a strike or lock-out is already running, intimation instead goes to whatever authority the appropriate Government has specified for that area or class of service.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the notice period for a strike or lock-out?
The notice must be given within sixty days before the intended action, and the strike or lock-out cannot begin within fourteen days of giving that notice. It also cannot start before the date named in the notice.
Can a strike go ahead while conciliation is happening?
No. Section 62 bars a strike or lock-out while conciliation before a conciliation officer is pending, and for seven days after those proceedings conclude.
Is a fresh notice needed if a strike or lock-out is already going on?
No. Where a strike or lock-out already exists, no notice is required, but the employer must send intimation of it, on the day it is declared, to the authority the appropriate Government has specified.
Who must report the notices, and how soon?
The employer. On any day the employer receives a strike notice or gives a lock-out notice, it must report the number of such notices within five days to the appropriate Government or the prescribed authority and to the conciliation officer.
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