Submission of draft Standing Orders by employers to the certifying officer :

Section 3 provides that within six months from the date on which this Act becomes applicable to an industrial establishment, the employer of that establishment shall submit to the Certifying Officer five copies of the draft Standing Orders proposed by him for adoption in that establishment.

Such draft Standing Orders shall be in conformity with the Model Standing Orders if any, and, shall contain every matter set out in the Schedule which may be applicable to the industrial establishment.

The draft Standing Orders shall be accompanied by a statement containing prescribed particulars of the workmen employed in the industrial establishment including the name of the trade union, if any, to which they belong.

If the industrial establishment are of similar nature, a group of employers owning those industrial establishment may submit a joint draft of Standing Orders subject to such conditions as may be prescribed.

Conditions for certification of Standing Orders

According to Section 4 of the Act, Standing Orders shall be certifiable if

(a) provision is made therein for every matter stated in the Schedule to the Act which is applicable to industrial establishment; and

(b) the Standing Orders are otherwise in conformity with the provisions of the Act.

Fairness or reasonableness of Standing Orders

It is further provided in Section 4 that it shall be the function of the Certifying Officer or appellate authority to adjudicate upon the fairness or reasonableness of the provisions of the Standing Orders.

The Act, has imposed a duty on the Certifying Officer, to consider the reasonableness and fairness of the Standing Orders before certifying the same. The Certifying Officer is under a legal duty to consider that the Standing Orders are in conformity with the Act. If the Certifying Officer finds that some provisions, as proposed by the employer relate to matters which are not included in the Schedule, or if he finds some provisions are unreasonable he must refuse to certify the same. Certification of any such Standing Order would be without jurisdiction. The Certifying Officer has a mandatory duty to discharge and he acts in a quasi-judicial manner. Where a matter is not included in the Schedule and the concerned appropriate Government has not added any such item to the Schedule, neither the employer has a right to frame a Standing Order enabling him to transfer his employees nor the Certifying Officer has jurisdiction to certify the same. The consent of the employees to such standing orders would not make any difference (Air Gases Mazdoor Sangh, Varanasi v. Indian Air Gases Ltd., 1977 Lab. I.C. 575).

Certification of Standing Orders

Procedure to be followed by the Certifying Officer : Section 5 of the Act lays down the procedure to be followed by Certifying Officer. On receipt of the draft Standing Order from the employer, the Certifying Officer shall forward a copy thereof to the trade union of the workmen or where there is no trade union, then to the workmen in such manner as may be prescribed, together with a notice requiring objections, if any, which the workmen may desire to make in the draft Standing Orders. These objections are required to be submitted to him within 15 days from the receipt of the notice. On receipt of such objections he shall provide an opportunity of being heard to the workmen or the employer and will make amendments, if any, required to be made therein and this will render the draft Standing Orders certifiable under the Act and he will certify the same. A copy of the certified Standing Orders will be sent by him to both the employer and the employees association within seven days of the certification.

Effect of certification: The Act is a special law in regard to matters enumerated in the Schedule and the regulations made by the employer with respect to any of those matters. These are of no effect unless such regulations are notified by the Government under Section 13B or certified by the Certifying Officer under Section 5 of the Act.

Register of Standing Orders: Section 8 empowers the Certifying Officer to file a copy of all the Standing Orders as certified by him in a register maintained for the purpose in the prescribed form. He shall furnish a copy of the same to any person applying therefor on payment of the prescribed fee.