Objectives of the Act
a) To prevent and to provide protection against Sexual Harassment of women at workplace.
b) Redressal of Complaints of sexual harassment
Sexual Harassment at the workplace is a horrific violation of an Individual’s right’s. It violates the Fundamental rights of a woman namely :-
a) Right to Equality under Article 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India
b) Right to life and to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution of India
c) Right to Practice any profession which incudes a right to a safe environment free from Sexual Harassment
POSH LAWS APPLIES TO WHOM ?
-POSH Act applies to every organisation with more than 10 employees.
-Applies to every employer whether it is an individual, partnership or a company.
-Applies to every organization whether it is a Public Limited Company, Private Limited Company, Limited Liability Partnership, Association, Society, Partnership Firm, Trust, Proprietorship or an NGO, irrespective of its size and number of the employees.
What are the Legal requirements under POSH Act?
To Ensure the proper implementation of :-
POSH Policy
Sensitisation of all employees
Formation of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC)
Training of ICC on investigation procedure, confidentiality of matters, timelines, the format of reports etc
Mandatory external member who will ensure fairness, neutrality and right steps for the implementation of POSH policy
Filing of the annual report to appropriate authorities and POSH compliance to be made available as part of the Director’s report.
To be POSH compliant, an employer has to fulfill various obligations in ensuring that working women do not face sexual harassment at the workplace.
LEGAL COMPLIANCE AS PER LAW
FOR EMPLOYERS
As per Section 4 of the Act, every company with 10 or more employees must constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). It is mandatory for every organization having more than ten people employed to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to address and redress complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace.
The ICC Committee must include:
1. A Presiding Officer appointed from Senior Management (must be a woman)
2. One external member from amongst non-governmental organizations or a lawyer
3. At least two members to represent the employees of the organization.
ESSENTIAL REQUIREMENTS AS PER LAW :-
1. At least one-half of the total members to be nominated shall be women.
2. All complaints shall be made to this body and it must resolve every issue impartially.
METHODS TO ENSURE THAT THE ORGANIZATION IS FULLY COMPLIANT WITH THE POSH LAWS :
I. Constituting a Separate Committee for redressal of complaints
For all Organizations having 10 or more employees
They are required to constitute an ICC, even if they do not have any women employees.
Compliance with POSH laws is extremely important because the law also allows the third parties like contractors, clients, customers etc. visiting the premises of the organization to file a complaint of sexual harassment that took place at the workplace.
For organisations having less than 10 employees
Ø No need to form an ICC
Ø Complaints of sexual harassment in this case will go to the Local Complaints Committee (LCC) setup by the district magistrate or the district collector at each district level.
II. Creating awareness about the POSH laws
Ø The employer shall hold workshops, seminars, and orientations for its employees to ensure proper awareness about the POSH laws and the process for complaint resolution under the ICC.
Ø Also mandatory for the employers to adequately display notices at the workplace about the penal consequences of indulging in sexual harassment, information about the ICC composition and its members.
III. Drafting a POSH Policy
The law mandates that every company must have a POSH policy i.e an Anti-sexual harassment policy
Ø For prohibition, prevention, and redressal of sexual harassment at the workplace and
Ø To promote gender-sensitive safe spaces and
Ø To remove underlying factors that contribute towards a hostile work environment against women.
IV. Changes in the Employment contracts
Only drafting a policy complying with the POSH laws is not enough. An employer under the anti-sexual harassment laws is required to treat any instances of sexual harassment as misconduct under the rules of employment. It is important to introduce a specific clause in the terms of employment agreement, standing orders or the service rules of a workplace stating that sexual harassment will be considered as misconduct along with the repercussions which could include deduction of wages, termination of employment etc.
V. Annual Report on POSH Compliance
Section 21 - An annual report has to be filed by the Internal Complaints Committee (in case of more than 10 employees) or the Local Complaints Committee (in case of less than 10 employees)
Section 22 - An employer shall state about the company’s POSH compliance i.e. the number of cases filed, their disposal and investigations etc. in each calendar year and submit the same to the District officer under the supervision of the employer. In cases in which the annual report is not required to be filed, the employer is responsible to communicate the total number of harassment cases filed in a year to the District Officer.
LEGAL COMPLIANCE FOR EMPLOYEES
- All employees must undergo sensitization training each year
- Every incident has to be taken seriously and investigated by the ICC irrespective of the intention of the accused or the level of impact upon the victim.
- Even a single instance of forwarding an indecent joke or picture on social media platforms can also form a complaint.
Employers have to conduct education and sensitization programmes and develop policies against Sexual Harassment, among other obligations.
DUTIES OF AN EMPLOYER AS PER LAW (SECTION 19)
a) To provide a safe working environment at the workplace and it include safety from the persons coming into contact at the workplace
b) To display the penal consequences of sexual harassments and the order constituting the Internal Committee under section 4 at a proper place of the organization
c) To organise workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitising the employees
d) To provide necessary facilities to the Internal Committee or the Local Committee for dealing with the complaint and for conducting an inquiry
e) To assist in securing the attendance of respondent and witnesses before the Internal Committee or the Local Committee
f) To make available all such relevant information to the Internal Committee or the Local Committee
g) To provide assistance to the woman if she chooses to file a complaint in relation to the offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC, 1860) or under any other law for the time being in force
h) To treat sexual harassment as a misconduct under the service rules and initiate proper action for such misconduct
i) To monitor the timely submission of reports by the Internal Committee.
POSH TRAINING
It is commonly seen that employees are either unaware or too afraid to ask regarding the compliance of POSH laws. In most of the cases, organizations don’t have the requisite training or processes to ensure Prevention of Sexual Harassment.
In order to provide a safe and gender-neutral work environment, an organization’s employees, managers & directors need to be educated on what is and what isn’t sexual harassment under POSH Training.
For instance, Sexual harassment is not only limited to making inappropriate advances. It also includes unwelcome physical or verbal behaviour that creates a hostile work environment. Also, Sexual harassment is not limited to the office space only, but it can go beyond within the work environment of the management.
Ø POSH training allows you to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate workplace behaviour
Ø It educates the employees on the meaning, definition & consequences under the POSH Act.
Ø The training can be done through online video courses or via in-person workshops.
WHY POSH TRAINING IS REQUIRED ?
1. To familiarize all employees with the applicable legal framework and best practices at work of the management
To sensitize managers towards gender equality due to the inherent nature of power differences between them
To Train the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) on how to handle complaints and resolve conflicts
BENEFITS OF CONDUCTING POSH TRAINING
Provides higher job satisfaction and employee engagement
Provides higher productivity and collaboration among all employees
Provides higher retention of valuable employees and talent
Improvement in workplace culture
Respect for colleagues
It is not that much difficult to create an environment that is protected, warm, friendly and safe. It only requires the presence of focus and attention. The most effective and powerful weapon against Sexual Harassment is to create awareness.
PENALTIES ON FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE POSH LAWS
(Section 26)
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