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Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”) was enacted as a comprehensive legislation to provide a safe, secure and enabling environment, free from sexual harassment to every woman. This statute was enacted to fill the legislative void which had been partially addressed by the judiciary in Vishaka and Others v. State of Rajasthan and Others (1997 (7) SCC 323). In this seminal public interest litigation verdict, the Supreme Court of India had framed a set of guidelines (“Vishaka Guidelines”) for dealing with instances of sexual harassment at the workplace, which has now been codified in the POSH Act.
Under the POSH Act, an employer is legally required to comply with certain statutory requirements. One of these is the constitution of an Internal Complaints Committee (“ICC”), a body envisaged to receive complaints on sexual harassment at the workplace from an aggrieved woman, as well as to inquire into and make recommendations to the employer on the action required pursuant to its inquiry of such complaint made.
The following discussion highlights key aspects that must be borne in mind by an employer seeking to constitute an ICC in compliance with the POSH Act.
It is important and critical to ensure that your brand name does not get tarnished also to prevent negative branding and safeguarding workplaces against defamation, it is essential to protect a healthy work environment in offices, to ensure a smooth functioning, per the POSH Complainces
Examples of Conduct Amounting to Sexual Harassment. Whether an act or
conduct would amount to ‘sexual harassment’ is dependent on the
specifics of the act and the circumstances.The below listed actions
could amount to sexual harassment:
1. Unwanted sexual advances or propositions;
2. Pestering for dates or receiving unwelcome sexual suggestions or invitations;
3. Offering employment benefits in exchange for sexual favours;
4. Leering
5. Making sexual gestures
6. Displaying sexually suggestive objects or pictures, cartoons,
calendars or posters
7. Making or using derogatory comments,comments about a person’s body or dress,
slurs, epithets or sexually suggestive jokes
8. Written communications of a sexual nature distributed in hard copy
or via a computer network, suggestive or obscene letters, notes or
invitations
9. Physical conduct such as unwanted touching, assault, impeding or
blocking movements
10. Being forcibly kissed or hugged
11. Having someone expose their private parts to you or repeatedly
staring at a woman’s body parts that makes her uncomfortable
12. Making or threatening retaliation after a negative response to
sexual advances
or for reporting or threatening to report sexual harassment;
13. Eve-teasing;
14. Sexually tinted remarks, whistling, staring, sexually slanted and
obscene jokes, jokes causing or likely to cause awkwardness or
embarrassment;
15. Subtle innuendoes or open taunting regarding perfection,
imperfection or characteristics of physical appearance of a person’s
body or shape
16. Gender based insults and/or sexist remarks;
17. Displaying pornographic or other sexually offensive or derogatory material
18. Forcible invitations for dates
19. Forcible physical touch or physical assault or molestation
20. Suggesting or implying that failure to accept a request for a date
or sexual favours would adversely affect the individual in respect to
performance evaluation promotion;
21. Explicitly or implicitly suggesting sexual favours in return for
hiring, compensation promotion, retention decision, relocation,or
allocation of job/responsibility/work
22. Any act or conduct by a person in authority and belonging to one
sex which denies or would deny equal opportunity in pursuit of career
development or otherwise
making the environment at the work place hostile or intimidating to a person
belonging to the other sex, only on the ground of such individual providing or
refusing sexual favours
23. Physical confinement against one’s will and any other act likely
to violate one’s
privacy.
The POSH Act defines ‘sexual harassment’ in line with the Supreme
Court’s definition of ‘sexual harassment’ in the Vishaka Judgment. As
per the POSH Act, ‘sexual harassment’ includes unwelcome sexually
tinted behaviour, whetherdirectly or by implication, such as (i)
physical contact and advances, (ii) demand or request for sexual
favours, (iii) making sexually coloured
remarks, (iv) showing pornography, or (v) any other unwelcome
physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature.10. The
following circumstances, among other
circumstances, if they occur or are present in relation to or
connected with any act or behaviour of sexual harassment may amount to
sexual harassment:
implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in employment:
ƒ 1)implied or explicit threat of detrimental
2)treatment in employment
ƒ 3)implied or explicit threat about present or
4) future employment status
5)interference with work or creating an intimidating or offensive
or hostile work
environment; or
ƒ 6) humiliating treatment likely to affect the lady employee’s
health or safety
It is mandatory requirement to have a POSH policy in place, else
there are penal punishments such as even cancellation of licence of a
given workplace, besides fine.
POSH committee deals, and ensures that POSH complainces, are abided in an organization. It is important that the HR managers, IC should be educated on POSH Complainces, do’s and don’ts while handling a complaint, process of enquiry handling, what is and what is not a sexual offence, what are factors deciding compensation. What are the rights of a respondent
IC has a critical and most integral role to play, it is often seen
that company/s are defamed, as either the complaints are mishandled by
IC, as IC had not educated on the Do’s and don’ts of a POSH complaint,
else they are not taught on their role to be handling a complaint
appropriately.
Most important and essential mandatory sessions, atleast should be
held twice a year at a Pan Employee level.
IC needs to be well versed with the POSH guidelines and complainces,
in case IC mishandles a complaint there are strict punishments for the
same.
Yes, very strict Punishment against false or malicious complaints.
IC needs to consider, the mental trauma, pain, suffering, emotional
distress, caused to the agrieved women, loss in career oppurtunity,
medical expenses incurred, income and financial status of the
respondent, feasibility of such payment in lumpsum or in instalments.
This course is intended for any user who is a worker/ an employee/ an employer/ an executive/ a board member/ HR/ vendor/ CEOs / CA / CS / CLOs / IC Members / Local Committee members/ trainers/ entrepreneurs running businesses/ owner of any workspace, medium, big & large and all those who want to be aware about Sexual Harassment & its Prevention.
