The Industrial Relations Code, 2020

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

Legislative History:

The Industrial Relations Code, 2020

● Act Title - The Industrial Relations Code, 2020

● Act Number / Year - 35 of 2020

● Act ID (India Code) - 202035

● Assent Date - September 28, 2020

● Enforcement Date - November 21, 2025

● Nodal Ministry - Ministry of Labour and Employment

Precedent & Historical Rationale

● Fragmentation and Rigidity of Existing Labour Statutes - Prior to 2020, industrial dispute resolution, trade union governance, and terms of employment were scattered across three separate enactments: The Trade Unions Act, 1926, The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, and The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. These legacy laws created overlapping definitions of "workman" and "industry", lacked clear mechanisms for statutory recognition of negotiating trade unions, and imposed rigid hiring, firing, and closure permissions that hindered enterprise flexibility while complicating compliance.

● Recommendations of the Second National Commission on Labour (2002) - In accordance with the commission's mandate to streamline labour administration, the Code was formulated to consolidate, rationalize, and modernize the legal framework governing collective bargaining and industrial disputes. It introduced statutory recognition for Sole Negotiating Unions, set a uniform 300-worker threshold for mandatory standing orders and prior government permission for retrenchment, legalized Fixed-Term Employment with full statutory parity, instituted a Worker Re-skilling Fund, and applied uniform advance notice requirements for strikes and lockouts across all industries.

Parliamentary Trajectory & Enactment

● Formulation & Standing Committee Review - Drafted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, initially introduced as The Industrial Relations Code, 2019 in the Lok Sabha on November 28, 2019, and referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour chaired by Bhartruhari Mahtab, which presented its report on April 23, 2020.

● Parliamentary Passage - Incorporating the Standing Committee's recommendations, the revised bill (The Industrial Relations Code, 2020) was introduced in the Lok Sabha on September 19, 2020, debated and passed by the Lok Sabha on September 22, 2020, and passed by the Rajya Sabha on September 23, 2020.

● President's Assent - Received the assent of the President of India (Ram Nath Kovind) on September 28, 2020, and was published in the Gazette of India on September 29, 2020.

● Enforcement - Enforced on November 21, 2025

Sources - Parliamentary Debates (Lok Sabha & Rajya Sabha), Reports of the Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Labour, The Gazette of India, India Code, and Ministry of Labour and Employment.