POSH Complaince

POSH Compliance

POSH Act and Its Compliances

The POSH Act is applicable to every organization, department, establishment and workplace, company employing 10 or more employees (full time, part-time, interns or consultants included) irrespective of its location or nature of the industry.

What is Sexual Harassment?

Sexual Harassment includes:

• Physical contact and advantage
• a demand or request for sexual favours or
• making sexually coloured remarks or
• showing pornography or
• any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.

Duties of Employer

• Provide a safe working environment
• Display at the workplace, details of:
• the penal consequences of indulging in acts of sexual harassment
• composition of the ICC
• the grievance redressal mechanism available to aggrieved employees
• Organize workshops and awareness programs for sensitizing employees
• Organizing orientation programs for members of the ICC
• Cooperate and assist during the course of the inquiry
• Treat sexual harassment as a misconduct under the service rules
• Provide assistance to the aggrieved employee, should she choose to file a police complaint;
• Initiate action under the IPC or such other applicable law
• Ensure timely submission of reports to the District Officer

Who can file a complaint?

An aggrieved woman may make a written complaint of sexual harassment at the workplace to ICC/LC

• Within a period of three months from the date of the incident and
• In case of series of such incidents, within a period of three months from the last incident.

However, any delay in filing the complaint can be condoned by the committee for up to further three months.

In case of physical or mental incapability or death of the aggrieved woman, her legal heirs or such other person as described in Rule 6 of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013 (“the Rules”) may make a complaint.