Short answer: Every workplace in India with 10 or more employees must constitute an Internal Committee, adopt a written POSH policy, display the penal consequences of harassment prominently, conduct regular awareness training, resolve complaints within 90 days, and file an annual report with the District Officer. Non-compliance carries a fine of up to ₹50,000, rising on repeat offences to cancellation of licence or registration. Compliance is not a one-time exercise — it is an annual cycle.
If you are responsible for compliance at your organisation, this guide covers what you must do, by when, and what happens if you do not.
Which workplaces the Act applies to
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 — the POSH Act — received Presidential assent on 23 April 2013 and came into force on 9 December 2013. It gave statutory form to the Supreme Court’s guidelines in Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan (1997).
Three points employers routinely get wrong:
It applies to every workplace, not just companies. Government departments, hospitals, educational institutions, NGOs, sports facilities, and the unorganised sector are all covered. So are dwelling places, which is how domestic workers fall within scope.
“Workplace” extends well beyond your office. It includes any place the employee visits arising out of employment — client sites, transport provided by the employer, off-site events, work travel. Since remote work became standard, virtual interactions during the course of employment fall within it too. A harassment complaint arising from a work video call is a POSH complaint.
“Employee” is broader than your payroll. It covers regular, temporary, ad-hoc, daily wage, contract, probationary, trainee and apprentice workers, whether or not the employer knows of the appointment. Interns are included. So are workers engaged through a contractor.
The Act protects women. Complaints by men are not covered by the POSH Act and must be handled under service rules or other law — a gap employers should address in internal policy rather than assume away.
The nine things every employer must do
Section 19 sets out the employer’s duties. In practical order:
| # | Obligation | Practical requirement |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Constitute an Internal Committee | Mandatory at 10 or more employees. Per workplace, not per company. |
| 2 | Adopt a written POSH policy | Circulated to all employees, in a language they understand. |
| 3 | Provide a safe working environment | Includes protection from third parties at the workplace. |
| 4 | Display consequences prominently | Penal consequences and IC order details, visibly displayed at the workplace. |
| 5 | Conduct awareness programmes | Regular employee sensitisation, at reasonable intervals. |
| 6 | Train IC members | Capacity-building and skill development for committee members. |
| 7 | Assist the IC during inquiry | Provide facilities, secure attendance of witnesses and respondents. |
| 8 | Treat harassment as misconduct | Under service rules, and initiate action accordingly. |
| 9 | Monitor and file reports | Ensure the IC files its annual report on time. |
The two most commonly missed are numbers 4 and 5. Displaying the consequences and running regular awareness sessions are cheap, take an afternoon, and are among the first things an inspection or a litigation opponent will check.
Constituting the Internal Committee correctly
This is where most organisations fail, usually by getting the composition wrong rather than by not forming one at all. An improperly constituted IC can have its findings challenged, which means the entire inquiry may be wasted.
Required composition:
- A Presiding Officer — must be a woman employed at a senior level at the workplace. If no senior woman is available, one may be nominated from another office or unit of the same employer.
- At least two members from amongst employees, preferably committed to the cause of women, or with experience in social work or legal knowledge.
- One external member from an NGO or association committed to the cause of women, or a person familiar with issues relating to sexual harassment.
Two rules that catch people out: at least half the total members must be women, and the external member is not optional. Committees made up entirely of internal staff are one of the most common defects in practice.
Members hold office for a term not exceeding three years. The external member is entitled to fees or allowances for participation.
Where there are fewer than 10 employees, or where the complaint is against the employer themselves, the complaint goes to the Local Committee constituted by the District Officer, not to an internal body.
The complaint and inquiry timeline
The statutory clock is tight, and missing it is itself a compliance failure. Learn these five numbers:
| Stage | Time limit |
|---|---|
| Filing a complaint from the date of the incident | 3 months, extendable by a further 3 months |
| Completion of inquiry | 90 days |
| IC submits report to employer | 10 days from completion of inquiry |
| Employer acts on recommendations | 60 days |
| Appeal against IC recommendations | 90 days |
The inquiry must follow principles of natural justice. The respondent is entitled to know the allegation and to be heard. A finding recorded without giving the respondent a fair opportunity is the most likely ground on which an IC decision gets set aside.
On conciliation: where the aggrieved woman requests it, the IC may attempt to settle the matter before beginning an inquiry. Two constraints — the IC cannot initiate conciliation on its own, and no monetary settlement may be made the basis of conciliation.
On confidentiality: the identity of the parties and the contents of the proceedings must not be published or made public. Breaching confidentiality carries its own penalty. In practice this means being careful about internal email trails and who is copied.
Annual compliance you cannot skip
Two obligations recur every year and are the ones organisations most often let slide:
The annual report. The IC must prepare and submit a report each calendar year to the employer and the District Officer, setting out the number of complaints received, disposed of, cases pending beyond 90 days, workshops conducted, and action taken.
Board’s Report disclosure. Companies must state in their Board’s Report that they have complied with the constitution of an Internal Committee. For a company, POSH compliance is therefore visible in a public filing — which makes non-compliance a governance issue, not just an HR one.
What non-compliance actually costs
Under Section 26, failure to constitute an IC, to file the annual report, or to comply with other obligations attracts a fine of up to ₹50,000.
The fine is rarely the real exposure. The consequences that hurt:
- Repeat offence can lead to twice the punishment, and to cancellation or non-renewal of licence, registration or approval required to conduct business.
- Reputational damage, since POSH proceedings involving senior employees tend to become public regardless of confidentiality obligations.
- Loss of defensibility. In litigation, an employer with no properly constituted IC, no policy and no training records has nothing to point to. An employer who can produce all three is in a materially stronger position, even where a complaint is upheld.
- Client and investor diligence. POSH compliance is now a standard checklist item in vendor onboarding and investment due diligence.
A compliance checklist you can work through this week
Print this and tick it off. If you cannot tick an item, that is your gap.
Foundation
- [ ] Internal Committee constituted at every workplace with 10+ employees
- [ ] Presiding Officer is a senior woman employee
- [ ] At least one external member appointed
- [ ] At least half of members are women
- [ ] Appointment orders issued in writing, with tenure recorded
Documentation
- [ ] Written POSH policy adopted and circulated
- [ ] Policy available in a language employees understand
- [ ] Penal consequences displayed prominently at the workplace
- [ ] IC members’ names and contact details displayed
- [ ] Complaint register maintained confidentially
Ongoing
- [ ] Awareness programme conducted in the last 12 months, with attendance records
- [ ] IC members given capacity-building training
- [ ] Sexual harassment recognised as misconduct in service rules
- [ ] Induction for new joiners includes POSH
Annual
- [ ] Annual report filed with the District Officer
- [ ] Board’s Report discloses IC compliance (companies)
- [ ] IC composition reviewed against the three-year tenure limit
Getting your team compliant
POSH compliance fails in practice for a predictable reason: it is assigned to someone who has never been trained in it, alongside their existing job. A committee that does not understand natural justice will conduct an inquiry that cannot survive challenge.
LawMento’s POSH Law and Compliance certificate course covers exactly the operational ground in this guide — employer duties under Section 19, IC constitution and powers, the complaint and inquiry procedure, drafting inquiry reports, and preparing a legally compliant POSH policy. It runs 5+ hours, is self-paced with instant access, and carries a verifiable certificate. It is taught by Adv. Vidushi Verma, a regulatory compliance specialist formerly with HDFC Limited, and Ms. Sakshi Kothari, a Certified POSH Trainer.
For committee members who need to run an inquiry properly, and for HR teams who need to draft the policy rather than download a template, that is the practical grounding.
Frequently asked questions
Is an Internal Committee mandatory below 10 employees?
No. Below that threshold, complaints go to the Local Committee constituted by the District Officer. Many smaller organisations still adopt a policy voluntarily, because it is expected in client and investor diligence.
Do we need a separate IC for each office?
Yes. The obligation attaches to the workplace. A company with offices in three cities generally needs a committee at each administrative unit, not one central committee.
Can a man be the Presiding Officer?
No. The Presiding Officer must be a woman employed at a senior level at the workplace.
Does the POSH Act cover male employees?
The Act protects women. Complaints by men fall outside it and must be handled under service rules or other applicable law. Many employers adopt a gender-neutral internal anti-harassment policy alongside their statutory POSH policy.
Do complaints about remote work or video calls count?
Yes, where the conduct arises out of employment. The definition of workplace extends to any place visited by the employee arising out of employment, which in practice covers work communication channels.
How long must POSH records be retained?
The Act does not prescribe a period. Retain inquiry records and annual reports for at least as long as any limitation period for challenge, and treat them as confidential throughout.
Who pays the external member?
The employer, in the form of fees or allowances for participation in proceedings.
