Labour & EmploymentDelhi courts
Employment Law Firm for Employers in Delhi
Manuja Law Partners acts for employers in Delhi on the management side of employment law: exits and terminations, disciplinary inquiries, claims before labour courts and tribunals, and the policies that keep those disputes small. We do not act for employees against employers.
In short
An employment law firm for employers advises a business on hiring, discipline and exits, and defends it when an employee or a union takes a dispute to a labour authority or court. In Delhi that now means working under the four labour codes, which the Central Government brought into force on 21 November 2025 in place of 29 older central labour laws, alongside state rules that are still being notified. Manuja Law Partners acts only on the employer side: we draft the documents that prevent disputes, run or review disciplinary inquiries, plan terminations so they survive challenge, and appear for the management before conciliation officers, labour courts and industrial tribunals.
What employers come to us for
The work falls into four groups. First, documents: appointment letters, employment contracts for senior staff, confidentiality and invention-assignment terms, service rules or standing orders, and policies on leave, conduct, data use and harassment. Second, discipline: charge-sheets, suspension orders, inquiries and the final order. Third, exits: resignations that turn contentious, terminations of senior employees, retrenchment and closure. Fourth, disputes: conciliation, claims before labour courts and industrial tribunals, writ petitions against orders of labour authorities, and civil suits where a former employee has taken confidential information.
We are a litigation firm, and our advice on the first three is shaped by the fourth. The question we ask of every document and decision is how it will read if it becomes evidence.
Working under the labour codes
The four codes changed the vocabulary and several thresholds that employers built their processes around. Among the changes employers ask about most:
- A wider definition of wages. Under the codes, if allowances exceed half of total remuneration, the excess is added back into “wages” for computing benefits. Salary structures built to keep basic pay low need review.
- Higher thresholds for permission. Prior government permission for lay-off, retrenchment and closure applies to industrial establishments with 300 or more workers, and standing orders are required at the same threshold.
- Fixed-term employment is recognised everywhere, with parity of benefits.
- A reskilling fund contribution on retrenchment, in addition to retrenchment compensation.
Several operational details still depend on rules and forms that the Centre and the states are notifying in stages. We check the position on the date of each decision instead of relying on summaries.
Discipline and inquiries
A dismissal is usually defended on the inquiry record, not on the facts as the management remembers them. The steps that matter are a charge-sheet that states specific acts, dates and the rule broken; a suspension order, if used, with subsistence allowance paid; an inquiry officer who has not prejudged the case; disclosure of the documents relied on; a chance to cross-examine the management’s witnesses and lead defence evidence; a reasoned report; and a final order that considers the employee’s past record and the proportionality of the punishment.
We draft the charge-sheet and final order, brief the presenting officer, or review an inquiry already conducted before the order issues. Defects caught at that stage can be cured; after a claim is filed, they become the employee’s case.
Terminations and exits
For senior employees outside the “worker” definition, the contract and the employer’s own policies govern the exit, and the risks are a civil claim, a dispute over notice pay or bonus, and the loss of confidential information. For workers, the Industrial Relations Code’s rules on notice, retrenchment compensation and, above the threshold, prior permission apply. A termination dressed as something else, such as an “abandonment” without inquiry, is open to challenge.
Before any exit we confirm the employee’s status, the notice and dues payable, the return of company property and data, and the wording of the letter. Where the exit is part of a wider restructuring, we coordinate with the corporate work on the transaction.
Defending claims
When a claim arrives, we start with limitation, jurisdiction and whether the claimant is a “worker” at all, because these decide whether the claim can proceed. Then we assemble the attendance, payroll, inquiry and correspondence records. Before the conciliation officer, the management’s reply sets the frame for everything after. Before the labour court or tribunal, we lead evidence and cross-examine; against an adverse order, we advise on a writ petition to the High Court.
Disputes over senior employees’ contracts, bonuses or stock options are often contractual and may be subject to an arbitration clause; see our arbitration practice. Where a former employee has taken customer lists or source code, the remedy is usually an urgent civil suit for an injunction, handled with our commercial disputes team.
How to start
Send us the employee’s appointment letter, the relevant policies or standing orders, and the documents on the issue. We tell you at the first meeting what the law requires, where the risk sits and what we would do next. Call or WhatsApp 99115 44811, or email manujalawyers@gmail.com.
A labour matter in Delhi?
Tell us what has happened. We will confirm the court, the deadlines already running and the next step.
Why instruct this chamber
Acting for you in Delhi
Employer side only
We act for companies, partnerships, start-ups and establishments, not for individual employees in claims against employers. That keeps our advice free of conflicts and lets us speak plainly about the risks on the management side.
Paper first, litigation second
Most employment disputes are decided by documents written long before the dispute: the appointment letter, the standing orders or service rules, the charge-sheet and the inquiry record. We review those before a decision is taken, not after a claim is filed.
Litigators who will defend the decision
The advocates who advise on a termination are the ones who appear if it is challenged before the labour court or the High Court. Advice is shaped by what holds up at a hearing.
Honest about change
The labour codes are new and many state rules and forms are still being settled. Where a point is unsettled we say so, and we do not promise how an authority will read it.
Common questions
Labour questions — Delhi
Do you act for employees against their employer?
No, the firm acts only for employers in employment matters. An employee with a claim against an employer should consult a lawyer who acts for employees. Acting on one side avoids conflicts with the businesses we advise.
Which labour laws apply to an employer in Delhi now?
The four labour codes apply: the Code on Wages, 2019, the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, the Code on Social Security, 2020 and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, in force from 21 November 2025. They consolidate 29 earlier central laws. Delhi's own rules under the codes, and its shops and establishments law, sit alongside them, so the state-level position has to be checked for each obligation.
When does an employer need government permission to retrench workers?
Under the Industrial Relations Code, an industrial establishment with 300 or more workers needs prior permission of the appropriate government for lay-off, retrenchment or closure, up from 100 under the old law. Smaller establishments still have to give notice and retrenchment compensation. The code also requires the employer to contribute fifteen days' last-drawn wages per retrenched worker to a reskilling fund.
Can we dismiss an employee for misconduct without an inquiry?
Rarely safely. Where the employee is a workman covered by standing orders or service rules, dismissal for misconduct normally needs a charge-sheet, a fair opportunity to reply and an inquiry that follows natural justice. A dismissal without one is the most common reason a labour court interferes. Senior managerial staff on contractual terms are governed mainly by their contract, but a fair process still matters if the exit is challenged.
Is a non-compete clause in an employment contract enforceable?
Generally not after the employment ends. Section 27 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 makes agreements in restraint of trade void, and courts have applied it to post-employment non-competes. Restrictions during employment, confidentiality obligations and protection of trade secrets are treated differently and can be enforced.
What must an employer with ten or more employees do under the POSH Act?
Constitute an Internal Complaints Committee at each office or unit with ten or more employees, under Section 4 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. The employer must also display the policy and the committee's details and run awareness programmes. Failing to constitute the committee is punishable with a fine of up to fifty thousand rupees under Section 26.
What happens when an employee raises an industrial dispute?
The dispute usually goes first to conciliation before a conciliation officer of the labour department. If conciliation fails, it can go to an industrial tribunal for decision. We prepare the management's reply and documents at the conciliation stage, because positions taken there are relied on later.
Can we put an employee on a fixed-term contract instead of a permanent one?
Yes, the Industrial Relations Code recognises fixed-term employment. A fixed-term employee must get the same hours, wages, allowances and other benefits as a permanent worker doing the same or similar work, and gratuity on a pro-rata basis. Using back-to-back fixed terms to avoid permanence can be challenged, so the contracts should reflect genuine needs.
Do we need a lawyer for a show-cause notice from the labour department?
It is worth having one when the notice alleges an offence, seeks back wages for a group of workers, or follows an inspection with findings. The reply sets out the facts the authority will rely on, and an admission in it is hard to withdraw. Routine compliance queries can usually be answered by the HR team with a review.
Can an employer recover training costs if an employee leaves early?
Only as reasonable compensation for actual loss, not as a penalty. Under Section 74 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 a court awards reasonable compensation up to the amount stated in the bond. A bond tied to a genuine, documented training cost and reduced over the period served is more likely to be enforced than a flat sum.
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- Telephone99115 44811
- Emailmanujalawyers@gmail.com
- ChamberChamber S-307, 3rd Floor, Delhi High Court, Pragati Vihar, New Delhi – 110003
- HoursMon–Sat, 9:30 am – 6:30 pm
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