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Just knowing the POSH Act as an employee or an employer is not enough, but effectively implementing its guidelines and policies plays a crucial part in addressing and preventing sexual harassment in the workplace. This is where POSH compliance comes into the picture and acts as a formidable opponent in the fight against sexual harassment.
To create a safe working environment for women POSH compliance must be effective and to do that we need a well-structured POSH compliance checklist.
Let’s take a deep dive and understand all the critical aspects related to the POSH compliance checklist.
What is POSH Compliance?
POSH Compliance or Prevention of Sexual Harassment compliance is a state of a company’s adherence to the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013. If a company follows all the regulations and procedures dictated in the POSH Act 2013 and manages to create a safe and secure work environment, then the company is said to be POSH compliant. POSH compliance involves:
- Deployment of appropriate POSH ACT compliance policies and procedures.
- Providing regular training sessions for employees and managers on POSH compliance and best practices.
- Initiate an investigation and take the appropriate action when a sexual harassment or misconduct complaint is filed by an employee.
Why is POSH Compliance Important?
POSH compliance is not just about fulfilling a legal requirement but a genuine attempt by the organisation to create a safe and secure workplace for women. Both employer and employee must proactively participate in the efforts to ensure there are no incidents of sexual harassment occurring in the workplace.
By following the POSH policy implementation checklist, organisations can identify and mitigate possible risks of non-compliance and achieve 100% compliance. If the POSH policy is successfully deployed and followed every day in the workplace, then:
- A safe and inclusive work environment is created for all employee
- Companies can prevent lawsuits and penalties
- Employee trust and morale are enhanced
- Company brand reputation is elevated
POSH Compliance Checklist for 2025
A POSH compliance checklist acts as a roadmap for companies to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and achieve 100% compliance with the POSH Act 2013. It essentially provides mandatory steps to ensure POSH compliance. Here is the breakdown of each step involved in the internal POSH audit checklist:
Step 1: Draft an internal POSH Policy aligning with the POSH Act 2013
An organisation must come up with the steps to ensure POSH compliance and drafting an internal POSH Policy aligning with the POSH Act 2013 is the first and most critical step. The POSH policy must include:
- Clear purpose and scope.
- Who and where does it apply?
- Although the POSH Act safeguards women against the evil of sexual harassment, the policy should be extended to safeguard all employees (all genders).
- Definition and examples of sexual harassment.
- Detailed information on Employee responsibilities.
- Complete information on ICC (Internal Complaints Committee)
- The mechanism for filing complaints and the investigation procedure followed with timelines.
- Admissible evidence and communication of the investigation outcomes
- Disciplinary measures such as penalties, fines, termination of employment criminal case filing, etc should be clearly explained.
- Appeals procedures must be stated.
- Compensation procedures for the victims must be explained.
- Confidentiality and privacy clauses must be included.
Step2: The employment agreement must include POSH policy
As a part of the POSH policy implementation checklist, employee agreements and contracts must clearly mention POSH policy adherence and disciplinary action in case of any violation.
Step 3: Formation of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC)
An organisation with 10 or more workers must formulate an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) to handle sexual harassment complaints effectively. Here are the standard steps to formulate an ICC:
- A senior women employee must be elected (may be through voting) as the presiding officer to head the ICC.
- Additional 2 members must be added to the ICC.
- An external member with expertise in handling sexual harassment complaints and POSH compliance must be included in the ICC.
- 50% of members appointed for ICC must be females.
- The position of ICC can be held for up to maximum 3 years.
- An ICC should be formed at every administrative department within the company.
- The ICC members should be unbiased and investigate each sexual harassment complaint without prejudice and confidentiality.
- The ICC is responsible to handle all the stages of sexual harassment complaint from complaint acceptance to compensation stage.
- Any violations made by ICC members will lead to termination from the committee and subsequent disciplinary action.
Step4: Creating Employee Awareness
This is a crucial part of Internal POSH audit checklist. The company must arrange online and offline training sessions for all its employees and managers to explain about POSH ACT, POSH policies, complaint mechanics, and the punishment for POSH Act violation.
The training can be conducted by in-house POSH compliance team, or a better way is to get the training done by an expert POSH compliance agency like ALP Consulting. The training materials should be reviewed thoroughly by experts and should be made accessible to all employees regardless of their designation.
Step 5: Annual POSH Compliance Report Filing
The final stage in the POSH compliance assessment checklist is the creation of yearly POSH compliance report. The number of sexual harassment cases reported in the year and the status of the investigation must be documented. Along with the information such as the firm’s name, registered address and number, the compliance report of POSH must contain:
- Total count and details of complaints filed related to sexual harassment.
- Total count of complaints investigated and action taken related to sexual harassment.
- Total number of complaints that are still under investigation for more than 3 months.
- Total employee count and members that have received POSH awareness training.
- Nature of action taken by the ICC.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Why is POSH Compliance important for payroll?
Organisations must take the required steps to ensure POSH compliance as any deviation can affect payroll compliance as well. A safer POSH-compliant working environment will help improve trust thereby reducing the chances of payroll fraud.
2. What are the key elements of the POSH Compliance Checklist for 2025?
The key elements of the POSH compliance checklist for 2025 include drafting a POSH Compliance policy, forming an ICC (Internal Complaints Committee), conducting regular POSH compliance training sessions, developing a hassle-free sexual harassment complaint and redressal mechanism, ensuring confidentiality and prompt investigation, proper action against POSH Act violation, and filing an annual compliance report and sharing with the management and stakeholders.
3. How does payroll compliance impact POSH implementation?
Payroll compliance ensures an accurate list of active employees is maintained. Through this list, an ICC will be formed that will handle complaints and redressals related to sexual harassment.
4. What documents are required for POSH Compliance in payroll?
The key documents required for POSH Compliance in payroll include Internal Complaints Committee (IC) records, annual reports submitted to the District Officer, and other compliance reports.
5. What should a company do if it receives a POSH complaint?
When a company receives a POSH complaint, a company must be alert and start the investigation immediately. The ICC members should be notified, and a detailed investigation must be carried out. The investigation must be prompt and objective, and fair chances should be given to both the complainant and the accused to prove their innocence or guilt.
Once the investigation is completed and the verdict says guilty, the company must initiate disciplinary action based on the seriousness of the offence regardless of the position held by the accused.
6. What are the compliances under the POSH Act?
The compliances under the POSH Act include POSH Policy creation, ICC establishment, employee awareness and training on POSH compliance, annual reporting and other obligations.
