Labour Laws and Practice · Law of Industrial Relations

Bi-partite Forums: Works Committee and Grievance Redressal Committee

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Both are bi-partite forums under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020. A Works Committee (section 3) promotes amity between employer and workers in establishments with 100 or more workers, when the appropriate Government orders it. A Grievance Redressal Committee (section 4) resolves individual grievances in establishments with 20 or more workers.

Understand Bi-partite Forums: Works Committee and Grievance Redressal

A bi-partite forum has two sides only: the employer and the workers. No outsider decides. The Code uses two such forums to settle problems inside the establishment before they become industrial disputes.

The Works Committee is a preventive body. Its job is to keep relations cordial. It talks about matters of common interest and tries to resolve differences of opinion. It does not decide individual complaints.

The Grievance Redressal Committee is a remedial body. It handles disputes arising out of individual grievances of a worker. It has a filing limit, a time frame for the proceedings and a voting rule for decisions.

If the grievance is not resolved inside the committee, the worker can go to a conciliation officer through the Trade Union. Section 4 also lets a dismissed or retrenched worker raise an individual dispute directly. Exam answers need the exact numbers: 20, 100, 10, one year, thirty days, sixty days, forty-five days, two years.

Key rules to remember

Works Committee: when: 100 or more workers employed, or employed on any day in the preceding 12 months → appropriate Government may, by general or special order, require the employer to constitute it; It is not automatic. A Government order is needed.
Works Committee: composition: Worker representatives ≥ employer representatives; Worker representatives are chosen from the workers of the establishment, in consultation with their registered Trade Union, if any.
Works Committee: duty: Promote amity and good relations; comment on matters of common interest; try to compose material differences of opinion; Preventive role.
Grievance Redressal Committee: when: Industrial establishment with 20 or more workers → one or more committees; This is a mandatory requirement.
GRC: composition: Equal members from employer and workers; total ≤ 10; women's share ≥ proportion of women workers; Chairperson alternates between employer and worker side every year, on rotation.
GRC: time limits: Application within 1 year of cause of action; proceedings may be completed within 30 days of receipt; Section 4(5) and 4(6).
GRC: decision rule: Majority view, and more than half of the worker-side members must agree; otherwise deemed no decision; A majority of the whole committee is not enough.
After the GRC: Within 60 days of decision or expiry of 30 days → application to conciliation officer through the worker's Trade Union; Section 4(8).
Direct route to Tribunal: Dismissal, discharge, retrenchment or termination of an individual worker is deemed an industrial dispute; after 45 days from the conciliation application, worker may apply to Tribunal; within 2 years of the termination; Section 4(9), (10), (11).

How to solve Bi-partite Forums: Works Committee and Grievance Redressal questions

Use this method for any case question on these forums.

1Identify the forum asked about: Works Committee (section 3) or Grievance Redressal Committee (section 4).
2Count the workers in the facts. Check the threshold: 100 or more for a Works Committee, 20 or more for a GRC.
3For a Works Committee, check whether the appropriate Government has issued an order. Note the 12-month look-back.
4Test composition: equal sides and a maximum of ten for the GRC; worker members not fewer than employer members for the Works Committee. Check women's representation and the rotating chairperson.
5Check timing: one year to apply, thirty days for proceedings, sixty days to approach the conciliation officer, forty-five days and two years for the direct Tribunal route.
6Apply the decision rule: majority plus more than half of worker-side members.
7Conclude clearly in one or two sentences, then add a practical point such as drafting the notice or minutes.

Quickest way: Number-first check

When to use it: Use when a fact-based question gives many numbers and you have little time.

Write the numbers 20, 100, 10, 1 year, 30 days, 60 days, 45 days, 2 years at the top of your answer sheet.
Match each number in the facts to the right sub-section.
State the rule in one line, apply it in one line, conclude in one line.

Common mistakes in Bi-partite Forums: Works Committee and Grievance Redressal

Saying a Works Committee is compulsory in every establishment with 100 workers.
Students remember the threshold and forget the Government order.
Fix: Write: the appropriate Government may, by general or special order, require the employer to constitute it.
Mixing up the thresholds of 20 and 100.
Both forums sound similar.
Fix: Link 20 with grievances (individual, smaller units) and 100 with the Works Committee.
Stating the GRC decision rule as a simple majority.
Students apply ordinary committee logic.
Fix: Add the condition: more than half of the worker representatives must agree, else no decision is deemed arrived at.
Treating the thirty-day period as a hard bar that ends the worker's remedy.
Students ignore the word 'may' and the later sub-sections.
Fix: The committee may complete proceedings in thirty days. If unresolved, the worker has sixty days to approach the conciliation officer through the Trade Union.
Saying the Works Committee has more employer members.
Confusion with equal representation in the GRC.
Fix: For the Works Committee, workers' representatives must not be fewer than the employer's. For the GRC, the numbers are equal.
Forgetting the direct Tribunal route for dismissed workers.
Students stop at section 4(8).
Fix: Add sub-sections (9) to (11): deemed industrial dispute, 45 days after conciliation application, within two years.

Worked examples

Example 1

Sundaram Textiles Ltd., Coimbatore, employs 85 workers. Its workers want a Grievance Redressal Committee and a Works Committee. Advise the company.

Show the solution

Section 4(1) requires a GRC in every industrial establishment with twenty or more workers. With 85 workers, the company must have one or more GRCs.
Section 3 applies to establishments where 100 or more workers are employed, or have been employed on any day in the preceding twelve months. The facts show 85 workers and no such day, so the threshold is not met unless it has employed 100 or more on some day in that period.
Even above the threshold, a Works Committee arises only when the appropriate Government requires it by order.

Answer: The company must constitute a GRC. A Works Committee cannot be required at 85 workers, unless 100 or more were employed on any day in the preceding twelve months and the Government issues an order.

Example 2

A GRC of Meera Auto Components Ltd. has 6 members: 3 for the employer and 3 for the workers. On a worker's application, 4 members vote for the decision: 2 employer members and 2 worker members. Is there a valid decision? What can the aggrieved worker do next?

Show the solution

Composition is valid: equal members from both sides and the total of six does not exceed ten.
Decision rule under section 4(7): a majority view is needed, and more than half of the worker members must agree.
Four of six is a majority. But only 2 of the 3 worker members agreed. More than half of 3 means at least 2, so the condition is met.
The decision is therefore valid. If the worker is aggrieved, section 4(8) allows an application for conciliation to the conciliation officer through the Trade Union of which he is a member, within sixty days of the decision.

Answer: Yes, the decision is valid because a majority agreed and two of three worker members (more than half) supported it. The worker may apply for conciliation through his Trade Union within sixty days.

Exam tips

Learn sections 3 and 4 as a table of numbers and reproduce them in order.
In case questions, always check the headcount first. It decides whether the forum applies.
Use the Code's wording on the voting rule and the chairperson's yearly rotation. Examiners test these details.
Link the answer to the dispute-resolution route: GRC, then conciliation officer, then Tribunal.
Add a practical line: as Company Secretary, you would help set up the committee, keep minutes and track the time limits.

Practice questions from Law of Industrial Relations

Bi-partite Forums: Works Committee and Grievance Redressal in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

CS ExecutiveBi-partite Forums: Works Committee and Grievance Redressal

Bi-partite Forums: Works Committee and Grievance Redressal: frequently asked questions

Is a Works Committee mandatory under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020?

Not automatically. It applies to establishments with 100 or more workers employed, or employed on any day in the preceding twelve months. The appropriate Government must order its constitution.

What is the maximum size of a Grievance Redressal Committee?

The total number of members must not exceed ten. Employer and worker representatives must be equal in number. Women workers must be represented at least in proportion to their share of the workforce.

How long does a worker have to file a grievance?

One year from the date the cause of action arises. The committee may complete its proceedings within thirty days of receiving the application.

What if the Grievance Redressal Committee cannot decide?

If more than half of the worker members do not agree to a decision, it is deemed that no decision was reached. The worker may then apply to the conciliation officer through the Trade Union within sixty days.