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 (4062 downloads )

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We have collated a list of important duties of the Internal Complaints Committee. Download the document here Duties of IC (3602 downloads )

Please download the checklist (.pdf) here:
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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 (8821 downloads )

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Download the inquiry report format (.pdf) here: Inquiry report format (11041 downloads )

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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 (3332 downloads )

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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 (4806 downloads )

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Here is a third party harassment case that we handled in one of the companies which encountered this dilemma and the ICC handled the case humanely learning a great deal along the way.

Case Study:

The victim was a job seeker (woman) living close to an industrial area around Bangalore.  The respondent was a contracted security guard of a small manufacturing company. It so happened that the victim had come to the company premises to submit her resume for a job. The security guard received her resume and promised to call her back in case she is shortlisted by the HR. The HR after going through the resume found her to be unsuitable and specifically told the security guard not to entertain such resumes since it is totally unrelated to the kind of work they do.

However the security guard called her number (mentioned in the resume) and informed her that she has been shortlisted and asked her to come for an interview the following Sunday .The victim, without realizing that most companies are closed on Sundays, chose to come for the interview at 9 A.M.

On the day, when she came to the company for the interview, the respondent was waiting for her. He led her to a room stating that the HR would come there for the interview. He went out, checked the surrounding and found no one outside. He went back to the room, locked it from the inside and tried molesting her. The victim quickly realized his intentions starting crying for help, banging on the door and shouting loudly.

Apparently a gardener tending the plants heard her cries and quickly rushed to the spot and started shouting from outside. The respondent (security guard) realized that he is in trouble, opened the door and ran outside. He escaped through the main gate and before the gardener could call for help, he was gone.

The victim was shocked. The gardener offered her water to drink and escorted her to an autorickshaw outside that drove her home.

The victim returned to the company the next day with her husband to complain to the management. As soon as the management heard her story, they called the ICC to take up the matter immediately.

Will this be the responsibility of the company’s POSH committee?

No it does not since the victim (the woman) and the respondent (security guard) both are not the employees of the company. It would have directly come under the scope of the ICC, if at least one of them, either the victim or the alleged harasser were employees of the company.

Ideally, what is the responsibility of the ICC in such a case?

ICC met the victim, took her complaint in detail and offered to help her in whatever way possible. It is important to note that the right thing to do would be to assist the victim even if it does not come under the scope. At the time of need, when the victim is scared, it is important that the ICC of the company offers help.

What actions did the ICC of the company take?

1. The gardener was interrogated as witness to get complete details of her account which was documented.
2. The vendor was called for a hearing as the respondent had committed the act and fled the scene.
3. The vendor was asked to submit all the personal details of the respondent (security guard).
4. As the vendor company did not have an ICC, the ICC of the company helped her lodge a written complaint in the local police station.The ICC also furnished all the relevant documentation that they had collected post their initial investigation about the incident along with all the details ofthe alleged harasser.
5. The ICC having gone through the existing Background Verification Process, recommended to the management to restructure the Background Verification process with additional checks, applicable to all the existing and new vendors with immediate effect
6. The vendor was given our company policy on POSH and an agreement was put in place to ensure no one from the vendor company, be it office boys, security guard or housekeeping staff would enter premises without having gone through the company POSH policy.
7. An awareness session in Kannada was arranged on POSH to all the third party contractors working in the company.

It is important to note that ICC needs to focus on the value they want to create which is of a larger significance to the organisation, rather than scope of work.

Hence the role of ICC cannot be completely defined and boundaries drawn. There are times when they need to go beyond the call of duties to ensure they do the “right thing”.

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If an employer tolerates or is perceived to be tolerant towards any kind of harassment at workplace, it could adversely affect employee morale and engagement.  It could directly impact organisations productivity, innovation and growth.

Download the document (.pdf) here: Checklist for employers to ensure a harassment free workspace (2430 downloads )

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1. My company has had no instances of sexual harassment cases till now so we need not comply.

It is binding on all organisation to comply with the POSH Act weather there has been any incident or not. There should be a provision for all employees to air any issue pertaining to sexual harassment at workplace. With the growing awareness, employees would want the provisions of the Act made available to them. In my recent experience, one of my clients did not have a single sexual harassment compliant from the past decade. After the implementation of the Act a year ago, they have had 3 complaints.

2. Are we liable if sexual harassment happens between employees outside office and in the non official hours?

In today’s dynamic work environments, there is barely any prescribed time for working. It is about getting the work done wherever you are, could be at office or outside office.  Some of the other instances outside office include business related social events, conferences, travel, campus drives, Team outings, recruitment, etc.Basically workplace is defined as, any place visited by employee arising out of or during the course of employment.

3. I can search on net for a POSH policy and directly implement it in my organisation.

This is not at all advisable. The scope and applicability will differ from company to company based on the business and culture of the organisation.  It is important to think deeply and create a customised policy for your organisation. Define the scope and applicability clearly so that it’s clearly understood by all employees and the committee who are the custodians of the policy and are responsible for dealing with any issues that may arise.

4. Only an NGO member should be the external consultant.

The POSH Act describes an external consultant as – “one member from amongst non-governmental organisations or associations committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with the issues relating to sexual harassment”.  However, the unsaid requirement that we should look for in an external consultant is maturity to understand the human behaviour and psychology, ethical, strong integrity, unbiased, non prejudiced, ability to understand the impact of a no harassment culture in business, gender perceptions and a strong communicator. No law/NGO can teach you this!

5. Creating awareness on Sexual Harassment at Workplace may create problems for the company as it will lead to higher number of complaints being registered.

The awareness sessions are made compulsory by the Act and are aimed at providing information to all employees of the organisation on addressal & redressal of Sexual harassment at workplace. Punishable by law if not adhered to. More over it’s our duty as management to make sure no one in the organisation is subject to sexual harassment. Even though it is a sensitive matter, complaints handling is well defined by the law and easy to adhere to.  In fact, if there is sexual harassment occurring in the organisation and goes unattended you can imagine what would happen to the culture of the organisation. How is this creating a problem for the organisation?

6. “Staring”, “Stalking” “Gossiping ” and  “Eve Teasing” are harmless and fun and do not constitute sexual harassment

It’s always fun and harmless when you stare, stalk, gossip (about employees affairs, sexual orientation etc) and tease. But it’s not, in most cases, if you are on the receiving end of it all.  The Act has taken into consideration various circumstances and defined clearly as to what constitute Sexual harassment at workplace.  In the recent survey conducted by us across various organisations, respondents said stalking and staring are the most common forms of sexual harassment at workplace.

7. When women keep quiet, it means they like it

Women do not want to talk about it merely to avoid the stigma attached to sexual harassment. Based on my experience, most of them are worried about the retaliation from the harasser and his aides and are not sure if complaints are dealt with confidentially. They also do not like to be the subject of gossip at workplace. This definitely does not mean that they like it.

8. Conducting Quarterly meeting is not necessary. We can just create Minutes of the Meeting and file it only for the sake of compliance.

Quarterly meeting by the committee and the minutes are to be documented and furnished in the annual report to the District Commissioner’s office, and is mandatory.

Apart from the compliance requirement, one of the key benefits of meeting quarterly is that you build the required skills essential in dealing with sexual harassment complaints and cases. The time can also be utilised in proactively developing practices that create a safe work environment. Sexual Harassment can destroy the very fabric of the company. It negatively affects the brand image, creates hostility at workplace bringing down the morale of employees, loss of productive hours of employees, increases attrition and many more.  Why not look at it seriously and make it a strategic initiative for the organisation.

9. We can hire an external consultant only when there is a case. Else we can manage it ourselves.

Having on board an external consultant to the committee is mandatory by Law. The external consultant should be made a part of every committee meeting as they bring in unbiased opinion/views and challenge the perceptions on matters related to sexual harassment. It is very important to have on board, knowledgeable consultants who can add value to the committee and its members, employees of the organisation and members of law.

10. Preventing Sexual Harassment at Workplace is HR/Management responsibility.

Even though the administrative responsibility of developing and deploying the policy, appoint and formalise a committee, conduct awareness sessions and committee meetings, etc.. lies with the HR/management, the responsibility to create safe environment at workplace lies with every employee of the organisation.  Hence it is very important to communicate and keep all the employees updated on all aspects of sexual harassment.

The post Clearing 10 organisational myths around Prevention of Sexual Harassment first appeared on Metis POSH Consulting Service LLP.

Here is the copy of the act published by the Govt. of India.

Download the document (.pdf) here: The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (1695 downloads )

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