Can a Factory Demand a Draft Standing Order from Small Companies with Under 100 Workers?

Dear Seniors,

Kindly let me know the applicability of the draft standing order. If an organization has fewer than 100 workers, can the factory department send a letter to the establishment to submit a draft standing order? Please clear my doubts on the aforementioned subject.

Hi Sompal,

The applicability of draft standing orders varies by state and industry. In general, standing orders are a set of rules and regulations that govern the terms and conditions of employment in an organization. They typically cover issues such as working hours, leave policies, disciplinary procedures, and grievance redressal mechanisms.

In the context of a factory department with fewer than 100 employees, the applicability of draft standing orders would depend on the specific laws and regulations in the relevant jurisdiction. In some countries, standing orders may only be required for organizations with a certain number of employees, while in others, they may be mandatory for all organizations.

If the factory department is required to submit draft standing orders to the establishment, they should follow the relevant legal requirements and procedures for doing so. This may involve consulting with legal experts or labor authorities to ensure that the draft standing orders comply with applicable laws and regulations.

Most states have made the applicability of the Standing Orders Act to establishments employing 50 workers. Therefore, as soon as the number of workers reaches 50, the act will apply to the establishment, and the Model Standing Orders given in the schedule attached to the Act will be applicable. The same is only a model, but you must draft your own standing orders and get them certified by the appropriate authority in due course.

Thank you for the suggestion, sir. If I speak a little more openly, our industry belongs to the state of Uttarakhand. If our total workforce is equal to or less than 50, then we have to submit a draft standing order to the relevant department, or the model standing order will be applicable to us.

To be very frank, I would say that this is one of the Labour Acts which remains unenforced. Many establishments, even in the manufacturing sector and those with trade unions, are yet to get their own Standing Orders certified! Even PSUs are there without certified Standing Orders.

Therefore, practically, no establishment would go for certification due to two main reasons. Once you draft standing orders, the certifying officer would require a trade union representative to certify it first as accepted service conditions. In the absence of a trade union, he would select a few employees as signatories to standing orders. In many cases, these signatories will then acquire a feeling that they are leaders of the other employees since they are also signatories to the most important document defining the employee-employer relationship. This could be avoided if standing orders are kept in freezers until the labor-enforcing authorities require that standing orders should be made and certified.

Therefore, I also advise that as long as your number of workmen does not reach 100, you may follow the status quo. Alternatively, you can prepare an Employee Handbook including all the relevant matters for which provisions are required to be made in the standing orders and communicate with the employees. This can also be made part of the employee joining document, and you can take acknowledgment from the employees as having read, understood, and accepted the content as applicable to them. This would then become part of the employment contract.

You may check with the Labour Department of your state. In some states, 50 employees are applicable, while in others, 100 employees are applicable. If your total workforce is below 50, why worry about the applicability of the CSO? If needed, you can print out the MSO (Model Standing Orders) available on the Labour Department website of your state and exhibit the same.