Labour & Employment
POSH inquiries, severance negotiations, and a Code on Wages nobody has fully implemented.
A day, honestly described.
A POSH internal complaints committee inquiry is in its third week. You are advising the IC on procedure: respondent's right to inspect documents, witness examination protocol, the standard of proof, the format of the final report. The complainant has alleged conduct over an 18-month period; the respondent denies and produces emails. You read the emails, the policy, the IC's prior inquiries, and the recent High Court orders on POSH procedural fairness.
Labour and employment practice splits into a contentious wing (industrial disputes, wrongful termination suits, POSH proceedings, government inspections) and an advisory wing (employment-contract drafting, restructuring, severance negotiations, compliance with the four labour codes that are partly notified). You will rotate.
The advisory side is closer to corporate work — calm, document-heavy, predictable. The contentious side runs at industrial-tribunal pace, which is slower than commercial courts and faster than constitutional benches. You will spend time in labour courts you did not know existed in your city. You will become fluent in legislation that is being amended faster than textbooks can update — the Code on Wages, the Industrial Relations Code, the Social Security Code, the OSH Code.
Where the work happens. Who hires. What you'll be paid.
Where the work happens
Recruitment pathway
Employment teams at firms recruit through standard PPO funnels. Pure labour-disputes practice (industrial-tribunal work, ESI/PF litigation) is more chambers-shaped. Trilegal's employment team is the strongest single entry-point in the country for substantive employment work.
A summer internship with an employment team is the strongest signal. POSH-specific certifications (some institutes offer 8-week courses) carry minor weight; published commentary on the labour codes carries more. Non-NLU candidates compete on near-equal terms past the entry stage.
First-year vs senior associate
Drafting employment contracts, NDAs, severance agreements under partner review. Researching specific points on the labour codes. POSH advisory under IC supervision. You will not lead. You will not argue at industrial tribunal. The skill being built is statute-and-rule fluency across the four codes.
You lead employment advisory mandates. You draft severance and restructuring documentation in your own name. You appear before the labour court and industrial tribunal on second-tier matters. You advise IC committees on POSH inquiries directly with partner sign-off.
Compensation bands (approximate)
What law students consistently lack — and how to fix it.
Each gap below is something we have heard from Labour & Employment hiring partners. The simulation column is what closes it before your first internship.
POSH inquiry procedure is statute-driven and procedurally precise, but students learn it as a soft topic — they do not know how an IC actually conducts a hearing.
The Iura employment simulation walks you through a POSH fact pattern and asks you to draft the IC's procedure note.
The four labour codes are partly notified, partly stayed, partly in force depending on state — students cannot navigate the resulting patchwork.
A compliance-mapping task across two states with the partner's annotated answer.
Severance negotiations have a structure (separation agreement, release of claims, garden leave) that students have not seen.
A severance-drafting task with a real-shape separation agreement.
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Employment practice is the most under-rated track on this list. The work is substantive, the ethical weight (POSH especially) is meaningful, and the skill compounds. Intern with Trilegal's employment team or a specialist boutique in 3rd year.