The post Office Parties & Professional Boundaries first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.

Key supporting policies include:

Office Transportation Policy
A formal office commute policy directly strengthens women’s workplace safety. It empowers more women to continue their careers by addressing:

• Safety protocols for company-provided transport
• Reporting procedures for safety concerns
• Emergency and exception guidelines

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)
A DEI policy ensures women are treated fairly and equitably at work. They typically focus on:

• Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) for professional growth and well-being
• Gender-balanced, bias-free hiring practices
• Leadership training for women

Inclusive and Respectful Communication
Many organisations set clear communication guidelines to ensure respectful and inclusive interactions among employees. This includes:

• Avoiding sexist language, casual remarks, or offensive jokes
• Email and chat etiquette across internal and external networks

Social Media & External Communication
As the lines blur between physical and virtual workplaces, companies have implemented policies to protect women from online harassment. These typically cover:

• Conduct on professional networks and forums
• Guardrails against online harassment
• Rules around sharing colleague information on social media

Protecting Whistleblowers
The Whistleblower Policy supports bystander intervention and safe reporting. It ensures:

• An independent committee is set up to handle complaints
• Anonymous reporting channels
• Protection against retaliation

Workplace Dress Code
A professional dress code policy ensures that attire at the workplace is respectful and appropriate. It governs:

• Dress code for office and factory settings
• Cultural sensitivity across diverse workforces

Conduct at Informal Office Gatherings
The Code of Conduct often extends to informal events like offsites and parties to maintain professional standards by:

• Setting expectations for respectful behaviour and consequences of misconduct
• Encouraging bystander intervention

Workplace Relationships
The Code of Conduct may set down rules for office relationships to avoid conflicts of interest, favouritism, or harassment. These ensure:

• Disclosure of a relationship between employees under the same reporting manager
• Rules for supervisor-subordinate relationships
• Protection from retaliation if relationships end

Third-Party Engagement Policy
Vendors, contractors, and consultants are part of the extended workplace. Ensuring they’re aware of POSH norms helps maintain a consistent culture of safety and respect It broadly covers:

• POSH sessions during vendor onboarding
• Including POSH compliance clauses in contracts
• Clear reporting channels for misconduct

These policies work together with the anti-sexual harassment policy to create a work environment where women can thrive. At Metis, we partner with organisations to align these supporting policies with their POSH framework, ensuring that compliance leads to lasting cultural change.

The post Policies and practices that support workplace safety first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.

There are clear guidelines for the police, courts, and media on how to conceal the details of
the victims in sexual assault cases. Despite this, the officials involved in handling the recent
sexual harassment case in Anna University, Chennai failed to uphold the victim’s right to
privacy. The FIR of the case was uploaded in the public domain, revealing the identity of the
victim, her phone number and address, and the details of the incident.

The FIR leakage is a serious lapse in the investigation process, with high chances of
deviating and destabilising the ongoing investigation. The negligence has potentially
exposed the victim to discrimination and harassment. The Madras High Court ruled in favour
of the victim and directed that the Tamil Nadu government pay an interim compensation of
Rs. 25 lakh to the victim. This would be recovered from those who were responsible for the
dereliction of duty and leaking of the FIR.

The Confidentiality Mandate

Maintaining the confidentiality of the victims of sexual harassment is of utmost importance.
This is a critical mandate even in PoSH cases . Complainants will only come forward if they
firmly believe that they can trust the process – with an assurance of safety and security by
ensuring anonymity.

In the P v. A & Ors case from 2021, the Bombay High Court issued important guidelines for
maintaining anonymity in PoSH cases. The High Court acknowledged that the identities of
the persons involved in the case must be protected from both intentional and accidental
exposure. The court outlined specific minimum standards to shield the identities of the
people.

● The names of the parties should not be included in the body of the order.
● The orders should be titled only with the first letter of their names during the proceedings. For example, the A v. B case, and P v. S case.
● Any information that might aid in identifying the survivor, the harasser, and the
witnesses will not be included in the order.
● These orders will not be uploaded publicly.

The privacy standards are intended to act as a functioning framework for courts handling
PoSH Act matters. This case is a benchmark for ensuring victim protection in PoSH cases
during legal proceedings.

Role of Internal Committees in Maintaining Privacy

Similar to courts, ICs handling PoSH cases are required to safeguard confidentiality during the investigation with extreme care. It is strictly forbidden by the PoSH Act to divulge case details to outside parties. The employer is the only person who may be given such information, ideally on a need-to-know basis. The employer must be notified when the complaint is first filed and when the final report needs to be actioned. Putting such interim measures into place aids the investigation.

Consequently, the Employer and the ICs must take all reasonable steps to safeguard case-
related data, such as witness and party identities. ICs should anonymise these reports once
the final version of the investigation is part of the records and ensure their safe storage.

Confidentiality is indispensable because it is a promise of safety for the victims coming
forward with their cases. A breach of confidentiality is a breach of their confidence in the
system.

There should be regular training for IC members on confidentiality protocols.

How ICs can build more trust in the organisation

Victims are empowered to come forward only when they are aware of the company’s
policies on PoSH and how they address these cases. Organisations should take active steps
to create awareness among the entire workforce regarding the PoSH Act, its guidelines, and
redressal mechanisms especially educating victims to come directly to the IC without talking
about the case with colleagues as this could lead to gossip.

A major barrier to people reporting sexual harassment at workplaces is the fear of
information leakage, which can in turn make the working environment more hostile for the
victim. The victim might have to face cultural stigma around such cases. Therefore, the ICs
responsible for resolving PoSH cases must be sensitised, and understand their duty to make
a cultural shift towards empathy and victim protection.

If you wish to know more please do reach out to us on contact@posh.metisindia.com

The post Confidentiality Is Non-Negotiable first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.

The HC has taken suo motu cognisance that the Special DGP used his influence to stop the lady IPS Officer from reaching Chennai to file a complaint.  In the words of the court:

“The case reached its crescendo when the lady officer was intercepted by a posse of policemen who had the audacity to stop the car and take away the car keys. It must be borne in mind that the officers who did it are named and they are in the ranks of Sub-Inspector and Inspector of Police, respectively and the officer who was sitting inside the car was a Superintendent of Police. This was exactly the incident which caught the attention of this Court. If IPS Cadre lady officers are going to face situations such as this, this Court thought that it is high time to take cognizance of the same to ensure that these  instances do not happen in the future.

Considering the sensitivity of the issue and the ensuing elections that are going to take place in the State, there is a high possibility of politicising this issue. This has to be prevented without any further delay. That apart, exchanging the name of the victim officer through media and other social media networks, will also have a very serious impact on the investigation. In view of the same, this Court wants to place certain restrictions by way of issuing the following
interim directions:

a. In order to ensure that there is a fair investigation in this case, there shall be a restraint to all political parties from politicising and/or publicising this case and no statements must be given by such parties in the media,touching upon the merits of this case;
b.The name of the victim officer, the accused person and the witnesses shall not be used or exchanged through any media, pending investigation in this case; and
c. Any violation of the directions issued by this Court will be viewed very seriously and this Court may be forced to initiate contempt proceeding.”

In short, the Madras HC will be monitoring this case.  Copy of the order is attached here: Madras HC - Woman IPS Officer allegedly sexually harassed (1474 downloads )

The post Madras HC – Woman IPS Officer allegedly sexually harassed first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.

While handling a sexual harassment compliant, what should the Internal Complaints Committee keep in mind while conducting Inquiries?

Download the document here: Essential tips for the ICC while conducting a POSH Inquiry (4533 downloads )

The post Essential tips for the ICC while conducting a POSH Inquiry first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.

We have collated a list of important duties of the Internal Complaints Committee. Download the document here Duties of IC (4177 downloads )

Please download the checklist (.pdf) here:
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The post Duties of the Internal Complaints Committee first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.

We have designed a format to assist the aggrieved individual / victim / complainant in making a formal complaint to the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).

Please download the Complaints form (.pdf) here: Template for registering sexual harassment complaint (9367 downloads )

The post Template for registering a sexual harassment complaint first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.

Download the inquiry report format (.pdf) here: Inquiry report format (12017 downloads )

The post Inquiry report format on completion of Inquiry first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.

The document contains details on Quid-Pro-Quo and a case study.

Please download the Quid-Pro-Quo document (.pdf) here: Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment at workplace (4214 downloads )

The post Quid-Pro-Quo sexual harassment first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.

It is important to understand conciliation and its procedure. The document aims at guiding you through a conciliation procedure.

Download the document (.pdf) here: Conciliation procedure under POSH Act (5740 downloads )

The post Conciliation procedure for dispute resolution first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.