The Industrial Relations Code, 2020: A Critique
The Ministry of Labour and Employment has introduced many labour reforms. Among them, one of the labour reforms is to consolidate and amend the 29 labour laws into 4 codes. Out of the 29 existing labour laws, The Industrial Relations Code 2020 replaces the 3 existing laws, i.e., The Trade Unions Act, 1926; The Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act, 1946; and the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947. This code also introduced new provisions. The Central Government decided to ascertain the status of labour laws whether they are really beneficial to workers or not and whether any labour law is preventing them from making any progress. This paper makes a comprehensive analysis of the Industrial Relations Code 2020 vis-à-vis the earlier laws and an attempt has been made to critically analyse the various provisions of the code and their implications on labour.