At a glance
| Document type | HR policy template |
|---|---|
| Issued by | Employer |
| Templates included | 3 ready to use versions |
| Download format | Word (.docx) |
| Statutory reference | Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 |
| Last reviewed | 26 August 2026 |
| Maintained by | Engage HR editorial team |
What the obligation actually consists of
Employers frequently treat the policy as the whole requirement. It is one of five distinct obligations, and a policy alone satisfies none of the others.
| Obligation | What it involves | Common shortfall |
|---|---|---|
| A written policy | A published prohibition, the complaint route, the inquiry process and the consequences. | Adopted, filed, never communicated. Staff cannot name the committee or say how to complain. |
| A constituted internal committee | Members appointed by order, with the prescribed composition including an external member, and terms of office recorded. | Members named informally in a policy document, no order of constitution, no external member, and no replacement when someone leaves. |
| Awareness and display | The prohibition and the committee details displayed where staff can see them, and the policy communicated. | A notice on an unopened intranet page, and nothing at sites where contract staff work. |
| Training | Orientation for all staff and specific capability building for committee members. | One induction slide. Committee members who have never been trained to conduct an inquiry. |
| Annual reporting and records | An annual return of cases and disposal, and a maintained record of complaints and outcomes. | Nothing filed, on the basis that there were no complaints that year. |
What a POSH policy contains
A complete policy has twelve sections. The order below moves from prohibition to redress, which is how a reader with a problem will look for it.
- Statement of prohibition. An unambiguous statement that sexual harassment is prohibited and will attract action.
- Scope. Who is covered, extending to contract staff, trainees, interns, probationers, consultants and visitors, and what counts as the workplace including travel and locations visited for work.
- What sexual harassment means. The definition, with the forms it takes and the circumstances that amount to it.
- The internal committee. Its composition, the current members with contact details, and how to reach it.
- How to complain. The route, the form if one is used, the period within which a complaint should be made, and who may complain on the aggrieved person's behalf.
- Interim relief. What may be sought while the inquiry is pending, such as transfer or leave.
- Conciliation. That it is available at the complainant's request, that it cannot be imposed, and that a monetary settlement is not permitted.
- The inquiry. How it is conducted, the principles applied, the timeline, and what both parties are entitled to.
- Outcome and action. The consequences on a finding, and the period within which action follows the recommendation.
- Confidentiality. The obligation on everyone involved, and the consequence of breaching it.
- Protection against retaliation. That victimising a complainant or a witness is itself a disciplinary matter.
- Malicious complaints. Stated carefully, so that it does not deter a genuine complaint that cannot be proved.
The malicious complaint section is the one most often drafted badly. A clause implying that an unproven complaint is a false one will stop complaints being made at all.
3 policy templates
POSH Policy for standard company policy
The general version, for a company constituting an internal committee and publishing a policy for the first time.
POLICY ON PREVENTION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT THE WORKPLACE [Company Name] Effective from: [Effective Date] Approved by: [Approving Authority] Policy owner: [Policy Owner Designation] Next review: [Review Date] 1. STATEMENT [Company Name] prohibits sexual harassment at the workplace in any form. Every person at our workplace is entitled to an environment free of it. Any act of sexual harassment will be treated as misconduct and will attract action under this policy and under our standing disciplinary process. 2. SCOPE This policy applies to every person at any workplace of [Company Name], including employees, probationers, trainees, apprentices, interns, contract and outsourced staff, consultants, and visitors. Workplace includes our premises at [Locations], any site visited by a person in the course of employment, transport provided by [Company Name], and any location where work is carried out including a residence where work is performed. 3. WHAT AMOUNTS TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT Unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature, whether direct or by implication, including: a) physical contact and advances b) a demand or request for sexual favours c) sexually coloured remarks d) showing pornography e) any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature It also includes any of the following in relation to such conduct: an implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment; an implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment; an implied or explicit threat about present or future employment status; interference with work or the creation of an intimidating, offensive or hostile work environment; or humiliating treatment likely to affect health or safety. 4. INTERNAL COMMITTEE [Company Name] has constituted an Internal Committee to receive and inquire into complaints. Presiding Officer: [Presiding Officer Name], [Designation], [Contact] Member: [Member Name], [Designation], [Contact] Member: [Member Name], [Designation], [Contact] External Member: [External Member Name], [Organisation], [Contact] The Committee is constituted by order dated [Constitution Order Date] for a term ending [Term End Date], which may not exceed three years. 5. HOW TO COMPLAIN A complaint may be made in writing to any member of the Internal Committee, at [Committee Email Address] or in person. A complaint should be made within three months of the incident, or of the last incident in a series. The Committee may extend this period by a further period not exceeding three months, for reasons recorded in writing, if satisfied that the circumstances prevented an earlier complaint. Where the aggrieved person is unable to complain themselves, a complaint may be made on their behalf by a person permitted to do so. If you need help putting the complaint in writing, any Committee member will assist. 6. INTERIM RELIEF While an inquiry is pending, the aggrieved person may make a written request to the Committee to recommend a transfer of either party to another workplace, or leave of up to three months, or such other relief as may be prescribed. Leave granted under this clause is in addition to the leave she is otherwise entitled to, and [Company Name] will implement any recommendation made and report the implementation back to the Committee. 7. CONCILIATION Before an inquiry begins, the Committee may take steps to settle the matter by conciliation if, and only if, the aggrieved person asks for it. Conciliation will not be proposed by [Company Name] and will not be used to settle a complaint for money. Where conciliation results in a settlement, it is recorded and no inquiry follows. 8. INQUIRY The Committee conducts the inquiry in accordance with the principles of natural justice. Both parties are given a copy of the complaint or reply as applicable, an opportunity to be heard, and an opportunity to respond to the evidence. Neither party may bring a legal practitioner to represent them. The inquiry will be completed within ninety days. The Committee provides its report to [Company Name] within ten days of completing the inquiry, and the report is made available to both parties. 9. ACTION ON THE FINDING Where the complaint is established, [Company Name] will act on the Committee's recommendation within sixty days of receiving it. Action may include a written apology, a warning, withholding of promotion or increment, deduction from salary or wages, counselling, termination of employment, or any other action permitted under our disciplinary process. 10. CONFIDENTIALITY The identity of the aggrieved person, the respondent, the witnesses, the contents of the complaint and the inquiry proceedings are confidential. Any person who publishes or discloses them commits a breach of this policy and will face disciplinary action. 11. NO RETALIATION Victimising the aggrieved person, a witness or a Committee member because of a complaint or an inquiry is itself misconduct and will be dealt with as such. 12. COMPLAINTS MADE MALICIOUSLY A complaint made maliciously, or with knowledge that it is untrue, or supported by forged evidence, is misconduct. A complaint that the Committee is unable to establish is not on that account a false or malicious one, and no action follows from an inability to prove a complaint. 13. AWARENESS AND TRAINING [Company Name] will display the prohibition and the Committee details at [Display Locations], cover this policy at induction, and conduct awareness sessions every [Training Frequency]. Committee members will receive capability building on conducting inquiries. 14. RECORDS AND ANNUAL REPORT The Committee maintains a confidential record of complaints and their disposal, and prepares an annual report as required. Approved: [Approving Authority] Date: [Date]
POSH Policy for multi-location employer
Where an employer has offices in more than one place, a committee is required at each. This version handles the routing so a complainant at a smaller site is not sent to head office.
POLICY ON PREVENTION OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT THE WORKPLACE [Company Name] Effective from: [Effective Date] Applies to all locations Approved by: [Approving Authority] 1. STATEMENT AND SCOPE [Company Name] prohibits sexual harassment at any of its workplaces. This policy applies at every location listed in Annexure A, and to every person at those workplaces including employees, trainees, interns, contract and outsourced staff, consultants and visitors. Workplace includes each listed location, any client or project site attended in the course of work, transport provided by [Company Name], and any place where work is performed. 2. WHAT AMOUNTS TO SEXUAL HARASSMENT [As set out in the standard policy: unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature, together with the circumstances of promised preferential treatment, threatened detriment, interference with work, a hostile environment, or humiliating treatment affecting health or safety.] 3. COMMITTEES AT EACH LOCATION An Internal Committee is constituted at each location where [Company Name] has an office. The members for each location, with contact details, are listed in Annexure B and displayed at that location. Where a location has fewer than the number of employees at which a Committee is required, complaints from that location are made to the Committee at [Designated Location], whose details are displayed at the smaller site. Where the complaint concerns a member of the Committee at the complainant's own location, or where the complainant prefers, the complaint may be made to the Committee at [Alternate Location] or to [Central POSH Contact]. 4. HOW TO COMPLAIN In writing to any member of the Committee for your location, at the address in Annexure B, or to [Central Committee Email Address]. A complaint should be made within three months of the incident or the last in a series, extendable by the Committee where circumstances prevented an earlier complaint. A complaint may be made on the aggrieved person's behalf where they are unable to make it themselves. Committee members will assist with putting a complaint in writing. 5. WHERE THE RESPONDENT IS AT A DIFFERENT LOCATION The Committee at the complainant's location conducts the inquiry. [Company Name] will make the respondent available, including by travel or by remote proceedings, and will bear the cost. 6. INTERIM RELIEF, CONCILIATION AND INQUIRY [As set out in the standard policy. Interim relief on request. Conciliation only where the aggrieved person asks, never proposed by [Company Name], never for money. Inquiry conducted in accordance with natural justice, completed within ninety days, no legal practitioner representing either party.] 7. ACTION, CONFIDENTIALITY AND RETALIATION [As set out in the standard policy. Action within sixty days of the recommendation. Confidentiality binding on everyone involved. Victimisation of a complainant, witness or Committee member is misconduct.] 8. CONTRACT AND OUTSOURCED STAFF Where the aggrieved person or the respondent is engaged through a contractor, [Company Name] will inquire into the complaint under this policy and will require the contractor to give effect to the outcome. The existence of a contract does not remove the complaint from this policy. 9. AWARENESS AT EVERY LOCATION The prohibition and the local Committee details are displayed at each location, including at sites where contract staff work and in languages those staff read. Awareness sessions are held at every location every [Training Frequency]. 10. RECORDS AND ANNUAL REPORT Each Committee maintains its record and reports to [Central POSH Contact], who consolidates the annual report. Annexure A: Locations covered Annexure B: Committee members by location Approved: [Approving Authority] Date: [Date]
POSH Policy for small employer short form
A plain language version for a small organisation, where a long document goes unread. It carries the same obligations in fewer words.
POLICY AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT WORK [Company Name] Effective from: [Effective Date] Owner: [Policy Owner Designation] 1. OUR POSITION Sexual harassment is not tolerated at [Company Name]. Anyone who does it will face disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, whatever their seniority. 2. WHO THIS COVERS Everyone at our workplace: employees, interns, trainees, contract staff, consultants and visitors. It covers our office at [Location], any place you go for work, transport we provide, and anywhere you are working from. 3. WHAT COUNTS Unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature. That includes physical contact or advances, asking for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, whether spoken, physical or otherwise. It also counts where someone is promised better treatment, threatened with worse, threatened about their job, has their work interfered with, is made to work in a hostile or offensive environment, or is treated in a humiliating way that could affect their health or safety. What matters is whether the behaviour was unwelcome, not whether it was meant badly. 4. OUR COMMITTEE Complaints go to our Internal Committee: [Presiding Officer Name], Presiding Officer, [Contact] [Member Name], Member, [Contact] [Member Name], Member, [Contact] [External Member Name], External Member, [Organisation], [Contact] Constituted by order dated [Constitution Order Date]. 5. HOW TO COMPLAIN Write to any Committee member, or email [Committee Email Address]. If you would rather speak first, any of them will meet you, and will help you put it in writing. Please complain within three months of what happened, or of the last time it happened. The Committee can allow up to three months more, recording its reasons, if something stopped you complaining sooner. Someone else can complain for you if you are not able to. 6. WHILE WE LOOK INTO IT You can ask the Committee in writing to recommend that you or the other person be moved to another workplace, or that you be given leave of up to three months. That leave is on top of your normal leave, not out of it. If the Committee recommends something, we have to do it and tell the Committee we have. 7. SETTLING IT WITHOUT AN INQUIRY If you want to try to settle the matter, the Committee can help before the inquiry starts. We will never suggest this ourselves, never push you towards it, and it can never be settled with money. 8. THE INQUIRY The Committee hears both sides fairly. You both see what the other has said, you both get to respond, and neither of you can bring a lawyer to represent you. We will finish within ninety days, and give [Company Name] our report within ten days of finishing. Both of you get a copy. 9. IF THE COMPLAINT IS ESTABLISHED We will act on the Committee's recommendation within sixty days. Depending on what happened, that can mean a written apology, a warning, withholding a promotion or increment, a deduction from wages, counselling, or dismissal. 10. THIS STAYS PRIVATE Nobody involved may discuss who complained, who was complained about, what was said, or what the Committee found. Doing so is itself a disciplinary matter. 11. NOBODY GETS PUNISHED FOR COMPLAINING If anyone treats you badly for complaining, or for being a witness, that is misconduct and we will deal with it. Tell [Escalation Contact] straight away. 12. COMPLAINTS MADE UP ON PURPOSE Deliberately making a false complaint is a disciplinary matter. But if the Committee cannot establish your complaint, that does not make it false, and nothing happens to you. 13. TRAINING We cover this at induction and run a session for everyone every [Training Frequency]. Committee members are trained on how to run an inquiry. 14. RECORDS The Committee keeps a confidential record and prepares the annual report. Approved: [Approving Authority] Date: [Date]
What it has to contain
| Element | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| A committee constituted by order, not named in a policy | Constitution is a formal act with a prescribed composition and recorded terms of office. A list of names inside a policy document, with no order and no external member, is not a constituted committee, and an inquiry conducted by it is open to challenge on that basis alone. |
| An external member | The composition requires a member from outside the organisation, drawn from a body committed to the cause of women or familiar with issues relating to sexual harassment. This is the requirement most often skipped, and it is not optional. |
| Scope covering everyone at the workplace | The obligation is not limited to people on payroll. Contract staff, interns, trainees, consultants and visitors are all covered, and a policy limited to employees leaves out the group most exposed and least able to complain. |
| A definition of the workplace that includes what happens off site | Work travel, client sites, employer-provided transport and locations where work is performed are all within scope. A policy defining the workplace as the office is inaccurate and misleads a complainant about whether they can complain. |
| The three month complaint period and the power to extend it | Section 9(1) sets three months from the incident, or from the last in a series, and gives the Committee power to extend by up to three months more for reasons recorded in writing. Stating the period without the extension deters people who took time to come forward, which is most people. |
| Conciliation described accurately | It is available only if the aggrieved person asks for it, cannot be initiated by the employer, and cannot be a monetary settlement. Policies that present conciliation as a first step get this backwards and create pressure to settle. |
| A carefully drafted clause on malicious complaints | A complaint that cannot be established is not a false one. Where the policy blurs this, the effect is that people with genuine complaints they cannot prove stay silent, which is the opposite of the intention. |
| Display of the prohibition and the committee details | The obligation includes making the position known at the workplace. A policy on an intranet is not display, and it does not reach the contract staff working at a site. |
How to write one
- Constitute a committee at every administrative unit. Section 4(1) requires every employer to constitute an Internal Committee, and where the offices or administrative units are at different places, or at divisional or sub-divisional level, it must be constituted at all of them. List your sites and work out how many committees that means before drafting anything. Where a site has fewer than ten workers and no committee, complaints go to the district Local Committee under section 6.
- Find the external member before drafting anything. This is the step that stalls constitutions, so start it first. The member comes from outside the organisation and must have the relevant background. Approach organisations working in the field locally, agree the terms and the fee, and record the appointment.
- Constitute the committee by written order. Issue an order naming the presiding officer and members, recording the composition requirements are met, and stating the term of office. Keep it with the policy. Diarise the expiry so the committee does not lapse unnoticed.
- Write the policy against the committee you actually have. Put the real names, real contact details and the date of the constitution order in the document. A policy referring to a committee in the abstract tells a complainant nothing about who to approach.
- Display it where people can see it. At the entrance, at each site, and in the languages the workforce reads. Include the sites where contract staff work, which is where display is most often missing and most needed.
- Train the committee as well as the workforce. Awareness sessions for everyone are one obligation; capability building for committee members is another. A committee that has never been trained on conducting an inquiry will make procedural errors that undo its own findings.
- Diarise the annual return and the record. The annual report is due whether or not there were complaints. Set the reminder when the committee is constituted rather than discovering the requirement at the end of the year.
What the law requires, in outline
Section 4(1) requires every employer to constitute an Internal Committee by an order in writing, with no employee threshold attached. The familiar ten worker figure belongs to section 6(1) and concerns the district Local Committee. Section 19 adds duties on display, awareness programmes, facilities for the committee and monitoring its reports.
The governing statute is the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, and it places duties on employers that extend well beyond adopting a policy.
The most misquoted point comes first. Section 4(1) requires every employer of a workplace to constitute an Internal Committee by an order in writing. There is no employee threshold in that section. The familiar ten-worker figure comes from section 6(1), which is about something else. That section establishes the Local Committee at district level. It receives complaints from establishments where an Internal Committee has not been constituted because there are fewer than ten workers, or where the complaint is against the employer himself.
The practical effect is close to what most people assume, but the reasoning matters. Section 4(1) also carries a proviso that is widely missed. Where the offices or administrative units of a workplace are at different places, or at divisional or sub-divisional level, the Committee must be constituted at all administrative units or offices. One committee at head office does not cover a company with several sites.
Beyond the committee, section 19 places a further set of duties on the employer. It must provide a safe working environment, and display the penal consequences of sexual harassment and the order constituting the Internal Committee at a conspicuous place. It must run awareness programmes for employees and orientation for committee members, and provide the committee with the facilities and information it needs. It must help secure the attendance of the respondent and witnesses, and assist the woman if she chooses to pursue criminal proceedings. And it must treat sexual harassment as misconduct under the service rules, and monitor the timely submission of the committee's reports.
Constituting a committee that will hold up
Most inquiries that fail do so on constitution or procedure rather than on the merits, and constitution is the easier of the two to get right.
The composition is prescribed. There is a presiding officer, who must be a woman employed at a senior level at the workplace. There are members from among the employees, preferably committed to the cause of women or having experience in social work or legal knowledge. There is a member from outside the organisation, drawn from a body committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with issues relating to sexual harassment. And there is a requirement about the proportion of women on the committee.
Two practical points follow. The external member takes time to find and should be sought first, not last. And the appointment must be made by an order that records the composition and the term of office. A committee that exists only as a list of names inside a policy has no recorded constitution to point at.
The maintenance is what lapses. Terms expire, members resign or leave the organisation, and the committee quietly ceases to be properly constituted. Recording the expiry date when the order is issued, and reviewing it annually, prevents the situation where a complaint arrives and there is nobody validly appointed to receive it.
Running an inquiry without undoing it
The committee conducts an inquiry, not a trial, but the principles of natural justice apply and departures from them are what findings get set aside on.
In practice that means a small number of things done consistently. The respondent receives the complaint and the material relied on, and is given a genuine opportunity to reply. The complainant sees the reply. Each party has the opportunity to question the evidence against them, through the committee rather than directly. Neither party is represented by a legal practitioner. The proceedings are recorded, and the findings state what was found and on what basis.
The errors that recur are procedural rather than substantive. The respondent hears the allegation only in summary. The parties are put in a room together. Witnesses are heard without either party knowing what was said. Or the report states a conclusion without setting out the reasoning. Each is avoidable, and each is the sort of thing that survives into whatever review follows.
Committee members should be trained on this specifically. Awareness of what sexual harassment is does not equip someone to conduct an inquiry, and the capability building obligation exists precisely because those are different skills.
Confidentiality, and its limits
The Act restricts publication and disclosure of the identity of the aggrieved person, the respondent and the witnesses, the contents of the complaint, and the inquiry proceedings and recommendations.
This is stricter than organisations expect. It applies to internal communication as much as external, so an all-staff message about an outcome, or a manager telling a team why a colleague has moved, may fall within it. What may be published is the justice secured, without identifying particulars.
The practical arrangements follow from that. Inquiry papers are held by the committee and not on shared drives. Access to the case is limited to committee members and whoever must act on the recommendation. Nobody who was not involved is told what was found. And the policy should state the consequence of breaching confidentiality, because the risk is generally from participants rather than from outsiders.
The one place organisations under-communicate is with the complainant. Confidentiality is not a reason to leave her uninformed about her own case, and the committee should tell her where the inquiry has reached at each stage.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Why it causes trouble | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Treating the policy as the whole obligation | The document is adopted and the committee, the display, the training and the annual return never happen. On any inspection or complaint, the shortfall is immediate and total. | Work the five obligations as a checklist with an owner and a date against each, and review it annually rather than treating adoption as completion. |
| A committee without an external member | The composition required by section 4(2)(c) is not met, so the committee is not properly constituted and every inquiry it conducts is vulnerable on that ground regardless of how well it was run. | Appoint the external member before constituting, and replace them promptly when the term ends or they step down. |
| Letting the committee lapse | Terms expire quietly and the lapse surfaces only when a complaint arrives and there is no committee to receive it. The delay while one is reconstituted runs against the inquiry timeline. | Record the term end date at constitution, diarise it, and reconstitute before expiry rather than after. |
| Proposing conciliation to the complainant | Conciliation is available only where the aggrieved person seeks it. An employer raising it first, however gently, is applying pressure to settle, and a settlement reached that way is unsound. | Say nothing about conciliation unless the complainant raises it, and record who raised it. |
| Excluding contract and outsourced staff | The people at greatest risk and with the least security are placed outside the policy, and the employer takes the position that a complaint from them is the contractor's problem. | State that the policy covers everyone at the workplace regardless of who engages them, and require contractors to give effect to the outcome. |
| A malicious complaint clause that overreaches | Wording suggesting that an unproven complaint invites action deters exactly the complaints the policy exists to receive, since most cases turn on accounts rather than documents. | State that malice or knowing falsity is misconduct, and state separately and explicitly that an inability to establish a complaint is not itself misconduct. |
| Not filing the annual return because there were no cases | The reporting obligation does not depend on there having been complaints. A nil year still has to be reported, and the omission is easy to spot afterwards. | File the return every year, recording nil where that is the position. |
Statutory reference
- Act
- Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
- Key limits
- Nothing on this page is sourced to the Rules made under the Act, which carry the annual report form, the manner of inquiry where no service rules exist, and the fees payable to the external Member. The Act refers throughout to the Indian Penal Code, 1860, which has since been replaced, so no penal section number is cited here.
| Provision | What it says |
|---|---|
| Section 4(1) | Requires every employer of a workplace to constitute an Internal Committee by an order in writing, and where the offices or administrative units are at different places or at divisional or sub-divisional level, at all such units or offices. |
| Section 4(2) | Prescribes the composition: a Presiding Officer who is a woman employed at a senior level at the workplace, not less than two Members from amongst employees preferably committed to the cause of women or with experience in social work or legal knowledge, and one Member from a non-governmental organisation or association committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with issues relating to sexual harassment, with at least one-half of the Members nominated being women. |
| Section 4(3) | Limits tenure to a period not exceeding three years. |
| Section 6(1) | Constitutes the Local Committee at district level to receive complaints from establishments where an Internal Committee has not been constituted due to having less than ten workers, or where the complaint is against the employer. |
| Section 9(1) | Requires a written complaint within three months of the incident or the last in a series, requires the Committee to render reasonable assistance where it cannot be made in writing, and permits an extension not exceeding three months for reasons recorded in writing. |
| Section 10 | Permits conciliation before an inquiry only at the request of the aggrieved woman, and prohibits a monetary settlement as its basis. |
| Section 11(4) | Requires the inquiry to be completed within ninety days. |
| Section 12 | Permits the Committee, on written request, to recommend transfer of either party or leave of up to three months, which is in addition to her existing entitlement. |
| Section 13(1) | Requires the report within ten days of completion, and section 13(4) requires the employer to act on the recommendation within sixty days of receipt. |
| Section 14 | Permits action for a malicious or knowingly false complaint, subject to the proviso that a mere inability to substantiate a complaint or provide adequate proof need not attract action. |
| Section 16 | Prohibits publication of the complaint, identities, proceedings and outcome notwithstanding the Right to Information Act, 2005. |
| Section 19 | Sets out the duties of the employer. |
| Sections 21 and 22 | Require the annual report. |
| Section 26 | Provides a fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees. |
Frequently asked questions
Is a POSH committee mandatory for every company in India?
Section 4(1) requires every employer of a workplace to constitute an Internal Committee by an order in writing, and imposes no employee threshold. The ten-worker figure sits in section 6(1). That section establishes the district Local Committee, which receives complaints from establishments where an Internal Committee has not been constituted because there are fewer than ten workers, or where the complaint is against the employer. Section 4(1) also requires a committee at all administrative units where a workplace has offices in different places.
Who must be on the internal committee?
The composition is prescribed. A presiding officer who is a woman employed at a senior level at the workplace. Members from among the employees, preferably committed to the cause of women or with social work or legal experience. And a member from outside the organisation, drawn from a body committed to the cause of women or familiar with issues relating to sexual harassment. There is also a requirement about the proportion of women on the committee.
Does the POSH policy cover contract and outsourced staff?
Yes. The obligation runs to everyone at the workplace, not only people on the employer's payroll, and that includes contract staff, outsourced workers, trainees, interns, consultants and visitors. A policy limited to employees leaves out the group least able to complain and does not reflect the scope of the Act.
Can the employer suggest conciliation?
No. Conciliation is available only where the aggrieved person requests it, and the employer initiating or encouraging it applies pressure to settle. It also cannot take the form of a monetary settlement. Where conciliation is requested and results in a settlement, that is recorded and no inquiry follows.
What happens if the committee cannot establish the complaint?
Nothing follows against the complainant. An inability to establish a complaint is not a finding that it was false, and the two must be kept separate in the policy and in practice. Action for a malicious complaint requires malice or knowledge of falsity, which is a different thing entirely and has to be established on its own.
Does a POSH complaint have to be in writing?
A written complaint is what the process runs on, but where the aggrieved person cannot put it in writing, committee members are expected to render assistance so that it can be made. A policy should say this explicitly, because the requirement to write it down deters complaints from people who most need the process.
Do we still have to file an annual report if there were no complaints?
Yes. The reporting obligation does not depend on complaints having been received, and a nil return is still a return. Omitting it in a quiet year is a common and easily identified shortfall.
Can a man file a complaint under the POSH Act?
The Act is framed in terms of an aggrieved woman, so the statutory mechanism is not available to a male complainant. Many employers extend equivalent protection to all genders through their own policy and handle such complaints under the standing disciplinary process, which is a policy choice rather than a statutory requirement and should be described as such.
POSH compliance in Engage
Engage holds the committee constitution, the term end dates, the training completion record and the case register in one place. So whether the committee is validly constituted, and when it expires, does not depend on finding an order in someone's mail. Complaint timelines raise reminders against the inquiry and action periods, and the annual return is compiled from the register rather than reconstructed.
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