CHECKLIST FOR PREPARING AND SUBMITTING ANNUAL REPORT TO THE DISTRICT OFFICER AND LOCAL COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 has several compliance obligations. One of them being the submission of annual reports. The Act under section 21 mandates that in each calendar year the Internal Complaints Committee has to prepare an annual report and then submit the same to the employer and the district officer. The employer has to include in this annual report the number of cases filed if any, and their disposal under this Act.
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013 give the basic structure for the Annual Report as:-
(a) Number of complaints of sexual harassment received in the year;
(b) Number of complaints disposed of during the year;
(c) Number of cases pending for more than ninety days;
(d) Number of workshops or awareness programme against sexual harassment carried out;
(e) Nature of action taken by the employer or district officer.
Additional pointers have been added to the requirements of the annual reports by the different district officers and Local Complaints Committees as appointed and constituted respectively under the act/rule.
In this article, we explain the additional points and that the Guruguram District officer and Local Complaints Committee requires for POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) Compliance. This can be used as a ready checklist when submitting the annual report of an organization.
CHECKLIST FOR ANNUAL REPORT- GURUGRAM -DISTRICT OFFICER AND LOCAL COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE
POLICY:
- Have you prepared and implemented an internal Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 Policy in your organization? (The reference number of the policy has to be specified)
- Is Sexual Harassment specified as a form of misconduct under the employment contract or service rules, or the standing orders (if standing orders are applicable to your business)? (The amendment reference number of the same has to be specified)
- Have you created an Internal Complaints Committee for each branch or office as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013? (applies for each branch or office with 10 or more staff)
NOTICES
- Have you displayed sufficient notices informing employees about your organization’s stance on Sexual Harassment and the consequences of indulging in such acts? (A sample notice of the same needs to be attached)
- Have you provided sufficient information about the members of the Internal Complaints Committee and Local Complaints Committee in prominent places in Hindi as well as English and regional language (applicable if you have more employees/vendors/ sub-vendors/contract labours etc from a particular region who can not read English and Hindi ) the organization, so that employees and staff can reach them.
(A sample of the same needs to be attached)
EMPLOYEE AWARENESS, SENSITIZATION AND ASSISTANCE
- Do you conduct periodic workshops or seminars to sensitize employees about the stance of your organization on Sexual Harassment and about the consequences of engaging in any conduct that amounts to Sexual Harassment? (If yes, the year-wise breakup of the number of workshops conducted in the year (year ending 31st December every year) needs to be provided.
- Have you made efforts to make employees aware of their rights under the act? (If yes, the communications need to be mentioned briefly)
- Is there any system or process to provide assistance to an employee who has been Sexually Harassed, in approaching the complaints committee and in dealing with psychological and other effects of Sexual Harassment? (If yes, the system needs to be mentioned briefly)
- Does the organization provide assistance to the harassed employee to make a criminal complaint in the police station?
INTERNAL COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE :
- Do you have an Internal Complaints Committees at all your offices or the administrative units of the workplace even those that are located at different places or divisional or sub-divisional levels? (the Internal Complaints Committee has to be constituted at all administrative units or offices.)
- Do you have the required number of members in the Internal Complains Committee as per the conditions laid down in the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (If yes, the names and position of Internal Complaints Committee members need to be specified)
- Have you conducted an orientation program for the Internal Complaints Committee members? (If yes, dates of such programmes need to be specified)
- Do you conduct capacity and skill building workshops for the Internal Complaints Committee members? (If yes, the year-wise breakup of the number of workshops conducted in the year 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18 (year ending 31st December every year) need to be specified)
- Do you provide necessary facilities to the Internal Complaints Committee for dealing with Sexual Harassment proceedings?
COMPLIANCE WITH COMPLAINTS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS:
- Have you followed the recommendations of the Local Complaints Committee /Internal Complaints Committee (as applicable) regarding the interim measures?
- Have you implemented the Local Complaints Committee /Internal Complaints Committees (as applicable ) recommendations as per the final award?
- Do you monitor the functioning and performance of the Internal Complaints Committee at a broad level? For instance – whether the Internal Complaints Committee is following the prescribed time limits and procedures?
REPORTS:
- Does the Internal Complaints Committee forward an annual report containing necessary details of sexual harassment case proceedings to the prescribed authorities?
- Do you include information about pending and resolved Sexual Harassment cases in the annual report of your company?