A Note on Industrial Relations Code, 2020.

In this note, we assess the newly introduced Industrial Relations Code (IRC) 2020. First, we compare the provisions in IRC 2020 with its predecessor, Industrial Disputes Act (IDA) 1947, and the amendments to IDA 1947 in 1976 and 1982 regarding the employment protection provisions against layoffs, retrenchments, and closures. We find that IRC 2020 merely restored the factory-size threshold to the initial IDA amendment 1976 level of 300 or more workers to which IDA 1947 originally applied from 100 or more workers as notified in the 1982 IDA amendment.