The First Schedule · Industrial Relations Code

Matters for Standing Orders

The First Schedule lists the 11 matters that standing orders must provide for: how workers are classified, how hours, holidays, pay-days and wage rates are made known, shift working, attendance and late coming, leave, gate entry and search, closures and temporary stoppages, termination and its notice, misconduct, means of redress against unfair treatment, and any other matter the appropriate Government notifies. The Code defines standing orders as orders on these matters (section 2(zj), named at its head), and section 30, also named at its head, makes covering every matter that applies to the establishment a condition of certification. Since the standing orders chapter applies to industrial establishments with 300 or more workers (section 28), this is the checklist for those establishments' service rules.

1 section ~1 min read Official text, PDF p. 52

HR managersFactory ownersIndustrial relations managersTrade union office-bearers

Key points

1Standing orders must provide for classification of workers, whether permanent, temporary, apprentices, probationers, badlis or fixed term employment. §schedule
2They must say how workers are told their periods and hours of work, holidays, pay-days and wage rates, and must cover shift working, attendance and late coming. §schedule
3Leave and holidays must be covered: the conditions, the procedure for applying, and the authority who may grant them. §schedule
4Discipline sits here too: the acts or omissions that count as misconduct, and suspension or dismissal for it. §schedule
5Termination must be covered, including the notice the employer gives and the notice workers give. §schedule
6The list is not closed: the appropriate Government can add matters by notification (item 11), and section 101(1), named at the head, lets the Central Government amend the Schedule by notification. §schedule

At a glance

11Matters listed for standing orders (the 11th is any matter the appropriate Government notifies)Section schedule

Earlier law:Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946

THE FIRST SCHEDULE — MATTERS TO BE PROVIDED IN STANDING ORDERS UNDER THIS CODE

In plain words

This schedule lists the 11 matters standing orders must provide for, so far as they apply to the establishment: classification of workers, intimation of hours, holidays, pay-days and wage rates, shift working, attendance and late coming, leave and holidays, gate entry and search, closures and temporary stoppages, termination and its notice, suspension or dismissal for misconduct, redress against unfair treatment or wrongful exactions, and any other matter the appropriate Government notifies.

[See sections 2 (zj), 30 (1), (6) and 101 (1)]

MATTERS TO BE PROVIDED IN STANDING ORDERS UNDER THIS CODE

Classification of workers, whether permanent, temporary, apprentices, probationers, badlis or fixed term employment.

Manner of intimating to workers periods and hours of work, holidays, pay-days and wage rates.

Shift working.

Attendance and late coming.

Conditions of, procedure in applying for, and the authority which may grant leave and holidays.

Requirement to enter premises by certain gates, and liability to search.

Closing and reporting of sections of the industrial establishment, temporary stoppages of work and the rights and liabilities of the employer and workers arising therefrom.

Termination of employment, and the notice thereof to be given by employer and workers.

Suspension or dismissal for misconduct, and acts or omissions which constitute misconduct.

10.

Means of redress for workers against unfair treatment or wrongful exactions by the employer or his agents or servants.

11.

Any other matter which may be specified by the appropriate Government by notification.

Source: The Industrial Relations Code, 2020, official gazette copy, page 52

In plain words

For employers

Reading draft or existing standing orders against these 11 items, and against any matter added by government notification, shows quickly whether every applicable matter has been provided for, which section 30(6), named at the head, makes a condition of certification.

Did you know?

Requiring workers to enter the premises by certain gates, and their liability to be searched, is a standing-order matter, so gate and search rules belong in the certified standing orders.

Did you know?

The redress item covers unfair treatment or wrongful exactions not only by the employer but also by "his agents or servants".

Did you know?

When sections of the establishment close or work stops temporarily, the standing orders must set out the rights and liabilities of both the employer and the workers that arise from it.

What does this mean for your company?

We will tell you, in one call.

Ask on WhatsApp Send an enquiry