Standing orders: employers lose disputes on procedure, not facts
Certified rules of employment governing service conditions for workmen — and the procedure a dismissal must follow.
What They Cover
Classification of workmen, hours and shifts, attendance, leave procedure, misconduct and the disciplinary process.
They Must Be Certified
A draft the company wrote but never had certified does not carry the same force.
Where They Bite
Dismissal. A termination that skipped a procedural step is vulnerable however serious the misconduct was.
Standing orders are the certified rules of employment in an industrial establishment: classification of workmen, working hours and shifts, attendance and late coming, leave procedure, what constitutes misconduct, and the disciplinary process to be followed.
They apply to establishments above a threshold number of workmen, and they must be certified by the certifying officer. A draft the company has written but not had certified does not carry the same force.
Their importance becomes visible at dismissal. Where standing orders are certified, disciplinary action must follow the procedure they set out — charge sheet, enquiry, findings, and a proportionate penalty — and a dismissal that skipped a step is vulnerable regardless of how serious the underlying misconduct was.
This is the pattern in industrial disputes generally: employers who lose usually lose on procedure rather than on facts. The employee may well have done what was alleged; if the enquiry was not properly held, or the charge was never put in writing, or the enquiry officer had already decided, the dismissal can be set aside with back wages.
The practical implication is unglamorous. The time to read your standing orders is before an incident, not during one — and the disciplinary procedure they prescribe should be built into how managers are trained, because the manager who confronts an employee informally and dismisses them the same afternoon has usually already lost the case.
Standing Orders FAQs
Do standing orders apply to every company?
No. They apply to industrial establishments employing above a threshold number of workmen, and the threshold varies by state. Many offices fall outside them.
Can we use model standing orders?
Model standing orders apply until an establishment's own are certified. Many employers adopt them, which is legitimate — but they still govern the procedure you must follow.
What happens if we skip the enquiry?
The dismissal becomes challengeable on procedural grounds, and tribunals frequently order reinstatement or back wages even where the alleged misconduct is not seriously disputed.
Do standing orders apply to us?
It depends on establishment type and the number of workmen, with state variation. Many employers who fall within scope have never certified any, which is itself the finding.
Can our HR policy replace standing orders?
No. Where certification is required, an internal policy document does not substitute for it, however comprehensive it is.
What happens if we have never certified any?
Model standing orders may apply in the meantime, which means terms you did not draft govern your establishment. That is usually the argument for certifying your own.
Stop working this out by hand
Klok applies these rules on every payroll run, from your own attendance and salary data, with the working shown.