17 January, 2019
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH) mandates an employer to implement a zero tolerance policy against sexual harassment of women at workplace and requires constitution of an internal committee (Committee) by the employer, for redressal of any complaints of sexual harassment at workplace.
POSH also casts an obligation on the Committee to prepare a report regarding the complaints of sexual harassment received by it within the calendar year, which report is required to be submitted with the employer and the concerned District Officer.
Amongst other obligations of the employer, the employer is also obliged to monitor the timely submission of the report by the Committee. Since there is no time limit prescribed under POSH and the rules thereunder for such filing, the report should be filed within a reasonable time period, after the end of the calendar year. The local District Officers are generally of the view that the reports must be submitted within 30 days of the year end.
It may be noted that the Committee report is required to be prepared and filed, even if no complaints of sexual harassment have been received in an organisation.
If your organisation has not yet filed the Committee report for the calendar year 2018, such filing should be made with the local District Officer, at the earliest in order to ensure compliance under POSH.
For further information, please contact:
Vineet Aneja, Partner, Clasis Law
vineet.aneja@clasislaw.com
