“If you think compliance is expensive, try non-compliance”
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013 (“Act”) provides protection to women against sexual harassment at workplace. It enlists certain compliances that needs to be ensured by every organisation with ten or more employees.
This leads the mind to most natural occurring way of thinking, the “Why?”- Why should one invest time and resources into it and why is it so important. The easiest response to this would be to say its mandatory!
The Law states that every employer shall be compliant with the compliances listed in the Act or be charged with penalty of INR. 50,000/- and in case of repeated non-compliance be charged with severe penalty and/or risk suspension/ cancellation of the license or registration to work.
What is Defined as Non-compliance?
The following acts of non-compliance can make the employer liable for a penalty of up to INR 50,000:
- Failure to constitute Internal Complaints Committee
- Failure to act upon recommendations of the Complaints Committee; or
- Failure to file an annual report to the District Officer where required; or
- Contravening or attempting to contravene or abetting contravention of the Act or Rules.
But there is another angle to the question “why” and that is visible only when you squint on it. The insidious answer to this is that sexual harassment attacks the work culture from within and affects the productivity and profitability of an organisation from behind the veil.
Why Compliance to the PoSH act or Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplaces (PPR) Act is Important
When sexual harassment occurs at a workplace, what happens next is barely documented. If left unaddressed, sexual harassment causes the workplace to be hostile for the aggrieved and more often than not affects the productivity and loyalty that the aggrieved employee has towards their organisation and in some cases it even leads to the exit of the aggrieved from the organisation. This exit, distrust has a cost. The loss of opportunity has an uncalculated loss for the organisation in terms of the loss of ideas, innovations, the effort and dedication that the aggrieved could have invested in their work.
It is this loss that being compliant can help us with. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act 2013, provides for a very comprehensive mechanism that helps the employer assure a safe and conducive workplace to all its employees.
Companies are required to adopt a whole set of mechanisms which includes , anti-sexual harassment policy, employee sensitization sessions, constituting and training of internal complaints committee (ICC) members, etc. for drafting a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment. To strengthen compliance, the act mandates filing of an annual report by the organisations.
One of such compliances and the most important one is the submission of Annual report. Annual Report is an effective monitoring tool for the Employers as well as the Government. It is an important yardstick against which one can measure the effectiveness and implementation of the compliances required by the Law.
What Needs to be Done.
The Internal Committee at the end of every calendar year needs to prepare an Annual Report which needs to be submitted to the Employer. The Employer in turn submits this Annual Report to the District Officer.
What Should the Annual Report Contain?
Rule 14 of the Act states that the following details need to be included in the Annual Report for the calendar year starting Jan 1 – Dec 31 of every year. Complaints refers to number of sexual harassment complaints in this case.
The District officer may issue notifications asking for more information that what is mentioned in the Act. It includes information on training sessions held for employee awareness and IC skill sessions. Other information pertaining to the mandatory compliances in the Act such as posters and notifications may also be required.
In some instances, registration of IC is also sought in addition to the submission of the Annual report. Notification for Karnataka (local language), Karnataka, Telangana, Pune
The District Officer for Mumbai released a template for the Annual Reports to be submitted.
Who is the Annual Report submitted to?
The Appropriate Government declares the District officer for each district. It may be the District Magistrate, Additional District Magistrate or Deputy Collector. Every district would have its own District Officer.
When to File the Annual Report?
The law is silent on the specific period of submission of Annual Report. But since the Law mentions that it needs to be submitted each calendar year, in case there is no notification to the contrary, it is recommended to submit the Annual report by 31st January every year.
The timeline may be extended by the District Officer.
Besides the questions answered in the Blog, there may be other queries like:
- If there is a template for the annual report?
- Where to obtain information on District officers?
- Confidentiality terms while filing the report?
To know more, Click here and fill the form to download a copy of the Annual report template and the district officer list and download here the annual report document for submission.
For information on how to fill the annual report and for trainings on POSH redressal mechanisms as well as trainings on Prevention of Sexual harassment in the workplace do write to us at info@kelphr.com or call us at +91-9500129652 and we would be glad to help you and your organisation comply with the law.
About the Author
Niharika Arora is a Subject Matter Expert in PoSH and an LL.M Graduate in International law, with knowledge and experience in Humanitarian, Human Rights and Corporate law. She is part of the Centre of Excellence (CoE) at KelpHR and a National certified Trainer. She is also an external member in several internal committees and has assisted and audited many more. She has a passion towards inclusion and equity.
Thanks! This was a very useful blog!
It simplifies the PoSH reporting and guides very well on what to do what not to do.
Good Article. To the point and clear from Compliance Perspective. Well done. Regards, CS Jaspreet Singh, Delhi / Gurugram – 9871494171, Whatsapp 9999051027
I understand the information shared by Internal Committee of an organisation in the form of annual report is a public information. Does it mean, if any one wants to see annual report of a particular organisation or if any one wants to know how many Issues were reported in a particular organisation, can they find it?
No. It will be maintained confidentially.
Because as per this act, nothing will be published.
Can I get any format to prepare the report
can you please share me the procedure to file posh annual return in tamilnadu
Please tell the time with which annual report under posh act is required to be filed
I understand the information shared by Internal Committee of an organisation in the form of annual report is a public information. Does it mean, if any one wants to see annual report of a particular organisation or if any one wants to know how many Issues were reported in a particular organisation, can they find it?
Thank you Ankita for your question. Yes, you will be reporting the number of cases and the number of awareness sessions conducted. The numbers will show that your organisation believes in preventing harassment and also that employees can speak up openly and report the cases without any fear. It is an industry norm for any organisation to have 2% to 4% of sexual harassment incidents being reported. It is important to declare these as is. Organisations like Infosys and wipro report 100+ cases every year in their annual reports.
is there any format please send me
my email id naresh.suraneni@tv9.com
what is the due date to submit the annual return under this act?
Please submit by January of every year for the data of the previous Calendar year (Jan to dec).
Hi,
Where to submit this return and what is the format to submit the same.Please guide.
Can i submit this report for PAN India offices in single District labour office?
from where we can get the details of district officer in delhi for submitting Annual Report.
If there are no such complaints then is it mandatory to file Annual Report with the employer or district office
Yes a nil report needs to be filed.
Can you share the format of the Nil report?
how to file this is there any format or what
Apart from the details that are to be specified in the Annual Report of Internal Committee to be filed with the District Officer under Rule 14 of the POSH Rules, 2013, is there a particular format for such report?
Hi,
Can I know where to submit Posh Annual Report our office is in Frazer town, Please share me the address and to whom do i need to address it to.
Please send the discrict officer details of Kolkata where we need to submit our POSH annual report
Is there a format under whihc the POSH annual returns can be filed. IF yes can you please help with the format
Thanks for the information. Please let me know is it mandatory for small companies and one person companies to file annual return to DO?
hii
who owill sign the annual report . is it HR, MD or presiding officer??
please advise
Who is the signing authority of this annula report before filing
hi sir / madam,
can you please confirm that which are the documents submitted along with Annual report to district officer
Is there any penalty for late submission of POSH annual returns?
Some district officers are refusing to accept if the Annual report has not been submitted on time. That will lead to non-compliance. And when audited may lead to a penalty.
as per act members of the committee can not be appointed for more then 3 years , my query is can they be reappointed again after the cooling period of 3 years? or every new set of members needs to be appointed after every 3 years? regarding this nothing as such is mentioned in the act or rules.
Yes it is recommended to reappoint to get a fresh perspective of prevention and ensure there is no complacence among the IC committee. Incase you do not have any new members to qualify, then you may record the same and reappoint or extend the existing committee duration partially or in full.
[…] Both. Please refer our blog for details – POSH Annual Report Filing Simplified […]
If we don’t have female staff then also we have to file Annual return under POSH.
Yes Udayraj, Law says all organisation with more than 10 “Employees” need to compliant. Also your employees could be interacting with vendors or clients who are women and any women visiting your office needs to be protected. And hence it is important to comply to Act. For steps to Comply please refer – https://www.kelphr.com/pdf/PoSH%20-%20Booklet.pdf
we are based in chennai, where do we submit the report
what should be written against nature of action taken by employer in the annual return form
Dear Nagkumar,
Thank you for writing in. Against nature of action, you will have to write as “Terminated/warning/transferred/demoted” etc.. based on the action taken for the complaints that was investigated.
Incase you did not have any complaints, you may fill this columns as Not applicable.
If the company has offices across 2 or more states, the POSH report is to be filed separately for each state or can the company file it in the State where its Registered office is situated?
Would appreciate if the same is answered with relevant/ corresponding provisions.
Thankyou
so what are the basic compliances under this act???
just
Number of case filled and number of case disposed???
i m talking abt monthly compliances
In a institution Presiding Officer needs to go on maternity leave from 02.12.2020 onwards. can she submit annual report on 01.12.2020 as she wont be able to file annual report during 6 months of maternity leave
Is it mandatory to keep local ICC memebers, in case organization is having offices PAN India or we can keep ICC members from Head office only and have one committee for PAN INDIA. Also, if you can pls help in sharing format for annual return to be submitted to Employer and is it mandatory.
The law requires that each and every office, including branch offices, with 10 employees or more has to have its own Internal Committee. This may be an administrative challenge, but you can have some committee members who are common across some committees, even if they are not from that location. Do note that in case a complaint is filed in any branch location, the non-local committee members should be prepared to travel for in-person hearings, and to conduct any part of the inquiry that needs to be done physically. – KelpHR
Thanks to all for sharing their knowledge and experiences.
I have a query; If a company have formed ICC in August 2019 but neither filed annual return nor organised any seminar/programme for awareness till now.The Company was not known about the compliance, henceforth it wants to comply.Till date no case is reported. How should we go about it and What can be written in point-Number of workshops or awareness programme against sexual harassment carried out?
Kindly guide.
Unfortunately, ignorance of the law does not excuse the non-compliance. You could start with making the most recent filing (for the year 2020, presumably) with the relevant district officer. And speak to them about filing the annual report for the previous year as well. Depending on when the company became subject to the law, you may need to file for the years prior to 2019 as well. If no workshops or awareness programs have been conducted, please state nil or zero. Please contact KelpHR at +91-9500129652 or email info@kelphr.com for further assistance regarding filing and training sessions. Thank you. – Team KelpHR
Hi. If we don’t have mid to senior women members in a branch office, can the IC for that location have women members from the head office or any other company location?
Yes it is possible to appoint senior women members who work out of the head office or any other company location. If any case arises in this branch office, the women members should be willing to travel for in-person hearings, and to conduct any part of the inquiry that needs to be done physically.
-KelpHR
Hi
If an organization is going to establish an IC committee for the first time do they need to register at any state portal in Karnataka? (if yes, where exactly?)
Or, do they directly start sending the annual reports to the DC?
What is the name and address of concerned person to whom report has to be submitted.
Dear Pooja,
Please use the following link to download the template for the Annual report. It also contains the list of District officers specific to the locations. https://forms.zohopublic.com/virtualoffice17143/form/POSHAnnualReportTemplate/formperma/Qs0-alGU-ir-DjS3pih5TEIN68cNztL-HfKxL-HvQ84