The act mandates all organizations to define sexual harassment policies for their employees. Sexual harassment is any form of discrimination against a person that includes unwanted attention of sexual nature. Today, hybrid work culture has become the new normal for business wherein homes have become an extended workplace. While working from home, technological platforms like Zoom, Skype, and Google Meets are being used by businesses to conduct day-to-day activities. Molestation, stalking, voyeurism and blackmailing have been increasing against female employees on such platforms. Most of the instances of virtual sexual harassment occur over calls, text messages, or social media platforms such as WhatsApp, Facebook, or Instagram. The purpose of PoSH policies is to prevent sexual harassment of women and protect them in all situations whether it is offline or online.
National Commission for Women (NCW) in India has reported that a 5 times surge in sexual harassment against women in work from home culture. Sexual predators have found new tools and methods to abuse and threaten women. Instances of such workplace harassment include sending pictures without consent, calling women colleagues post-office hours, taking a screenshot without the consent of female employees during a video call, and later circulating it on social media also using unacceptable emoticons during texting or video call.
Virtual offices and employees working remotely are well covered under the PoSH act. It defines a workplace as “any place visited by the employee arising out of or during employment”. Thus, it can be understood that in remote working, employees' own homes would be included within the purview of the workplace. Virtual sexual harassment happens with women and girls via technology on electronic platforms that also attracts the provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
The best policies suggested to the organization for overcoming the challenges of sexual harassment in remote working are as follows:
To review the existing policies- As the working arrangements have changed a great deal for the businesses, the organizations must ensure that their PoSH policies are reviewed and updated according to the new normal. It should take into consideration the rise in the use of technologies and increase in remote working.
Setting expectations- The sexual harassment policies of the organization must be clearly conveyed to the employees. These policies should be stated in the joining letters. Seminars can also be conducted to impart mandatory PoSH training for the employees. Every employee should be aware and informed about the etiquettes of work-related communications while working from home. They should also be trained on what is appropriate and what is not during video conferencing.
Publicize procedures- PoSH policy must be easily accessible for the employees at any time. It should be available on the company’s website, and be easy to use. The employees should have a clear knowledge of how they can report such heinous acts against them and it must not be ambiguous. They must be aware about the redressal process against such heinous events. Regular information must be shared with employees via emails, so they are well aware of the Changes in PoSH policies and the IC team responsible for those.
Response and attend- The biggest problem is not devising and making employees understand the PoSH policies but the delayed response and lack of attention paid to the cases reported. If sexual harassment complaint has been lodged by an employee, the higher authorities must be given attention and the higher authorities must be responsible for looking after the grievance as soon as possible. It must also be handled sensitively as such cases are usually overwhelming. The employees must feel that their concern is taken seriously and actions will be taken.
Internal Committee (IC) team should be well trained to encounter such complain in virtual scenarios- Every company should have a safe and harassment-free working environment. If any complaint arises, the IC team should be responsible to investigate the issue without any biases. It should be vigilant to resolve the matter as soon as possible. This is because the complaint against sexual harassment not only corrode the image of the accused and the complainant but also of the organization.
In order to make the female employees safe and secure, the PoSH policies at the workplace are a must-have for every organization. Even law mandates that every organization must have PoSH policies for prohibition, prevention, and redressal of sexual harassment against women in the organization. They must be encouraged to report the case if something inappropriate and unacceptable incident happen to them at the workplace and similarly, the response to those complaints must be prompt.
NDIM leads the show, when it comes to HR training and we also run a training programme on Best PoSH Policies for organizations. It is also legally mandatory for the organization to conduct PoSH training for the employees to make them aware of the expectations of the policies. The leaders of the organization must work together to remove factors contributing towards a hostile work environment and create a gender-sensitive safe space for all the employees to work and grow in. Sexual predators do not differentiate between in-office harassment or virtual. Thus, a delay in addressing the issue can only empower such people and the case can go out of hand. Organizations can be more vigilant during remote working and undertake best practices to prevent sexual harassment.
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