Policy, Law and Procedures

The law of the land, as well as the company’s

workplace policies, practices and corporate
guidelines mandate a safe and harassment free
workplace.
Managers, HR staff ,Committee members and all
employees must be aware of their role in
maintaining a positive work environment
The organization is legally liable. The Law directs
employer to prevent harassment and to provide a
procedure for resolution.
 What is sexual harassment?
 What is the law in India.
 Policy & Process
 Resolution processes
 How to prevent Sexual Harassment at workplace
 Few case studies
 The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is
a legislative act that seeks to protect women from sexual
harassment at their place of work.

 The Act came into force from 9 December 2013. This

statute superseded the Vishakha Guidelines for prevention
of sexual harassment introduced by the Supreme Court of
India.

 The Sexual Harassment at The Workplace (Prevention,

Prohibition and Redressal) Act and Rules, 2013 have been
notified by the ministry of WCD.
 The Act defines sexual harassment at the work place and creates a
mechanism for redressal of complaints. It also provides safeguards against
false or malicious charges.
 The definition of "aggrieved woman", who will get protection under the Act
is extremely wide to cover all women, irrespective of her age or employment
status, whether in the organised or unorganised sectors, public or private
and covers clients, customers and domestic workers as well.
 While the "workplace" in the Vishaka Guidelines is confined to the
traditional office set-up where there is a clear employer-employee
relationship, the Act goes much further to include organisations,
department, office, branch unit etc. in the public and private sector,
organized and unorganized, hospitals, nursing homes, educational
institutions, sports institutes, stadiums, sports complex and any place
visited by the employee during the course of employment including the
transportation. Even non-traditional workplaces which involve tele-
commuting will get covered under this law.
 Act mandates that every employer shall constitute an Internal Complaints
Committee to look into the complaints of sexual harassment.
 The Complaints Committees have the powers of civil courts
for gathering evidence.
 The Complaints Committees are required to provide for
conciliation before initiating an inquiry, if requested by the
complainant.
 Penalties have been prescribed for employers. Non-
compliance with the provisions of the Act shall be
punishable with a fine of up to ₹ 50,000. Repeated
violations may lead to higher penalties and cancellation of
license or registration to conduct business.
 Government can order an officer to inspect workplace and
records related to sexual harassment in any organisation
 The key features and the procedure under the Act is
covered in the Company policy, which every employee must
be aware of.
 Sexual harassment would mean and include any of the following:
i) unwelcome sexual advances, requests or demand for sexual favours, either
explicitly or implicitly, in return for employment, promotion, examination or
evaluation of a person towards any company activity;
ii) unwelcome sexual advances involving verbal, non-verbal, or physical
conduct such as sexually coloured remarks, jokes, letters, phone calls, e-
mail, gestures, showing of pornography, lurid stares, physical contact or
molestation, stalking, sounds, display of pictures, signs, verbal or non-
verbal communication which offends the individuals sensibilities and affect
her/his performance;
iii) eve teasing, innuendos and taunts, physical confinement against one's
will and likely to intrude upon one's privacy;
iv) act or conduct by a person in authority which creates the environment at
workplace hostile or intimidating to a person belonging to the other sex;
v) conduct of such an act at work place or outside in relation to an Employee,
or vice versa during the course of employment; and
vi) any unwelcome gesture by an employee having sexual overtones
 Victim need not be directly harassed.
 Adverse effects on the victim is not necessary.
 Even if the harasser is unaware that behavior is
offensive it could be unlawful.
 Actions and statements that seem good-natured and
acceptable to some people may be unwelcome and
offensive to others.
 The unwelcome-ness of conduct can be determined by
the victim's reaction to the conduct and his or her
behavior towards the offender.
 Unwelcome conduct can include a situation in which
behavior that was at one time acceptable, is no longer
welcome
 What Behavior May Be Harassing? Written Unwelcome suggestive,
sexually explicit or obscene letters, notes, e-mails or invitations.
 What Behavior May Be Harassing?• Verbal – Derogatory, sexually
explicit or offensive comments, epithets, slurs or jokes; – inappropriate
comments about an individual’s body or sexual activities; – repeated
unwelcome propositions or sexual flirtations; – direct or subtle pressure
or repeated unwelcome requests for dates or sexual activities.
 What Behavior May Be Harassing?• Visual Sexually oriented
gestures, display of sexually suggestive or derogatory objects, pictures,
cartoons, posters or drawings. Looking a person up and down
(“elevator eyes”).
 What Behavior May Be Harassing?• Physical Impeding or blocking
movements, touching, patting, pinching, or any other unnecessary or
unwanted physical contact. Touching an employee’s hair, clothing or
body. Brushing up against a person.
 Two Types of Sexual Harassment 1 . Quid Pro Quo 2.
Hostile Environment
 Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment Classic Examples:
Occurs when an employee’s submission to or rejection of
unwelcome sexual advances or conduct is used as the basis
for an employment decision affecting that employee.
 Quid Pro Quo Sexual Harassment Classic Examples: “If
you want a promotion, you must sleep with me.” “If you
do not want to be disciplined for being late and missing
work, you must go out on a date with me.”
 Hostile Work Environment Hostile work environment
sexual harassment is created when unwelcome harassment
is severe or pervasive enough to alter the conditions of an
individual’s employment or creates an abusive,
intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.
 A flurry of high-profile sexual harassment cases have
made headlines in the recent past, most notably against
former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal and ex-director of
Teri R.K. Pachauri.
 Rupan Deo Bajaj, an IAS officer in Chandigarh, against
'super cop' K P S Gill.
 An activist from the All India Democratic Women's
Association, against the environment minister in Dehra
Dun.
 An airhostess against her colleague Mahesh Kumar Lala,
in Mumbai.
 An IAS officer in Thiruvananthapuram, against the state
minister.
 And the recent case of St Stephens college
◦ Myth: Sexual Harassment is harmless flirtation; Victim who
object have no sense of humor.
 Fact: Behavior that is unwelcome cannot be considered harmless
or funny. Sexual Harassment is defined by its impact on the
harassed and his/her work environment, not the intent of the
harasser.
◦ Myth: Women provoke sexual harassment by the way they dress
and behavior, decent women do not get sexually harassed.
 Fact: This is a classic way of shifting the blame from the harasser
to the harassed. Every individual has a right to act, dress
without the threat of harassment .
◦ Myth: Women who say “No’ actually mean ‘Yes”
 Fact: Women who say ‘No’ mean ‘No’. This is a common
argument used by men/women to justify sexual aggression.
◦ Myth: Sexual harassment is rare.
 Fact: Sexual harassment is widespread. If affects the lives of 40-
60% of working women
◦ Myth: Only Men sexually harass women, men are not sexually
harassed.
 Fact: The majority of cases involve men sexually harassing
women. However, men also harass men, women harass men and
women harass women.
◦ Myth: Many women make up and report stories of sexual
harassment to get back at their employers or others who have
angered them.
 Fact: Research shows that less than 1 per cent of complaints are
false. Women rarely file complaints even when they are justified
in doing so. They are afraid to report cases for fear of losing their
jobs, further harassment, social stigma and other repercussions.
◦ Myth: If you ignore sexual harassment it will go away.
 Fact: Sexual harassment will not simply go away if you ignore it.
Harassers generally will not stop of their own accord. When
sexual harassment is ignored, it is often interpreted as a sign of
approval or consent.
 The number of complaints registered with the
National Commission for Women (NCW)
concerning sexual harassment of women at
workplaces has been showing an increasing trend
lately.
◦ Case 3: A floor manager states that he does not think women can make
good team leads. Often he publicly humiliates and reprimands Rita, the
only female teamlead at the floor. He gives her impossible tasks to
perform.
 Ans: This would appear to be a case of gender discrimination than
sexual harassment.
◦ Case 4: While sitting at her desk, at work, Preethi received a phone call
from her husband telling her that uncle had just passed away. As she
hung up the phone, she burst into tears. Amit noticed this and when he
asked what was wrong, she told him and started to cry even more
audibly. Amit put his arm around her.
 Ans: Arguably, consoling Preethi at that moment, would probably not
be considered sexual harassment. However, at any other time, this type
of physical contact would be unacceptable. Compassion without physical
contact would be preferable.
◦ Case 5: Aradhana was shocked to receive a magazine containing lewd and
sexually offensive pictures from her manager, which is circulated
throughout the office, as a joke.
 Ans: This would appear to be a case of sexual harassment – display of
pornography.
 DO:
 Know that sexual harassment is a serious
matter and is against the law.
 Report any sexually harassing behavior as
 soon as possible.
 Know that we will not punish you for
reporting sexually harassing behavior.
 Ever allow a supervisor, manager, farm labor
contractor or co-worker to convince you that
submitting or not submitting to sexual favors
will affect your job.
 Be afraid to report sexually harassing
behavior.
 Listen to sexual jokes or allow anyone here to
pinch you or make comments about your
body or sex life.
Organization
 Decreased performance/Morale/Absenteeism/Resignations.
 Costly investigation and litigation, Negative publicity, Embarrassing
depositions
 Erosion of organization’s brand names, goodwill, and public image
 Negative impact on stock price
Individual
 Being objectified and humiliated. Loss of dignity
 Severe health & psychological impact – anxiety/panic attacks, loss of
confidence/self esteem, withdrawal/isolation, suicidal thoughts/attempts
 Damage to professional reputation and career
 Extreme stress on relationships with peers/family. Friends and family
may distance themselves from the victim, or shun them altogether.
 Inevitably, the victims face a choice between their work and their self-
esteem
 Sometimes, they face choice between their jobs and their own safety
A quorum of 3 members is required to be present for
the proceedings to take place. The quorum shall
include the Chairperson, External Member and at
least one other member of which one shall be a male
member of the committee. The external member is
mandatory to get a non-biased and non-partial
investigation
 An aggrieved employee shall make a written complaint (by email or letter) to the
chairperson of the Committee while being inside or outside the office premises
during or after office hours. The complaint ideally should cover the following: o
Victim name o Respondent o Brief of complaint o Any witness o Any supporting
document or material
 The complaint can be made: o Within a period of three months from the date of
the incident, or o If there is a series of incidents, within a period of three months
from the date of last incident
 The Committee will send one copy of complaint to the respondent within a
period of seven working days.
 The respondent will file a reply to the complaint along with supporting
documents within ten working days from the date the respondent receives the
copy of the complaint.
 The Committee after giving written notice of fifteen days to the party concerned,
can terminate an inquiry or give an ex parte decision if either the complainant or
the respondent fails, without sufficient cause, to present herself or himself for
three consecutive hearings convened by the Presiding Officer. No legal
practitioner may represent a party before a Committee proceeding.
 If the aggrieved employee is unable to make a compliant because of
physical or mental incapability, death, her / his legal heir or such other
person as is permitted by the law, may make the complaint
 The Committee may, for reasons recorded in writing, extend the time
limit by a further period not exceeding three months, if it is satisfied
that circumstances prevented the filing of a complaint within the first
three months.
 The Committee may, before initiating an inquiry and at the request of
the aggrieved employee take steps to settle the matter between
aggrieved employee and the respondent through conciliation.
 No monetary settlement shall be made the basis of conciliation. If a
conciliation is arrived at, the committee shall record the settlement and
send it to Company HR team for action to be taken as recommended,
and no further inquiry shall be conducted by the Committees.
 The Committee shall provide copies of the recorded settlement to
the aggrieved employee and to the respondent .
 The Internal Complaint Committee shall strive to complete the
inquiry within 30 days of the date of the written complaint and
the inquiry report/ recommendation has to be issued within 10
days from the date of completion of inquiry.
 The report will be made available to the concerned parties.
 The recommendation must be acted upon, within 60 days of its
receipt.
 Criminal/Legal Proceedings: If the Sexual harassment is of a
kind which is an offense under the Indian Penal Code or under
any other law, the Committee Head shall initiate appropriate
action in accordance with law by making a complaint with
appropriate authority. The HR Head will be in charge of this
process.
 Shreya Ukil took Indian IT giant Wipro to
court in 2014 making stunning allegations of
sex discrimination, unfair dismissal and
verbal abuse by her colleagues in London.

The city's employment tribunal ruled in her

favour. Its judgement, says there is evidence
against "some in the senior leadership in
Wipro" of being 'sexist and unfair'.
 An IIT Kanpur student was found guilty of
sexually harassing a girl student and
expelled.

A 23-year-old BSc Physics student had

accused her one year senior of sexually
harassing her for last two years after which
the college administration had forwarded the
matter to the women's cell. The cell found the
accused guilty and he was expelled later.
 SpiceJet sacked a commander-level pilot on charges
of sexual harassment. The pilot was sacked after an
internal complaint committee found him to be guilty
of misconduct and sexually harassing an air hostess.

The commander allegedly asked the air hostess to sit

with him in the cockpit. According to sources, the
pilot allegedly asked his co-pilot to leave the cockpit
for a substantial period of time, leaving the
commander and the air hostess alone.

The commander repeated the act on the return leg of

the journey. The pilot also used "unparliamentary
language" with the Cabin Crew in Charge (CCI).
Lets give ourselves
safe workplaces…….