POSH Consultant

OVERVIEW Safety of women is of utmost importance in our society, be it personal space or professional space. To ensure their safety, it is vital to make them aware of their vulnerability to sexual harassment in their surroundings. Problem statement Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 has been framed and put to operations on 9th December, 2013 to safeguard women at workplace. However, a large chunk of Government and private workforce is still in the dark about the provisions and effectiveness of the statute. It is more likely that when the problem is not addressed, the harassment will worsen resulting in attrition in women workforce and many other negative impacts. There have also been scenarios where despite men being innocent, have been booked under POSH by women just to satisfy of their personal vendetta. proposed solution The most effective weapon against workplace harassment is prevention. Harassment against women requires to be addressed in order to prevent it. Further more, it placed responsibility on employers to ensure that women do not face a hostile environment, and prohibited intimidation or victimization of those cooperating with an inquiry, including the affected complainant as well as witnesses. Benefits of POSH Programs 1. Awareness in Employees 2. Competent IC Team 3. Faith in Organzation 4. Safe Work Environment 5. Lesser Complaints to deal with Penalties of Non-compliance 1. Penalty of Rs. 50,000/- 2. Cancellation or withdrawal of license 3. Cancellation of the registration 4. Reputation of the organization Our Action Plan We believe, regular training programs will create awareness among the employees. Internal Committee members also need to be trained to be responsible for sensitising all the employees about the colleagues of different gender and the behaviour amounting to sexual harassment.