POSH Compliance
Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act (POSH Act) clearly lays down the various steps an organization should take to create a safe workplace for women.
Mandatory Steps Towards POSH Compliance:
1
2
Change employment contract to reflect organization’s POSH policy.
3
Constitute an Internal Committee (IC) to handle complaints regarding sexual harassment.
4
Create awareness among employees on their rights and responsibilities towards creating a safe workplace.
5
Submit Annual Report on POSH Compliance.
Internal Committee (IC)
Internal Committee is a judicial body formulated in an organization that has 10 or more employees. The Employer must pass an order in writing to constitute an IC. For example, if the organization is a private limited company, the order in writing for the constitution of an IC should be passed as a Board Resolution. The IC is responsible to handle and redress complaints on sexual harassment.
Constitution of Internal Committee
The IC must be headed by the Presiding Officer who is a senior female employee
Two other employees to be appointed as IC members
An external member must be appointed
The external member should be committed to the cause of women safety
50% of the IC members should be women
The members can hold their positions up to three years
An IC to be constituted in every administrative division of the organization
The IC should have 3 types of members. They are:
Presiding Officer
Senior level female employee
Employee Members
Committed to cause of women safety
External Member
Familiar with issue related to sexual harassments
- 1. Presiding Officer: This member will be the chairperson of the Internal Committee and should be a senior-level female employee.
- 2. Employee Members: The IC should also include two or more members from the employees committed to the cause of women.
- 3. External Member: The IC should include an external member who is not connected to the organization in any manner except as an external member.
What is the role of an External Member?
Here is a brief list of some of the roles that an External Member in the Internal Committee may perform:
Active involvement in formulating and reviewing the organization’s POSH policy.
Impartial role in handling and supervision of complaints related to Sexual Harassment.
Professional advice to the organization on implementation of POSH policy
Participating in meetings to ensure proper implementation of the POSH policy.
Drafting the Minutes of Meeting for IC meetings.
Contribution to Annual Report preparation.
What is the role of an Internal Committee?
It is mandatory that one-half of the IC members are women and the presiding officer should be a woman.
Role of an Internal Committee
To draft the Sexual Harassment Policy for the organization
To work towards providing a safe and respectful working environment
Organize training and awareness programs (classroom / eLearning) at regular intervals
To conduct meetings:
When there is a complaint received in writing from any of the women employees,
To settle grievances
To make sure there is appropriate compensation for any case of misconduct and sexual harassment.
Creating Employee Awareness
To create awareness on sexual harassment prevention, organizations can use:
Classroom sessions
eLearning courses
Awareness programs like “Sexual Harassment Awareness week / month”
Standees on POSH placed at areas like cafeteria where employees gather in big numbers.
Posters and banners on POSH sent through emails to all employees.
