POSH Training

Sexual Harassment is any kind of sexually determined behaviour that is deemed unwelcome. Sexual Harassment can be either words or gestures or both. It could be direct behaviour, or through implication. According to the India laws and the Supreme Court, sexual harassment could be in the form of:

1. Physical advances and physical contact
2. Demand or request for sexual favours
3. Sexually coloured remarks
4. Showing pornography
5. Demand or request for sexual favours
6. Any other unwelcome physical, verbal, non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature

POSH stands for Prevention of Sexual Harassment. In India, laws such as the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 and POSH Rules 2013 have been made to curb/prevent sexual harassment.

These laws and rules are together known as the POSH laws. The main aim of these laws is to protect women from sexual harassment and to provide a redressal mechanism for complaints against such acts.

Every employer including any individual, organisation, company, partnership, etc. is required to comply with POSH Laws that have been enacted with the aim to provide protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace. In order to be POSH compliant, an employer is required to fulfil certain obligations. These obligations have been stated below:

1. Internal Complaints Committee:
   Every organisation employing more than 10 people has to constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to address and resolve complaints related to sexual harassment. It is to be constituted at each office or branch of the organisation that employs a minimum of 10 employees. In case the workplace has less than 10 employees, all complaints related to sexual harassment would be dealt by the Local Complaints Committee set up by the district officers of each district.


2. POSH awareness and training:
   An employer is required to hold workshops, seminars and training sessions to ensure that employees are made aware of the POSH laws and the procedure of redressal available under the ICC. Apart from this, organisations must also display notices and posters stating information regarding the ICC member and even penalties and penal consequences of acts of sexual harassment. LawRato offers extensive online and offline POSH training for awareness.


3. POSH Policy:
   Each Company shall have a POSH Policy i.e. a detailed policy for the prohibition, prevention and redressal of sexual harassment at workplace. POSH Check by LawRato provides services of drafting POSH policies and even vetting of already-existing POSH policies with the Companies.


4. Employment Contracts:
   Each and every instance of sexual harassment is to be treated as misconduct. This clause stating that such acts will be considered as misconduct and that the repercussions would include deduction of salary, suspension, termination of employment, etc. should be added to the employment agreements/contracts, standing orders, service rules and the like.


5. Annual Report:
   The ICC has to file an annual report regarding POSH compliance. This annual report has to state the number of complaints/cases filed, no. of cases disposed and investigations taken place. It is to be submitted to the District Officer.
   A statement is also required to be made in the Director’s report that the company has complied with provisions related to the constitution of ICC under the laws.

Non-compliance with POSH Laws has several hefty repercussions. An employer can be charged a monetary penalty of Rs. 50,000/- which can go up to Rs. 25,00,000/- and/or imprisonment which can last as long as 3 years. A repeated non-compliance can cost the employer twice the punishment/penalty. If a director has been imprisoned for more than 9 months, he/she cannot become a director again, for a total period of 5 years. Non-compliance also leads to cancellation of licenses and/or withdrawal or non-renewal of registration for carrying out business.

Sexual Harassment at workplace is a dreadful violation of an individual’s fundamental rights. In order to understand what action(s) and/or words fall under sexual harassment, how to get justice if one has been harassed and how not to cross limits so that you yourself are not a harasser, one needs to be aware of what constitutes “sexual harassment” and the laws related to it. Employees have several common questions related to sexual harassment, that they are either too afraid to ask or have no/incorrect answers to. Questions like “can reporting an instance of sexual harassment make an individual lose their job?” or “does casually texting your employee make you a harasser or an offender?”. Knowing the answers to such questions is of utmost importance in order to sensitise the entire workplace of such instances and in order to prevent sexual harassment in its entirety. At the same time, workplaces are not well equipped to further educate their members/employees. This is why POSH Training is extremely important.

Organizations need to ensure that its employees, managers, directors, etc. are educated upon this issue in detail under POSH training in order to provide a safe and gender-neutral environment at the workplace. In order to be POSH complaint, POSH training and sensitization of the employees is an absolute must.

POSH training is crucial for a workplace for the following important reasons:

1. POSH Training for Employees:

   
   It helps in making employees familiar with the best practice at work i.e. educates both the genders on sexual harassment, trains them to differentiate between appropriate and inappropriate behaviours at workplace and on the redressal system. Training makes employees understand the legal framework in this arena. Educating the women (and men) upon this issue, empowers the employees and promotes a safe, confident and happier workplace.



2. POSH Training for Managers/Employers/Directors:

   
   raining the higher ups is equally important in order to sensitize them towards gender equality. Since there is a difference in the power that these men/women hold as compared to the employees, it is crucial to educate them for a safe workplace so that they do not abuse their power against female employees. When the people in power are aware of sexual harassment, the laws and redressal system, the employees - especially the women would certainly feel safer at the workplace.



3. Internal Complaints Committee (ICC):

   
   According to the POSH Laws, every organization consisting of more than 10 employees has to form an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). This committee is required to be headed by a “female presiding officer”. The ICC receives and redresses complaints of sexual harassment. POSH training educates the ICC upon the issue of sexual harassment in great detail, thereby training it to efficiently handle complaints and resolve the conflicts related sexual harassment.

What does POSH Training include?

LawRato.com through POSH Check gives a complete solution for POSH compliance for any business/organisation. It offers easy-to-use online tools and even personalised expert advice.
The main aim of POSH training is to sensitise the individuals at the workplace of gender equality and to educate them on what constitutes sexual harassment, correct/incorrect behaviour, the laws and the repercussions involved in harassment at workplace.
POSH training can be conducted in two ways - online POSH training and offline POSH training.

• Online POSH Training:

  
  As the name suggests, it is simply carried out on an individual’s computer screen/phone. It consists of instructional videos that convey all information including practical knowledge of the POSH Laws. Dramatized videos engage the audience and enable the employees to relate to the scenarios enacted out in the videos. Online trainings are an engaging way to educate the employees, employers and ICC members upon the subject. Online training also consists of interactive quizzes that increase the probability of them paying attention to the videos in order to clear/pass the quiz in the end. LawRato even offers a certificate of completion of POSH training upon clearing the quiz after watching the POSH training video.



• Offline POSH Training:

  
  Offline training typically involves an expert on the subject of POSH, who trains the employees, employers and ICC members on the subject of sexual harassment in a classroom kind of setting. It is the more interactive kind of training (than the online training), where questions and doubts related to sexual harassment can be answered and cleared by the expert then and there. Offline POSH training often includes PPT presentations with scenarios and additional information for better understanding.
  
  Organizations should also display posters related to the POSH laws, dos and donts and other information related to sexual harassment and the POSH Policy of the organization.

What are the Advantages of POSH Training?

There are several benefits of POSH training other than the fact that it is a major step towards a safe working environment. It yields higher job satisfaction and engagement by employees. This also results in higher productivity from the employees. If the employees feel safe and happy in their work environment, there would be higher retention of valuable and talented employees. POSH training also ensures respect among colleagues. All these advantages lead to improvement in the workplace culture on the whole.