Policy

The Law and the Regulations mandates the Higher Educational Institution to publicly commit itself a zero-tolerance policy towards sexual harassment. The regulations are specifically for women employees and for all students, regardless of their gender.

Our team can draft, review as well as customize your institution’s Policy against sexual harassment while keeping in mind the legal provisions as well as the practical challenges.

Internal Committee (IC) Members Nomination and Appointment

As per the Law, employers must constitute an IC formally, by an order in writing. The UGC regulations provide that the IC must include a senior level woman faculty as the Presiding Officer, 2 faculty members and 2 non-teaching employees, and 1 external member. If the matter involved students, 3 students must also be a part of the IC.

We can assist you in nominating IC members or for reconstitution of existing Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment. We can also support in non-disclosure undertakings and drafting appointment/removal letters for IC members.

Annual Report and Disclosure

The POSH Act mandates every organization’s IC to prepare and submit an annual report to the employer as well as the District Officer at the end of every calendar year. The UGC Regulations require the institution to prepare an annual status report with details of the cases and their disposal and submit it to the Commission.

Our team helps you draft a detailed annual compliance report and provides information about the submission to the District Officer and the Commission.

Notices and Posters

The Law and the Regulation requires the institutions to display the penalty and consequences of sexual harassment, the redressal mechanism to deal with complaints, details of IC members, and so on in the prospectus, the notice board or conspicuous places in the campus. We can help you create the notices and posters and reinforce your commitment to creating a campus which is free from discrimination, harassment, retaliation or sexual assault at all levels.

Employee Awareness Program

Your institution, much like our society, is created by a diverse group of people who have different understanding and perspectives, and hence, employees may have different ideas about which behaviors can be considered as unwelcome and may amount to sexual harassment. A clear understanding of this can help them identify inappropriate behaviours and address them. This interactive awareness session is to educate faculty members and non-teaching employees about their rights and duties under the Law by breaking down the topics into simple and easily comprehensible parts.

Gender Sensitization and Awareness Program for Students

Empowering students with the knowledge of how gender roles and stereotypes influence human behaviour and contribute to gender based violence, identifying inappropriate behaviour, and learning ways to address & prevent harassment on campus is essential in building empathy, sensitivity and respect for themselves and others. This program is designed to educate and upskill students by engaging them in discussions, collectively creating solutions, and being able to articulate their rights and duties in the Law & regulations.

Training of Human Resources and Managers

Interactive training to educate HR & HODs about the Law & relevant regulations, it’s provisions and penalties, and also to empower them to respond to various scenarios, and sensitize their team. Through this training, our aim is for the people managers to understand their roles and responsibilities to address real-time issues of team escalations and identify best practices to ensure compliance with the law while ensuring continuity of daily operations.

Employer / Management Training Program

This session is to equip the Management with knowledge of the Law, relevant regulations and penalties, their duties under the law in creating healthy work environment, and to discuss their role as leaders and custodians of their institution’s values and goals. This session is recommended for the Management, Dean, Trustees and any other decision makers such as head of HR, Legal heads, etc.

Training and Capacity Building for Internal Committee (IC)

A qualified and well-informed IC is essential and mandated by the Law & Regulations to effectively address complaints and ensure a safe work culture. This interactive session is to educate IC members about their roles and responsibilities under the Law & Regulations and to equip them with the tools and skills required to effectively handle any case of sexual harassment. This will also include capacity building of the students who form a part of the IC. Based on the duration of the session, learning of the concepts will be accompanied by mock complaint of sexual harassment & response copy along with conducting mock inquiry meetings.

Train the Trainer Workshop

Equipping your staff & students to deliver Sexual Harassment training that highlights nuances of behavior and is easy to administrate.

Through this interactive workshop you can get trained a selected group of employees or students at your institution such that they can further create awareness amongst other employees and students. This ensures an empowered set of internal resources who can conduct awareness sessions on a regular basis without the need for external trainers to comply with the law in creating safe and respectful workplace. At the end of the workshop, the trainers & students champions will be provided with an assessment, certificate, and resources to further conduct sessions internally.

Case Management & Inquiries

The external member will guide your IC/HR through handling of any type of complaint of sexual harassment and also handhold the IC through each complaint where investigation has been initiated keeping in mind the due process that needs to followed. The external member will provide expertise to ensure that each complaint is addressed effectively and as per the Law.

Documentation and Drafting of Reports

The external member will assist the IC on proper documentation of each inquiry proceeding, evidence collected, record maintenance and drafting the final closure/inquiry report for each case based on existing practices and learnings from court judgments. The external member will also assist in preparation & filing of the annual report.

Regular Meetings & Mailers

The external member will hold quarterly meetings for all IC members to discuss cases, observations and other relevant updates. Moreover, informative nuggets will be sent via emails to share updates, enhance learning and ensure retention of POSH provisions and practices.

Legal Advice and Assistance

The external member will be a competent POSH expert who can address any query from your IC regarding the understanding or implementation of the Law.