Why does your Organization need to be POSH Compliant?

As the old saying goes “Prevention is better than cure”, someone very thoughtfully said it and the world followed it! Today it seems like this is the only alternative to medicine:))

Where in a society like ours, Indian women have always faced a taboo of dressing to suit a particular fashion frenzy, being extroverts, having boyfriends, or keeping a short haircut.? Our Indian Constitution understands any act of sexual harassment equals to violation of human rights and brings about disqualification of equality within genders.

The #globalstatistics revelations are shocking!!

1 out of every 4 women- Experience Sexual Harassment at the Workplace.

81% of women experience harassment in Verbal form.

Men too are not spared from Sexual Harassment, 1 in 10 men experience it !!

It’s one thing when we say that women should be modestly dressed and should not step out of the house after 7 pm, but today’s corporate work culture demands women to not only work day in and day out from wee hours in the morning to late evening sometimes and then to be ‘socially’ acceptable has to sometimes at office parties or events wear clothes to ‘dress like a party animal’. But should that be considered her choice always? In some cases, it may while in most it may not. She would have gotten accustomed to this style only to get acceptable in her social circle and colleagues and to behave like a talkative, unreserved, forward-thinking gal.

Let’s rewind ourselves to times when women didn’t have the power to speak in front of male members of the family and were made to do only housework. What social freedom did she have in those days? Nothing at all. We should all be thankful for the influence of the western world that has made our Indian patriarchal society change for the better and accept women working and earning livelihood for their families.

In such a scenario, the workplace she is working, ought to be 100% safe and secure to take care of her physical, social, emotional, and psychological needs at all times.?

But do we as employers understand how to maintain that security for women during and after official working hours? Just merely having a good, friendly work environment with dozens of employee benefits may not always be enough. A strategic step toward taking care of the dignity of every woman in the organization is a must.

The Indian legal system is slowly but steadily making changes to encompass the larger interests of labor centricity and women's orientation since almost 35-40% of our workforce comprises women workers.

Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act, 2013 or popularly known as POSH at Workplace Act,2013 is one such Act that was incorporated wherein it was made mandatory for every employer to provide a mechanism to redress grievances pertaining to sexual harassment at the workplace and right to provide for gender equality for working women in a time bound manner. The Act is also unique as it covers under its ambit working women in the organized and unorganized sectors of India.

Since Sexual harassment violates the very fundamental right of women to equality as per Article 14 and Article 15 and her right to live with dignity as per Article 21 of the Constitution of India, the Government of India enacted the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) 2013. The Act is an extension of the Vishaka guidelines issued by the Supreme Court in 1997. By issuing Vishaka guidelines, the Supreme Court for the first time considered Sexual harassment as a violation of human rights and further with the help of government-enforced Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women through CEDAW on 9th Jul 1993.

This new legislation in place is making every effort to provide employers and employees useful information to make their work environment POSH compliant ie. safe and secure for every gender at the workplace irrespective of it being organized, unorganized sector, public or private entity, school, college, university or hospital and even regardless of the hierarchy the woman is working in.?

Employers from every sector irrespective of the number of employees is expected to make their work environment POSH compliant and create a mechanism to ensure safety for all women at their workplace.

Some of the duties of the employer are listed below:

1. Firstly, there must be a separate Sexual Harassment Policy conversant with the POSH Act, 2013.
2. Mention of various definitions such as “Employer”, “Employee”, “Workplace”,” Aggrieved Woman”,” Sexual Harassment” etc. needs to be highlighted.
3. A separate Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) be constituted with a minimum of four members having a senior woman as Presiding Officer, two other employees, and one External member at least.
4. The HR Head or manager can be a part of the committee if the company board approves receiving the complaints which can be further assessed by the Internal Complaints committee at length.

From Employer’s Desk :

• Should ensure a safe working environment at the workplace.
• Display a notice in a conspicuous place regarding anti-sexual harassment clauses and penal actions that can be taken in view of the Act.
• Organizing training workshops and educational forums by calling in experts to speak on the topic and enlighten the workforce on its importance and implications.
• Ensure ICC works in full confidentiality and in a timely manner to expedite a complaint and follow the procedure to provide redress to the matter.
• In expediting the matter ensure full support is provided by the company in ensuring the aggrieved woman is given justice in her case so that in general women do not shy away from making a complaint and feel safe and secure while working in the organization.?

In short, the employer has to set an example of equality and intolerance towards sexual harassment irrespective of grade, the status of employment in terms of full-time/part-time or contract worker, religion, gender, age, and position in the hierarchy.??