What can the management of a company do for an effective implementation of POSH Act, 2013

With time, there has been growing acceptance of the fact that inclusive workplaces positively impact a company and help it realise its growth potential. Gender diversity and inclusivity at the workplace are not merely theoretical concepts or a social responsibility. It is now a proven fact that the positive consequences of an inclusive workforce, are not limited merely to abstractions, but have tangible benefits for the company, and for the economy as a whole. The 2016 McKinsey Global Institute report presents a heartening statistic: if India’s workforce equaled the most gender inclusive ones in the region by raising female participation by around ten percentage points, we could add 700 billion to our GDP in 2025. This shows that alongside the ethical argument for having a workplace accessible to both the genders, there is a compelling case to be made even if only the financial aspect is considered.

Inclusive workplaces make for content employees that show more initiative and heightened productivity because of the supportive environment. Further, employer turnover increases greatly when steps are taken to ensure that the workplace is a safe and protective environment, ensuring continuity and stability, as well as avoiding the financial loss associated with repeated change in employees. A 2009 study shows that companies with more gender and racial diversity perform better with sales, number of customers and market shares. An inclusive workplace inevitably enjoys the benefits of having a wider talent pool at its disposal, has a better reputation, and increases engagement.

What is it that can help in increasing women’s participation and continuance in the workforce?

While education and job creation remain some of the primary criteria, corporate policies that ensure women do not feel compelled to leave the employment thus gained remain one of the vital factors in ensuring that potential does not remain unrealized.

Clearly, the management must step in therefore to ensure that companies are equipped to handle challenges and nurture a supportive environment. Predictable social norms such as social stigma, social compulsions to marriage and motherhood are factors that operate to persuade women to leave the workforce; but there is also another compelling reason- sexual harassment at the workplace.

This factual background is the reason why it’s alarming to see that, according to the Indian National Bar Association,  68% of those who faced sexual harassment did not report it to the management in 2016.

This information comes despite three years having elapsed since the enactment of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, Redressal) Act 2013 [POSH Act],demonstrating the need for doing more than mere legalistic compliance. There are many more steps that the management can take to ensure that they make the best of the framework provided by the POSH Act, 2013; some of which include:

Conducting Gender Sensitization Sessions

The management must ensure a thorough gender sensitization programme and training for all those in the workplace. In doing so, while emphasis must be placed upon teaching male employees the correct way to go about interactions with female employees, the training should not be focused only on a particular gender. For a sensitization programme to be effective, both males and females need to be explained the code of conduct to be followed with each other in professional settings. There are certain mannerisms and tendencies of both the genders that may be unacceptable in the workplace environment, and these must be identified and prevented. In addition, a good gender sensitisation programme must take into account the third gender, and educate employees about them to eliminate prejudices and involve the third gender in the process as well. These are some of the steps that the company can incorporate into the sensitization programme  to ensure that it is effective:

1. The awareness must not be nominal; and the burden cannot be discharged merely through a single event or the handing out of a brochure. The process must be regular and engaging, with personal interaction to ensure transmission of the message.
2. The programmes must cater to the specific nature of the workplace. For instance, a standard corporate sensitisation module may be wholly ineffective  a workplace that involves a lot of field work, or in a factory, where conditions of employment are wholly different.
3. The programmes must also be directed at and involve senior management; and any redressal mechanism, such as the Internal Complaints Committee, must not leave them out of its purview.

Leadership’s conduct 

Leaders in any organisation cast a shadow with wide reach. A leader’s words and actions can play a huge role in shaping the attitudes of other employees, and the level of confidence the employees’ have in the leader’s commitment to ensuing their safety and well- being can determine whether a complaint is made to the company through the right channels such as Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) provided under POSH Act, 2013, instead of resorting to social media or police intervention. Thus, managers and team leaders must consciously represent a high standard of professional conduct.

Maintaining open lines of communication

Even if an ICC has been set up, the redressal mechanism should not be unapproachable or arduous for the complainant; and the management must take every step possible to ensure that there is ease and adequate opportunity to complain. This must take into account the structure of the workplace and the industry of which it’s a part. A workplace in the form of a factory with labourers and workers, would have to structure its complaint mechanism in a way entirely different from a corporate office with mostly white collar employees. These differences must  find reflection in the way workplace safety is ensured, and accessibility must be given paramount importance.

For instance:

1. This may take the form of allowing an employee to complain through an e-mail, instead of requiring a handwritten or typed out letter of complaint.
2. A complaint box may be put up where an employee might not be comfortable with physically going to the ICC or making a face to face complaint.
3. An employee helpline number may be provided, where simply a phone call would be enough to alert the concerned authority, eliminating delays in approaching the authority for logistical reasons. This would be an especially effective method of receiving complaints when not all employees are literate and comfortable with written communication, or when there is a centralized ICC for workplaces in a number of locations.

Creating Gender Neutral policies.

While the legal requirement in India at present, is only that of policies targeted at sexual harassment of women, a policy that is gender neutral yields much better results than one that isn’t. When the sexual harassment policy is directed only at harassment against women, it alienates a major section of the workforce comprised of other genders, and hence creates an atmosphere of hostility. Effectually, this defeats the very purpose of the act which is to maintain harmony in work relations, and ensure productivity at the workplace. On the contrary, a gender neutral policy also engages with the other genders, and makes them stakeholders in the process, resulting in a much higher level of involvement and a voluntary sense of responsibility missing in gender specific policies. While being wider in scope, care must be taken to ensure that a gender neutral sexual harassment policy ensures that the specifics of the kind of harassment the genders may face are taken into account to ensure that it is responsive to real-life situations.

Ensuring that those aggrieved do not hesitate to complain:

The management must recognise that in a workplace environment, the complainant faces great social stigma and fear of professional setbacks. It is therefore, the responsibility of the management to ensure, both through policy and conduct that the aggrieved employee does not fear adverse reactions or retaliation that prevents them from approaching the appropriate channel. Some of the reasons that an employee may not want to complain are the fear that confidentiality would not be maintained, which may lead to a change in the behaviour of fellow employees towards them; the danger of professional setbacks and retaliation by the respondent; as well as lack of faith in the ICC to effectively resolve the complaint. Thus, it is vital for the management to not only to ensure creation of redressal mechanisms like ICC but ensure that ICCs are trained to receive and effectively address complaints of the aggrieved women.

Creating a positive workplace environment and taking proactive measures for prevention of harassment.

While the management cannot formally intervene in suspected sexual harassment unless a complaint is made ,what they must ensure is that senior officers are alert and assess employee relations carefully for any such instances, and encourage employees to speak up if there is reasonable suspicion. Further, they must work to create a work culture that is characterised by a respect for personal space and consideration of diversity in gender, socio-economic background, place in the hierarchy of work relations- and the corresponding advantages and disadvantages that each employee personally faces. The management must ensure that every member of a team, and every employee at the workplace- irrespective of their work profile, feels valued and is treated on par with others; so that even an employee at the grassroots level or one on the lowest step of the ladder in a corporate office feels confidence in approaching the management with their grievances.

Conducting consistent dialogue on what constitutes acceptable workplace behavior.

The management must recognize that the workplace is constituted of employees from diverse social backgrounds with varying cultural norms and standards. Hence, they must facilitate discussion and formally or informally to define the ethics to be followed in the workplace, and communicate these to the employees.

Preventing conflict of interest.

The management must be prepared for the eventuality that a sexual harassment incident may involve a senior member of the management, and must then, take steps to not let this affect fair examination of the allegation. If such a member is a part of the ICC set up under POSH Act 2013, they must immediately be distanced from the proceedings. Further, if an allegation is leveled against a client or a vendor, the company must still give due consideration to the complaint of its employee, irrespective of the effect it may have on its business interests. The highest degree of care must be taken to ensure that there is no bias.

These are but some of the multitude of ways in which the principle embodied  by the POSH Act 2013 can be taken further than mere legalistic compliance to ensure tangibly better results for the company. When contextual realities such as the nature of the workplace are taken into account and diversity is respected in the behaviour of the management and the policies evolved, the structures created under the POSH Act 2013 also function effectively. Sexual harassment at workplace complaints must be viewed as an opportunity to examine the lapses that allowed the aberration to occur, and  the problems identified can be used to aid the creation of a better redressal mechanism.

Author: This post has been submitted by Ishrita Bagchi, as part of her assignment with Ungender Insights. Ishrita Bagchi is currently a student of National Law University, Jodhpur.