The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 is a central labour law, or Act, that received Presidential assent in September 2020 as part of a major reform to simplify India's labour regulatory landscape. Its origin lies in the recommendation of the Second National Commission on Labour (2002) to streamline and rationalize the fragmented laws governing industrial relations. The Code was created to solve the problem of administrative complexity and overlapping provisions by consolidating three major pre-independence statutes: the Trade Unions Act, 1926, the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
The Code works by establishing a unified framework for trade unions, conditions of employment, and dispute resolution. Key provisions include the formal introduction of fixed-term employment, ensuring such workers receive the same wages and benefits as permanent workers. It expands the definition of "worker" to include supervisory employees earning up to ₹18,000 per month. For collective bargaining, it mandates the recognition of a Negotiating Union with the support of at least 51% of the workers. Furthermore, it raises the threshold for mandatory certification of standing orders to industrial establishments with at least 300 workers. The Code also requires a mandatory 60-day notice before any strike or lockout in all industries.
The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 connects to the three other new Labour Codes: the Code on Wages, 2019, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, and the Social Security Code, 2020. It has recently been subject to clarification, as the Industrial Relations Code (Amendment) Bill, 2026 was passed to ensure legal certainty regarding the repeal of the earlier acts under Section 104 of the Code. Additionally, a recent Supreme Court ruling held that the old, expansive interpretation of the term 'industry' from the repealed Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 will not automatically apply to the Code.