Sections 28 explained: this guide covers what it means, who it applies to, the step-by-step process, documents required, fees, due dates and penalties in India — so you can stay compliant with confidence and avoid costly mistakes.
Section 28 decides which establishments must have standing orders: those with 300 or more workers on any day of the preceding twelve months. Section 29 requires the Central Government to make model standing orders, and deems them adopted in an establishment until its own certified standing orders come into operation.
Chapter IV applies to every industrial establishment where three hundred or more workers are employed, or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months (s.28(1)). It does not apply to workers governed by specified civil service and railway rules, or other rules notified by the appropriate Government (s.28(2)). The Central Government makes model standing orders (s.29(1)), which are deemed adopted until the establishment's own standing orders come into operation (s.29(2)).
Section 28: which establishments are covered
The 300-worker test
Section 28(1) says the Chapter "shall apply to every industrial establishment wherein three hundred or more than three hundred workers, are employed, or were employed on any day of the preceding twelve months."
Read the test carefully:
- Threshold: 300 or more. Exactly 300 is covered.
- Look-back: it is enough that the establishment had 300 or more workers on any one day in the preceding twelve months. An establishment that has since dropped to 250 can still be covered.
- Unit: the test is applied to the "industrial establishment". The meaning of industrial establishment and of worker is in s.2; see our definitions article. Whether contract or fixed-term workers count toward 300 depends on those definitions, so check them against your headcount.
Example (invented). A factory employs 270 workers for most of the year, but on one day in a peak month it had 305 on its rolls. On that basis Chapter IV applies, for as long as that day falls within the preceding twelve months. HR teams should therefore run the headcount test on the daily muster roll, not on the average. Employers unsure whether they are covered can ask our labour law compliance team.
Exclusion: section 28(2)
Despite s.28(1), the Chapter does not apply to an industrial establishment "in so far as the workers employed therein are persons to whom" any of the following apply: the Fundamental and Supplementary Rules, the Civil Services (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, the Civil Services (Temporary Service) Rules, the Revised Leave Rules, the Civil Service Regulations, the Civilians in Defence Service (Classification, Control and Appeal) Rules, the Indian Railway Establishment Code, or "any other rules or regulations that may be notified in this behalf by the appropriate Government".
The words "in so far as" mean a mixed establishment is covered for its other workers. Only the class governed by those service rules is outside.
Section 39 separately lets the appropriate Government exempt establishments by notification; see sections 38 and 39.
Section 29: model standing orders
The Central Government makes the model
Section 29(1): "The Central Government shall make model standing orders relating to conditions of service and other matters incidental thereto or connected therewith." The word is "shall". Model orders are therefore a statutory obligation of the Central Government, and employers use them as the base for their own draft under s.30; see section 30.
Deemed adoption in the interim: section 29(2)
The second sub-section fills a gap. Notwithstanding ss.30 to 36, for the period "commencing on the date on which this section becomes applicable to an industrial establishment and ending with the date on which the standing orders as finally certified under this Code come into operation under section 33 in that establishment", the model standing order "shall be deemed to be adopted in that establishment". During that period s.33(2) and s.35 "shall apply to such model standing orders as they apply to the standing orders so certified."
In plain terms:
- The day the Chapter applies to an establishment, the model standing orders are treated as its standing orders.
- They stay that way until the establishment's own certified orders start operating under s.33.
- The duty to keep the text available to workers (s.33(2)) and the six-month bar on modification (s.35) attach to the model orders as well.
So an establishment is never without standing orders once the Chapter applies. The employer does not need to wait for certification to be bound.
The Central Rules: rule 10
Rule 10 of the Industrial Relations (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 342(E), 8 May 2026) says the Model Standing Orders "for the purposes of the Code in respect of industrial establishments in mine sector, manufacturing sector and service sector shall be those set out under the Model Standing Orders, 2026."
The same rule sets out how an employer adopts the model:
| Step | What the rule says |
|---|---|
| Inform | The employer informs the certifying officer, electronically, in person or by speed post, of the specific date from which the Model Standing Orders are adopted (rule 10(1) under the heading "Forwarding of information") |
| Scope | The adopted orders apply to the establishment and all its units (rule 10(2)) |
| Register | The certifying officer enters the details in the register under rule 17 (rule 10(3)) |
| Observation | If the establishment does other work than that for which the model was adopted, the certifying officer may, within thirty days of receipt, direct inclusion of relevant provisions, to be complied with within thirty days of the direction (rule 10(4)) |
| Deemed certification | If no observation is made within thirty days of receipt, the Model Standing Order is deemed certified (rule 10(5)) |
| Effect | The adopted provisions come into force from the date specified in the employer's information (rule 10(6)) |
| No observation | The certifying officer shall not raise an observation if the activities are wholly covered by the activities of the establishment to which the standing orders apply (rule 10(7)) |
The Central Rules apply where the Central Government is the appropriate Government. Where the State Government is the appropriate Government, the State's own industrial relations rules apply, including any State model. A State-sphere employer should not rely on the Central 2026 model without checking that.
Further reading on the process from draft to certification: section 30 and rule 10 in detail. The model's content is for the employer to read in the Model Standing Orders, 2026 themselves; we do not summarise them here. The matters every set of standing orders must cover are in the First Schedule, covered under our Schedule article.
Need help with standing orders?
If your headcount has crossed 300 at any point in the last twelve months, the standing orders question is live. Our labour law compliance team can run the headcount test, decide whether to adopt the model or certify your own draft, and prepare the intimation to the certifying officer.
Key takeaways
- Chapter IV applies at 300 or more workers on any day of the preceding twelve months (s.28(1)).
- Workers under the listed civil service and railway rules, or rules notified by the appropriate Government, are outside it (s.28(2)).
- The Central Government must make model standing orders (s.29(1)); they are deemed adopted until the establishment's certified orders start operating (s.29(2)).
- Central Rules: rule 10 fixes the Model Standing Orders, 2026 for mine, manufacturing and service sectors, with a thirty-day observation window.
- State-sphere establishments follow their State's rules.
Read next
- Section 30: preparation and certification of draft standing orders
- Section 38-39: suspension pending enquiry and exemption
- Rule 10: model standing orders and forwarding of information
- Industrial disputes under the new labour codes
Disclaimer: Based on the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (as enacted) and, where noted, the Industrial Relations (Central) Rules, 2026 (G.S.R. 342(E), 8 May 2026), as on 30 September 2026. The Code is in force from 21 November 2025; some provisions may be notified later, and State Governments make their own rules for establishments where the State is the appropriate Government. Verify the current position before acting.