Grievance redressal committee under the IR Code: HR guide

Under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, in force since 21 November 2025, every industrial establishment with 20 or more workers must have one or more Grievance Redressal Committees (GRCs) to resolve disputes arising from individual grievances. The committee has equal numbers of members from the employer and the workers, no more than 10 members, a chairperson that rotates each year between the two sides, and women members in at least the proportion of women in the workforce. A worker can apply within one year of the cause of action, and the committee aims to complete proceedings within 30 days.

This guide covers who needs a GRC, how to constitute it, how to design the process and records, and how it differs from the POSH Internal Committee. For the full POSH framework, see our POSH compliance guide, and for running everyday employee queries, our guide to the HR helpdesk.

What is a grievance redressal committee?

A GRC is a statutory, bipartite forum inside the establishment. It handles disputes arising out of individual grievances: a worker who believes leave was wrongly refused, a shift allowance was not paid, a transfer was unfair or a seniority list is wrong. The idea is to settle these close to where they arise, before they become an industrial dispute in front of a conciliation officer.

The concept is not new. The Industrial Disputes Act, 1947 introduced grievance redressal machinery in 2010 for establishments with 20 or more workmen. The IR Code carried it forward with a cap on size, rotation of the chair and an explicit rule on women's representation.

Which establishments need a GRC?

Every industrial establishment employing 20 or more workers. As with other IR Code provisions:

• Count workers, not employees. Managerial and administrative staff, and supervisors drawing wages above ₹18,000 a month (or a higher notified amount), are not workers.
• Count per establishment. Each plant, warehouse or office that is a separate industrial establishment needs its own assessment.
• "One or more" committees. A large establishment can have several GRCs, for example one per plant or per shift cluster.

The IR Code's definition of industry is broad, so offices and services establishments with 20 or more workers should assume they are covered unless advised otherwise.

How should the committee be composed?

Element	Requirement under the IR Code	Practical note
Size	Not more than 10 members	Six or eight is easier to convene
Balance	Equal number of members from the employer and from the workers	Employer side: HR plus line managers; worker side: chosen by the workers or their union
Chairperson	Selected from the employer side and the worker side alternately, on rotation every year	Record the rotation calendar in the constitution order
Women	Adequate representation of women workers, not less than the proportion of women workers to total workers	Round up, never down

How worker-side members are chosen, and any further detail, comes from the rules that apply to you. Where there is a recognised negotiating union, the usual practice is for it to nominate the worker members.

Worked example: sizing the committee

A packaging unit has 240 workers, of whom 54 are women.

1. Proportion of women workers: 54 ÷ 240 = 22.5%.
2. Proposed committee: 8 members, 4 from the employer and 4 from the workers.
3. Minimum women members: 22.5% × 8 = 1.8, which rounds up to 2.
4. Constitution: 2 women members, ideally at least one on each side, so the women's view is present whichever side chairs in a given year.

If the committee is 10 members, the minimum becomes 22.5% × 10 = 2.25, rounded up to 3.

What are the timelines?

• Filing. An aggrieved worker may apply to the GRC within one year from the date the cause of action arose.
• Disposal. The committee should complete its proceedings within 30 days of receiving the application.
• Further remedy. A worker who is dissatisfied with the decision, or whose grievance is not resolved in time, can take the matter further under the Code, including by raising an industrial dispute. The exact route, forms and any intermediate appeal depend on the Code and the rules that apply to you, so check them before you write the policy.

The 30-day clock is tight for a committee that meets quarterly. Build the process around it.

How to design the GRC process

Stage	What to do	Owner	Target
Intake	Written application on paper, email or a self-service form; record the date received	HR	Day 0
Acknowledgement	Written acknowledgement with a reference number	HR	Within 2 working days
Preliminary check	Is it an individual grievance within the GRC's remit, and within one year?	GRC convenor	Within 5 working days
Hearing	Worker heard, with a co-worker if the policy allows; management side heard	Committee	Within 20 days
Decision	Written decision with reasons, signed by members	Committee	Within 30 days
Implementation	Action taken and confirmed to the worker	HR	As decided

Design choices that make the process work:

• Separate from discipline. A GRC hears a worker's grievance against the employer. It is not the forum for misconduct cases, which follow your standing orders and domestic enquiry procedure.
• Conflict of interest. A member whose own decision is being challenged steps aside for that case.
• No retaliation. State it in the policy and mean it.
• Escalation inside the 30 days. If a hearing slips, the convenor escalates to the plant head with a revised date.

GRC vs POSH Internal Committee vs works committee vs helpdesk

Forum	Law	Who must have it	What it handles
Grievance Redressal Committee	IR Code, 2020	Industrial establishments with 20 or more workers	Disputes arising from individual workers' grievances
Internal Committee (POSH)	Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013	Every workplace with 10 or more employees	Complaints of sexual harassment, with its own inquiry procedure and timelines
Works committee	IR Code, 2020	Establishments with 100 or more workers, where the appropriate government orders it	Measures for securing amity and good relations between employer and workers
HR helpdesk	Company policy	Optional	Everyday queries and service requests

A sexual harassment complaint must go to the Internal Committee, never the GRC. The POSH Act has its own composition (presiding officer a senior woman, an external member, at least half the members women), timelines and confidentiality rules, which our POSH guide covers. Most queries ("my payslip is wrong") belong in the helpdesk; only unresolved disputes need the GRC. Write a one-page routing guide so employees know which door to knock on.

What records should you keep?

• The constitution order: members, sides, chair for the current year, date of constitution and rotation calendar.
• Proof of the women's representation calculation, refreshed when headcount changes.
• A grievance register: reference, date received, worker, category, dates of hearing and decision, outcome, days taken.
• Hearing minutes and the signed decision for each case.
• Evidence of display of the committee's details on notice boards and in the handbook.

How long to keep these records depends on the rules that apply to you and your own retention policy; our guide to HR records retention sets out an approach. The register is also the first document an inspector or auditor will ask for, as our HR audit checklist notes.

Common mistakes

• Constituting the GRC on paper and never convening it.
• Filling the worker side with management nominees.
• Forgetting to rotate the chair each year.
• Rounding the women's representation down.
• Routing sexual harassment complaints to the GRC.
• Missing the 30-day target because the committee meets only on a fixed schedule.
• Keeping no register, so the employer cannot prove the machinery works.

FAQs

Is a grievance redressal committee mandatory? Yes, for every industrial establishment with 20 or more workers under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020.

How many members can a GRC have? Not more than 10, with equal numbers from the employer and the workers.

Who chairs the grievance redressal committee? The chair alternates between the employer side and the worker side, on rotation every year.

What is the time limit to resolve a grievance? The committee should complete proceedings within 30 days of receiving the application. A worker must apply within one year of the cause of action.

Is the GRC the same as the POSH Internal Committee? No. The Internal Committee under the POSH Act handles sexual harassment complaints with its own procedure. The GRC handles other individual grievances of workers.

Can a worker go to the labour department directly? The GRC does not take away the worker's right to raise an industrial dispute under the Code. Check the rules that apply for the exact sequence.

How NeevHR helps

NeevHR's HR helpdesk gives employees a categorised ticket queue with first-response and resolution SLAs, breach flags and automatic escalation up a configured ladder, which suits the intake and tracking side of a grievance process. Committee constitution orders and the grievance policy can be published through documents for employees to read and acknowledge. To see how intake and escalation would work for your establishments, book a demo.

This article provides general information for educational purposes. Statutory rules, thresholds, rates and filing requirements may change; verify with the relevant authority or a qualified professional. Last reviewed: 27 Oct 2026.