The importance of Annual Report submission ( Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace)

Many organizations wonder, that if a complaint of Sexual Harassment is mishandled by the IC, ?and it turns out to be disastrous for complainant or respondent or worse even the organization, then it may not be viable to have an Internal Committee. This very thought stops organizations ?to form an IC or carry out full inquiry judiciously as per laid down guidelines of the POSH Act, 2013

Let me break down the first myth for you, IC only does fact finding and gives recommendations as per their findings, the final decision is only taken by the employer or highest authority. If the action taken by employer is not something respondent or complainant would ideally look forward to. IC would have still done their duty, and more importantly, both complainant and respondent can appeal to the court, within 90 days from the date of submission of annual report. Having said that a well trained Internal Committee would always attempt to do their best in carrying out a proper inquiry.

The good thing about IC proceeding is, that because of timely documentation and submission of Inquiry report to employer, and consecutive Annual report, by Employer to district collector, an Organization remains compliant. This by no means, degrades an organizations /employees /or employers reputation because the law by itself demands that all details need to be submitted on the Annual report by January 31st. You will be surprised to know that one step towards being compliant can not only be a relief, but also upholds the organizational pride and dignity. Now as you read this, you may be wondering, but what about the future of the respondent or complainant? What about their careers and reputation?

Let me clarify that for you- Half the battle is won when a POSH Awareness is carried out twice a year, across all departments and all employees ( even contractual employees, interns) and including employer. If the organization is aware of the punishable offences, there is a slim chance that there would be occurrences of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace. Infact a lot of workplace sexual misconduct comes from a place of unawareness, and they may not fall under the category of physical form of Sexual Harassment.

The rest of it lies with the organization in execution of the POSH Act by enabling IC to handle complaints. The outcome of complaint may not necessarily be severe, unless it is severity dependent ( Criminal cases for example- as per IPC 354 A-D), but chances are that the findings of a complaint can also lead to a greater awareness of what employees may not know or may have misunderstood, and can sometimes have a grey outcome. However, good or bad it maybe, the importance of annual report and submission of same, clearly indicates? that IC and therefore the organization has met the laid down compliance as per POSH Act 2013.

The Annual report needs to capture some basic details

A . Number of sexual harassment complaints received in that year

B.? Number of complaints disposed off in that year

C. Number of complaints pending beyond 90 days

D. Action taken by employer

E.? Number of POSH Awareness /IC skill building sessions being carried out.

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Apart from the Annual Report, companies will also have to include a statement in the Director’s report, confirming their compliance as per the provisions of the POSH Act, 2013, which is further filed with the registrar of the company. The annual report is submitted along with this, completing the procedure.

The Annual report then needs to be submitted to the District Collector of the state.

Needless to say, after all this a how can an Organization possibly go wrong.

Periodic trainings, quarterly meetings along with external member, display of IC members name and email ID, and a clear effort in carrying out the duties of an ?followed by Annual Report submission to the district authority, an Organization or a company would have met their compliance requirements.

Its important to note that having a full functioning Internal Committee is an asset to your organization.

Authored by : Shayanti Roy , Certified POSH Trainer and Certified Behavioral Consultant