Long bygone are the days when men used to be the sole bread-winners of a family. Globalization has brought a radical change in the status of women worldwide. However, with the larger influx of women in the mainstream workforce of India, sexual harassment at workplace has assumed greater dimensions.
Workplace sexual harassment is a form of gender discrimination which violates a woman’s fundamental right to equality and right to life, guaranteed under Articles 14, 15 and 21 of the Constitution of India (“Constitution”).
Workplace sexual harassment not only creates an insecure and hostile working environment for women but also impedes their ability to deliver in today’s competing world. Apart from interfering with their performance at work, it also adversely affects their social and economic growth and puts them through physical and emotional suffering.
India’s first legislation specifically addressing the issue of workplace sexual harassment; the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”) was enacted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, India in 2013.
The Government also subsequently notified the rules under the POSH Act titled the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013 (“POSH Rules”). The year 2013 also witnessed the promulgation of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 (“Criminal Law Amendment Act”) which has criminalized offences such as sexual harassment, stalking and voyeurism.
The POSH Act has been enacted with the objective of preventing and protecting women against workplace sexual harassment and to ensure effective redressal of complaints of sexual harassment. While the statute aims at providing every woman (irrespective of her age or employment status) a safe, secure and dignified working environment, free from all forms of harassment, proper implementation of the provisions of the statute remains a challenge.
Although the law preventing sexual harassment at workplace has been in force since 2013, there remains lack of clarity on various aspects pertaining to the statute, including what constitutes sexual harassment, obligations of an employer, remedies/safeguards available to the victim, procedure of investigation, etc. Many are also not fully aware of the criminal consequences of sexual harassment. Lewd jokes, inappropriate comments etc. are dismissed as normal, with women being hesitant to initiate actions due to apprehension of being disbelieved or ridiculed; which underpins the need for greater awareness and greater enforcement.
In order to effectively deal with the situation listed above and to protect the rights of the employees viz a viz employer, an effective implementation of the POSH Act is required.
For the purpose of an effective implementation of the above, we suggest and offer:
- Drafting of POSH Policy and rolling out the same
- Training for key stakeholders on Policy, this would cover
- Introduction to the POSH Act
- What amounts to Sexual Harassment and what does not amount to Sexual Harassment
- Key Responsibilities of the Employer
- Constitution of Internal Committee (IC)
- Role of Internal Committee (IC)
- Role of Employees
- The Complaint and Redressal Process
- Sensitization/ Awareness/ Orientation: Create awareness on the issue amongst employees and simultaneously equip employers in providing women a safe and secure working environment.
- Filing of Nil Report to Authority under POSH (Recently the Government has become quite active on reviewing the effective implementation of POSH Act in the organization, hence it is advisable to submit Nil Return in case of Nil complaints)
