EMPLOYMENT LAW UPDATE
27 December, 2025
Issue No. 17/25-26
LIMITED IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS CODE
INRODUCTION:
The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (“IR Code”) is one of the four labour codes that together are intended to reform India’s central labour law framework. It was passed by Parliament and published as Act No. 35 of 2020 in the Gazette of India on 28 September 2020. The IR Code consolidates and replaces three earlier laws governing industrial relations, namely the (i) Trade Unions Act, 1926, (ii) The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946, and (iii) The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947.
Although the IR Code was enacted in 2020, it did not come into force immediately. Section 1(3) of the IR Code provides that the Code shall come into force on such date as the Central Government may notify in the Official Gazette. It also allows the Government to bring different provisions of the Code into force on different dates. Therefore, the Code becomes legally enforceable only after a formal notification is issued.
Accordingly, the Central Government issued Notification No. S.O. 5320(E) dated 21 November 2025 (“First Notification”), published in the Gazette of India. By this notification, 21 November 2025 was appointed as the date on which the provisions of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 came into force. The notification does not exclude or defer the operation of any provision of the Code. As a result, the IR Code was brought into force in its entirety from that date. This notification formed part of the Government’s broader decision to bring all four labour codes into force together.
ANALYSIS OF THE IMPLEMENATION OF THE IR CODE
While the First Notification gave the impression that the IR Code had become fully effective, a subsequent notification was issued by the Central Government, Notification No. S.O. 5683(E) dated 8 December 2025 (“Subsequent Notification”) which clarified the actual implementation position of the IR Code in greater detail.
Section 104 of the IR Code provides that the earlier enactments shall continue to remain in force until they are repealed by a notification issued in the same manner. Although the First Notification brought the IR Code into force, it did not expressly repeal the earlier enactments, as contemplated under Section 104. Section 104 allows the Central Government, while issuing a commencement notification under Section 1(3), to clearly specify which provisions of the earlier Acts stand repealed and from what date, and to allow other provisions to continue until they are repealed by a similar notification. Since Notification S.O. 5320(E) did not expressly repeal the earlier laws, a practical difficulty arose in the transition from the old legal framework to the new one.
At the same time, Section 51 of the IR Code provides that once the IR Code comes into force, all cases pending before Labour Courts, Industrial Tribunals, and National Industrial Tribunals constituted under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 are required to be transferred to the corresponding forums under the IR Code. However, as on 21 November 2025, the new Industrial Tribunals under the IR Code had not yet been constituted.
This created a legal and administrative gap, although the IR Code had come into force and statutory transfer of cases was required, the new adjudicatory bodies were not yet operational.
To address this difficulty, the Central Government issued Notification No. S.O. 5683(E) dated 8 December 2025 under Section 103 of the IR Code, which empowers the Government to issue orders to remove difficulties arising in the implementation of the Code.
Through this notification, the Government clarified that the existing Labour Courts, Industrial Tribunals, and National Industrial Tribunals constituted under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 shall continue to function. These existing bodies are authorised to hear and decide both pending cases and new cases until the Industrial Tribunals and National Industrial Tribunals are formally constituted under the IR Code.
The stated purpose of this clarification is to ensure continuity of adjudication and to avoid any legal or administrative vacuum during the transition from the old regime to the new one. The notification clearly states that this arrangement is temporary and will operate only until the new tribunals under the IR Code are set up.
In simple terms, the Subsequent Notification does not bring the IR Code into force (that was already done on 21 November 2025), nor does it repeal any law. Instead, it bridges the gap created by the commencement of the Code and the non-constitution of new tribunals, ensuring that industrial dispute resolution continues without interruption.
CONCLUSION:
The implementation of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 shows that while the Code has been formally brought into force, the transition from the earlier industrial relations framework is still ongoing. The First Notification dated 21 November 2025 made the IR Code legally effective; however, it did not expressly repeal the erstwhile Acts as contemplated under Section 104 of the Code. As a result, the earlier industrial relations laws continue to operate to the extent saved, until they are specifically repealed through a notification issued in the manner prescribed under the Code.
The Subsequent Notification dated 8 December 2025 clarifies the practical working of the IR Code during this transition period. By allowing the existing Labour Courts, Industrial Tribunals, and National Industrial Tribunals under the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 to continue functioning, the Government has ensured continuity in the adjudication of industrial disputes and avoided any legal or administrative vacuum. This clarification recognises that the institutional framework required under the IR Code is not yet fully in place.
Accordingly, although the IR Code is in force, its full operationalization, particularly with respect to the repeal of the erstwhile Acts and the constitution of new adjudicatory bodies remains incomplete. The current implementation of the IR Code therefore reflects a phased and transitional approach rather than an immediate and complete replacement of the earlier industrial relations framework.
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