Is your organisation doing enough for POSH

POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women)

Background

In day to day life we came across numerous cases of female employee being victimised on account of abuse or any other form of harassment.

To site few of the instances, in the public domain:

1. Ex-President of one of the largest country was sued by his office department female employee
2. Case filed against Ex-Supreme Court Judge by a lawyer, victimised to sexually harassed during her intern-ship
3. Executive Director of a large IT company was charged of sexual harassment
4. Owner of a famous magazine was imprisoned on the charge levied by his office colleague

Risks

Any organization faces two basic risks of sexual harassment:

1. Reputation loss of the Company
2. Non-compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013

Regulatory Environment

In 2013, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India has came out with Sexual Harassment of Women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013.

The Act extends to the whole of India. The work place is not only restricted to public organisation it also extends to private organisations like hospital or nursing homes, sports places etc. Act is applicable to even an organization with a single female employee.

Penalty for Non Compliance with Provisions of the Act

1. Cancellation, of licence or withdrawal, or non-renewal, or approval, or cancellation of the registration, as the case may be, by the Government or local authority required for carrying on his business or activity.

2. Where the employer contravenes or attempts to contravene or abets contravention of other provisions of this Act or any rules made there under, he shall be punishable with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees.

3. If any employer, after having been previously convicted of an offence punishable under this Act subsequently commits and is convicted of the same offence, he shall be liable to twice the punishment, which might have been imposed on a first conviction, subject to the punishment being maximum provided for the same offence.

How DHC-Desai Haribhakti Consulting can help you?

Organization has to ensure compliance with the prerequisites for prevention of sexual harassment on an ‘On Going’ basis.

DHC has been in the space of advising and assisting Human Resources, which encompasses broad range of services such as defining of KRAs, KPIs, team sizing and writing detailed guidelines on policies and procedures for entire HR function. With a strong presence in service sector in general, DHC possess an unparalleled know-how in the risk consulting for various companies operating in wide space. Our Team comprises of good blend of people from functional and technical background most of whom are CAs, CAs and/or MBAs. We adopt a multidisciplinary risk based approach for performing POSH assignments with people from domain knowledge assisting and overseeing the POSH assignments.

Effectiveness exercise review will enable the management to provide adequate comfort to the Board of Directors with respect to compliance of the Act.

Contact us for more information on POSH

Address:

701, 7th Floor, Leela Business Park, Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri (E), Mumbai-400059.

Tel: +91 (22) 6672 9999 :    Email: info@dhc.co.in

Disclaimer

Desai Haribhakti Consulting Private Limited (DHC) is company incorporated in India. DHC is India’s largest domestic accounting firm.

This publication has been carefully prepared, but it has been written in general terms and should be seen as broad guidance only. The publication cannot be relied upon to cover specific situations and you should not act, or refrain from acting, upon the information contained therein without obtaining specific professional advice. Please contact DHC to discuss these matters in the context of your particular circumstances. DHC, its partners, employees and associates do not accept or assume any liability or duty of care for any loss arising from any action taken or not taken by anyone in reliance on the information in this publication or for any decision based on it.