PoSH (PREVENTION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT)

Aug 11, 2022
3 min read

July 28, 2022

Written by Shweta Pandit, founder of Shweta Consultancy Services

PoSH Policy And Its Importance:

The landmark judgment pronounced in the famous Vishakha v. State of Rajasthan Case is related to the introduction of the PoSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) Policy in the workplaces. The PoSH Policy is used to bring safety to the workplace amongst the employees. Both male and female employees are covered under this policy. Its main aim is to create security and safety and to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace.

Why Do We Need It As A Policy?

The PoSH Policy is mandatory at the workplace. It expects the employer to adhere to the rules provided by law regarding the safety of employees at such places. To make the employees understand how to behave at the workplace, what is permissible, and what is prohibited, it is important to write it down on paper and make it mandatory for employees to follow it so later nobody claims that he or she was aware of the rules and believed it to be a casual way of behaving.

What Is A Workplace?

The workplace includes any office premises, including the office cafeteria shared by the office members. It includes every place that is visited by the employees together for the purpose of the office like conferences, meetings, off-sites, etc. Extended Workplaces comprise vendors, client sites, office transport, virtual meetings, and the residence of employees, i.e. Work From Home.

What Concludes Sexual Harassment?

The acts or behaviours which are unwelcome or make the other person uncomfortable, like physical contact and advances, making sexual coloured remarks, demands or requests for sexual favours, showing pornography, etc., fall under sexual harassment.

What Are The Requirements?

Any organization with more than 10 employees is required to form an Internal Complaints Committee(ICC) that will handle the matters related to the sexual harassment of an employee. In the Internal Committee, there must be a senior woman employee, 2 members among employees with social work or legal background, and 1 external member from an NGO or a person having sexual-related matters experience. Authority shall be appointed by the board resolution. In a case where there are less than 10 employees, an External Committee must be formed to regulate the related matters.

What Are The Awards Of Complaints?

On the receipt of the complaint, the Internal Complaints Committee can award conciliation between the aggrieved and the alleged; settlement of the matter, excluding provisions for monetary settlement. Other options include investigation, conducting inquiries as per timelines, transferring interim reliefs, granting leave up to 3 months or any other suitable relief, assistance in filing a police complaint for serious matters like rape, or sexual assault, etc.

Punishments:

The punishments on being found guilty include a written apology by the accused, a warning given by the (ICC) Internal Complaints Committee, withholding promotion in the organization, withholding a hike in the salary, compensation, or termination.

Who Can File A Complaint?

Aggrieved employee or any person authorized by the aggrieved employee in writing, legal heirs, or other authorized representatives are accredited to file a complaint.

Duties Of Employer:

The duties of the employer are providing a safe working environment for the employees, displaying the penal consequences and ICC constitution, organizing workshops and awareness programs at regular intervals, assisting the ICC in securing respondents, witnesses, and other documentary evidence, and assisting women employees in filing a police complaint, treating sexual harassment as a misconduct under service rules/appointment letter, and monitoring the timely submission of reports by ICC.

Consequences Of Non-Compliances:

Non-compliance with the above policy can take the shape of a fine which could be up to 50,000. Repeated offenders could be fined twice the earlier, and termination of a business license can also be a repercussion.

Conclusion:

Employees, whether permanent, temporary, ad-hoc, consultants, interns, or contract workers, irrespective of their genders, are all mandated under Law to comply with certain requirements. Employers, on the other hand, are required to maintain the safety and safe environment for their employees. Happy employees lead to productive work and quality results and hence, ultimately lead to happy employers.