Annual Report under the POSH Act – Here is everything you should know

The National Commission for Women estimated that in 2017, two women were sexually harassed each day in their workplaces. As per a report published by the Ministry of Women and Child Development for the same year, the number of cases of sexual harassment in the workplace registered in India has increased by 54%, i.e. from 371 cases in 2014 to 570 in 2017. 

The sexual harassment at the workplace has plagued Indian workplaces, across industries, sectors and regions alike. The Government of India enacted the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act (“POSH”) in 2013 for protection, prevention, and redressal of sexual harassment against women at workplace. The Act just not only requires to punish sexual harassment but also creates a mandate for companies to proactively build a safe working environment. 

In today’s evolving work environment, it’s also important to note that individuals may be subject to unlawful sexual harassment from a supervisor, subordinate, employee, intern, independent contractor, temporary or contract worker, vendor, client, visitor, or even a customer. Therefore, the companies are required to adopt a whole set of mechanism which includes, anti-sexual harassment policy, employee sensitization sessions, constituting and training of internal complaints committee (ICC) members, etc. for grafting zero-tolerance towards sexual harassment. 

Even after 6 years of implementation, there is no reliable statistics for analyzing the extent to which employers comply with POSH and the number of complaints raised and redressed. Therefore, to strengthen the compliance, the Act has mandated the companies to file an Annual report under the POSH Act. 

Who is required to file a POSH annual report? 

As per section 21 of the POSH Act, the ICC is required to prepare an annual report for each calendar year and submit it to the employer and the district officer. 

What all needs to be included in the POSH annual report? 

As per Rule 14 of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013 the ICC should include the following in its annual report – 

• Number of sexual harassment complaints received in the year. 
• Number of complaints disposed off during the year. 
• Number of cases pending for more than 90 days 
• Number of workshops or awareness programme against sexual harassment carried out 
• Nature of action taken by the employer or District officer

Is there a penalty for non-compliance? 

Yes, since this is a labour law compliance, the law prescribes a penalty for non- compliance. An organization not complying with any of the mandatory compliances mentioned in the POSH Act, 2013 can be penalized with a fine of up to 50,000 INR, which can be extended to cancellation of business license in case of repeated non-compliance.

What is the confidentiality of this report? 

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 states that the following details must not be known to the public, press or media in any manner:

• Identity, name, and address of the aggrieved woman, respondent, and witnesses
• Information pertaining to conciliation and inquiry proceedings
• Recommendations of ICC (or LCC)

Note that even when a report is submitted to the District Officer the following has to be kept confidential.

How is this POSH annual report different from the one that is filed by ROC? 

Under the POSH Act there are two disclosures to be made by the company – 

1. POSH Annual report – This is prepared by the ICC and is filed before the District Officer. The requirements of this report have been discussed above. 
2. Disclosure under the company’s annual report – The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, through a notification dated July 31, 2018, amended the Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014, in accordance with the request made by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare. By this amendment, it is now compulsory for a company to make a statement in the Director’s Report that it has complied with the provisions regarding the constitution of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). This is a disclosure made by a company in the Director’s report and is filed before the Registrar of the company. To know about the format of POSH annual report or how to file the report before the district officer visit us at www.ungender.in or email us at contact@ungender.in.