Best POSH Practices followed by Organizations

The POSH Act celebrated its 4th anniversary on 9th Dec 2017. In the last 4 years, it has influenced organizations to consider sexual harassment very seriously.And a large number of BSE 500 companies have declared in their annual reports that they received zero complaints on sexual harassment since 2015-16.The domino effect has led to several companies adopting best practices in handling sexual harassment effectively. Some of the practices adopted by the corporates are as follows: –

1. Mandatory training and workshops for all employees to make them aware about the provisions of POSH Act Provisions.
2. Use of regionallanguages for the Sexual Harassment Awareness to the lesser educated employees (e.g. contract staff) to ensure they understand its importance.
3. Video Based Training and Role Plays are conducted so that employees understand the nuances of Sexual harassment training in detail.
4. Regular newsletters containing information about POSH are distributed.
5. Roadshows around POSH are conducted. They include various activities, plays, quizzes and panel discussions by subject matter experts.
6. Communication to employees about the formation of ICC and procedure for filing a complaint through emails and circulars (especially in vernacular language)
7. Providing books like ‘BCC: Behind Closed Cubicles’ for managers to enable themto understandthe true ground realities.
8. Posters, booklets across the office and in common areas such as lobbies, cafeteria.
9. Managers are trained to watch out for unconscious bias in their daily work life to build a more inclusive workplace.
10. Training of ICC members regarding the techniquesfor handling complaints with skill, fairness and sensitivity.
11. Making information available on company’s intranet/web portal.
12. Anonymous Online Surveys are conducted to understand if female employees experience Sexual Harassment at the workplace.
13. ‘Women only interventions’ are encouraged to help women voice out their experiences of harassment at the workplace.
14. One-on-one helpline via phone or email support is provided to employees by a third-party Subject Matter Expert.
15. Counselling is provided to employees regarding matters related to POSH.
16. Creating unique email ID where all allegations related to sexual harassment can be sent.

India Inc. has certainly come a long way. From the days of denying the very existence of sexual harassment incidents to the current scenario where organizations want to follow best practices beyond the mandated POSH Act, it has been a significant change. Yet, in many ways the journey towards women’s safety at the workplace has just begun.