Under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, what is the minimum number of workers required in an industrial establishment for a Works Committee to be constituted, and what is its primary purpose?

Under the Industrial Relations Code, 2020, any industrial establishment employing 300 or more workers may be required to constitute a Works Committee. This is a significant upward revision from the earlier Industrial Disputes Act, 1947, which mandated Works Committees in establishments with 100 or more workers. The Works Committee consists of equal numbers of representatives of the employer and workers and its primary purpose is to promote measures for securing and preserving amicable relations between the employer and workers, and to comment upon matters of their common interest. It is not a dispute resolution body in the formal legal sense it is a consultative body aimed at preventing conflicts before they escalate into industrial disputes. Works Committees deal with day-to-day conditions of employment such as welfare measures, safety, working conditions, and general discipline, making them the first line of industrial harmony in an establishment.