How to handle sexual harassment complaints under the POSH Act
The Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act 2013 is mandatory for all employers in India with 10 or more employees. Non-compliance is both a legal risk and a reputational one — and most Indian companies are partially or fully non-compliant in ways they don't fully realise.
Mandatory requirements under POSH: establish an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) with a minimum of 4 members — at least half must be women, and an external member must be included (typically an NGO representative or a legal professional with POSH expertise). The presiding officer must be a senior female employee. The ICC must be reconstituted every 3 years.
Policy requirement: a written sexual harassment policy must be displayed at the workplace. The policy should define sexual harassment (broadly, any unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal sexual conduct), the complaint process, the ICC's mandate, and the protections available to complainants.
Annual reporting: the employer must include in their annual report (and file separately) the number of complaints received and disposed of during the year. Non-disclosure is itself a compliance violation.
When a complaint is received: the ICC must complete the inquiry within 90 days. During the inquiry, the respondent and complainant must both be heard, evidence gathered, and witnesses interviewed. The ICC has powers similar to a civil court for the purposes of the inquiry. After inquiry, the ICC submits a report with findings and recommendations to the employer, who must implement the recommendations within 60 days.
Interim protection: the complainant may request interim relief — transfer of the respondent or the complainant to a different team or location, leave, or other protective measures — during the inquiry period.
POSH training: conducting annual awareness and sensitisation training for all employees (and specifically for ICC members) is a requirement. Most company POSH programmes consist only of an annual mandatory training session.