POSH Act 2013

Overview

India's first legislation specifically addressing the issue of workplace sexual harassment—the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (“POSH Act”)—was enacted by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, India in 2013.

Purpose and Scope

The POSH Act provides protection against sexual harassment for every woman who has visited a workplace. That means, a woman can complain if she faces sexual harassment in her workplace or a workplace of another person. The POSH Act refers to the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, legislation enacted to prevent and address instances of sexual harassment against women in the workplace.

The rules associated with the Act provide detailed guidelines and procedures for its effective implementation. It defines sexual harassment, lays down the procedures for complaint and inquiry, and the action to be taken in cases of sexual harassment.

Gender Neutrality & Legal Provisions

Although the POSH Act protects only women, there has been an increasing trend of organizations formulating gender-neutral POSH policies. This means people of any gender could file a complaint of sexual harassment with their respective organization.

Whenever sexual harassment becomes unbearable and affects a worker’s well-being, redressal may also be sought under Indian Penal Code sections such as:

Section 354: Outraging the modesty of a woman
Section 509: Insulting the modesty of a woman

Obligation of Employers

As per the POSH Act, every employer of an organization with ten or more employees must constitute a grievance redressal committee called the Internal Committee (IC).

The term ‘employee’ under the POSH Act includes:

Regular, temporary, ad hoc employees
Daily wage workers
Employees hired directly or through an agent
Contract labourers
Co-workers, probationers, trainees, and apprentices

Details of ICC Members

Sl.	ICC Member's Name	Designation	Phone No.	Email
1	Smt. Sarita Koul	ED (Operations & General Administration)	9818737308	saritakoul@celindia.co.in
2	Smt. Bhavna Kaushik	Technical Manager (Member)	9910666693	bhavanakaushik@celindia.co.in
3	Sh. Nilabh Kumar	Technical Manager (Member)	8826597119	nilabh@celindia.co.in
4	Smt. Rhea Singh	Assistant Manager - HR (Member)	8017020409	rheasingh@celindia.co.in
5	Smt. Nancy Agrawal	Assistant Manager (Member)	8587803101	nancy.agrawal@celindia.co.in
6	Smt. Seema Sharma	Assistant Engineer (Member)	9958007166	Vatsseema1@gmail.com
7	Smt. Raadha Sharma	External Member	9811255029	trainer4corporate@gmail.com