Strike: Meaning, Notice Rules & Examples
Updated 4 min read
Definition
A strike is when employees stop work together, or refuse to keep working, to press a demand on their employer.
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What Is a Strike?
Whether a walkout is legal depends far more on its notice than on its demand.
A strike is when employees stop work together, or refuse to keep working, to press a demand on their employer. In India, section 2(zk) of the Industrial Relations Code, 2020 defines it. It also covers casual leave taken together on one day by 50% or more of the workers in an industry.
A strike usually comes late in a dispute. Demands are raised, talks stall, a notice is served, a conciliation officer steps in, and only then does work stop. A union is not needed, either: the definition asks only for a group acting together, whether in a bank branch, a private hospital or a tyre plant.
Notice Rules Before Work Stops
Section 62 of the Industrial Relations Code applies to every industrial establishment, whatever its size. Employees may not stop work:
- Without notice. The notice must reach the employer within 60 days before the stoppage.
- Too soon. Not within 14 days of the notice, or before the date it names.
- During conciliation. Not while talks before a conciliation officer are pending, or for 7 days after they end.
- During a case. Not while a tribunal, or in notified cases an arbitrator, hears the dispute, or for 60 days after.
- Against a settlement. Not on a matter covered by a settlement or award still in force.
What catches people out is that the notice itself starts conciliation. Once one is served, the officer must hold talks, and point 3 then decides the earliest lawful date.
Strike vs Lock-Out
| Aspect | Strike | Lock-out |
|---|---|---|
| Who acts | Employees | Employer |
| Action | Stop or refuse work | Close or refuse work |
| Notice | 14 to 60 days | 14 to 60 days |
| Penalty | ₹1,000 to ₹10,000 | ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh |
A lock-out is the employer’s side of the same coin. Under section 2(u), it means closing the workplace, suspending work or refusing to keep employing people.
Both follow the same notice rules. The penalty row is the fine under section 86 for an illegal one, and up to a month in jail is possible on either side. A lock-out declared in answer to an illegal strike is not itself illegal, and the reverse also holds.
Strike Example
A tyre factory in Jaipur (an example) with 420 employees is in a wage dispute. On 1 September 2026, the union serves notice of a stoppage from 25 September.
| Date | Step |
|---|---|
| 1 Sept | Notice served |
| 3 Sept | Employer reports it |
| 8 Sept | Conciliation begins |
| 22 Sept | Talks fail |
| 30 Sept | First legal day |
Note: this is an invented example for illustration only. The factory, the union and the dates are made up.
Walking out on 25 September would have been illegal, because conciliation had ended only three days before. The 7-day wait moves the first lawful day to 30 September, still inside the 60 days the notice covers. Had the dispute gone to a tribunal instead, the wait would have run until 60 days after the case closed.
Strike Days in Pay and Attendance
Most employers meet a stoppage first in the attendance record. Under section 20 of the Code on Wages, a strike day is an absence, and pay can be cut in proportion, the same way as any per-day salary deduction. A stay-in strike counts too, where staff turn up but refuse to work.
If 10 or more employees stop work together without due notice and without reasonable cause, the cut can include up to 8 days’ wages in lieu of notice, subject to government rules.
A legal strike, on the other hand, does not break continuous service under section 66 of the Industrial Relations Code, which decides who qualifies for lay-off and retrenchment compensation. So the strike days need marking correctly before payroll closes. In Attendo (formerly Petpooja Payroll), the bulk attendance grid lets you correct them branch by branch, and every edit is logged.