Women make up the majority of the world’s 7.8 billion people, believe it or not. Paradoxically, numbers are not on their side, and women globally have only a fraction of the rights that men have. Despite tremendous attempts to change cultural norms and implement regulations to cut off gender discrimination against women, gender inequality in the workplace persists. For example, tech companies perpetuate a loop of hiring people of the same gender. Women hold only 26% of computer-related jobs, according to the most current women in the workforce data. The objective of this essay, on the other hand, is to investigate women’s presence in the workforce and demonstrate that, despite the obstacles, women are leaping over mountains and taking on the role of breadwinners.

 

Women in the Workplace Statistics

• 47.7% of the global workforce population is occupied by women.
• Canada has the highest female labour force participation rate at 61.3%.
• 2% of the college-educated workforce are women.
• A whopping 75% of self-employed women love their job.
• Only 27.1% of women are managers and leaders.
• 61% of women think motherhood disrupts their progress opportunities.
• For the past 20 years, the number of women software engineers has increased by just 2%.
• 42% of women claim they face gender discrimination in the workplace.
• 48% of women occupy entry-level roles.
• Work-life balance causes conflict for an astonishing 72% of women.

According to the World Bank’s Women, Business, and the Law 2022 report, around 2.4 billion working-age women are denied equal economic opportunity and 178 countries have legal barriers that prevent them from fully engaging in the economy. In 86 countries, women face occupational limitations, while 95 countries do not guarantee equal pay for equal work performed.

While progress has been made, the gap between men’s and women?s expected lifetime earnings globally is US$172 trillion – nearly two times the world?s annual GDP, said Mari Pangestu, World Bank Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships.

Women, Business and the Law 2022 measures laws and regulations across 190 countries in eight areas impacting women’s economic participation,mobility, workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets, and pensions. The data offers objective and measurable benchmarks for global progress towards gender equality. Just 12 countries, all part of the OECD, have legal gender parity.

Women cannot achieve equality in the workplace if they are on an unequal footing at home, said Carmen Reinhart, Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank Group. Women raising children pay a motherhood penalty in underemployment, slower career progression, and lower lifetime earnings. The increased burden of unpaid childcare borne by mothers and women, raising children during the pandemic, was a key driver of the disproportionate effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on women?s employment outcomes overall.

Juggling paid work with these additional demands caused women raising children to reduce their contribution to the labour market, and in some cases leave the workforce altogether.

Women Spend More Time Performing Unpaid Work, Such as Childcare and Housework, unlike Men.

Globally, only 41 million (1.5%) men provide unpaid care on a full-time basis, compared to 606 million (21.7%) women.

• Women are less likely to be employed compared to Men, including women without children.

On average across the globe, women spend 4 hours and 22 minutes per day in unpaid labour, compared to only 2 hours and 15 minutes for men.

• Covid-19 has widened this gap even further. Women are now spending 15 hours more in unpaid labour each week than men.

Despite the global pandemic’s disproportionate impact on women’s lives and livelihoods, 23 countries changed their laws in 2021 to take forward steps toward increasing women’s economic participation. Across the world, 118 economies guarantee 14 weeks of paid leave for mothers. More than half (114) of the economies measured mandate paid leave for fathers, but the median duration is just one week.

In the past year, Hong Kong SAR, China which previously provided 10 weeks of paid maternity leave?introduced the recommended 14-week minimum duration. Armenia, Switzerland, and Ukraine introduced paid paternity leave. Colombia, Georgia, Greece, and Spain introduced paid parental leave, which offers both parents some form of paid leave to care for a child following birth. Laws promoting paid leave for fathers can reduce discrimination in the workplace and improve work-life balance.

Regional Highlights

• Greece, Spain and Switzerland reformed laws in 2021, all focusing on improving paid leave for new parents. Twelve advanced economies are the world’s only economies that score 100, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
• Two economies from East Asia reformed last year. Cambodia introduced an old-age pension system that sets equal ages at which women and men can retire with full pension benefits. Vietnam eliminated all restrictions on the employment of women.
• Armenia and Ukraine introduced paid paternity leave and Georgia introduced paid parental leave. Ukraine also equalized the ages at which women and men can retire with full pension benefits.
• Argentina explicitly accounted for periods of absence due to childcare in pension benefits. Colombia became the first country in Latin America to introduce paid parental leave, aiming to reduce discrimination against women in the workplace.
• Bahrain mandated equal pay for work of equal value and lifted restrictions on women?s ability to work at night. It also repealed provisions giving the relevant authority the power to prohibit or restrict women from working in certain jobs or industries.
• Egypt enacted legislation protecting women from domestic violence and made access to credit easier for women by prohibiting gender-based discrimination in financial services.
• Kuwait prohibited gender discrimination in employment and adopted legislation on sexual harassment in employment.
• Lebanon enacted legislation criminalizing sexual harassment in employment.
• Pakistan lifted restrictions on women’s ability to work at night.
• Gabon stands out, with comprehensive reforms to its civil code and the enactment of a law on the elimination of violence against women. These reforms gave women the same rights to choose where to live as men, get jobs without permission from their husbands, removed the requirement for married women to obey their husbands and allows women to be head of the household in the same way as men.
• Gabon granted spouses equal rights to immovable property and equal administrative authority over assets during the marriage. Gabon also enacted legislation protecting women from domestic violence. Gabon’s reforms gave women the same rights to open a bank account as men and prohibited gender-based discrimination in financial services.
• Angola enacted legislation criminalizing sexual harassment in employment.
• Benin removed restrictions on women’s employment in construction so that women can now work in all the same jobs in the same way as men.
• Burundi mandated equal remuneration for work of equal value.
• Sierra Leone made access to credit easier for women by prohibiting gender-based discrimination in financial services.
• Togo introduced new legislation which no longer prohibits the dismissal of pregnant workers, reducing women?s economic opportunities.

The Global View

Although globalisation has brought millions more women into paid labour, men continue to outnumber women in the labour force. Gender inequality has also driven women to the bottom of the global value chain, with few or no opportunities for decent opportunities and job security.

Women account for half of the world’s potential, which must be realised through equal access to respectable, high-quality paid labour, as well as gender-sensitive legislation and practises such as adequate parental leave and flexible hours. If women performed the same role in labour markets as men, the global annual Gross Domestic Product might rise 26% significantly, by 2025.

Source: Our World in Data

Across the world, women were more likely than men to lose jobs during the pandemic and their recovery has been slower. Policy changes that address gender disparities and boost the number of working women improved access to education, child care or flexible work arrangements, for example , would help add about $20 trillion to global GDP by 2050, according to Bloomberg Economics.

Women Workforce in India

India is running out of time to reap the economic gains. The collapse in Female Labour Participation (FLP) in the labour force has sparked concern. There has been a lot of talk regarding the recent drop in Female Labour Force Participation rates (FLPRs).

According to a World Bank report, the number of working women in India declined from 26% to 19% between 2010 and 2020.

According to data from the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation (MoSPI), India ranks far behind other African and Asian countries in terms of FLP (Female Labor Participation) in labour force.

As viruses proliferated, an already dire situation worsened: experts in Mumbai predicted that female employment would drop to 9% by 2022.

If the ILO projections are any indication, the FLPR is slated to fall to 24% by 2030 which will certainly detract India from achieving SDG 5 (sustainable development goal number 5) eliminating gender inequalities by 2030.

The Labour Force Participation Rate indicates the number of women of working age seeking employment; it includes both employed and unemployed job seekers. India has one of the world’s lowest percentages of female involvement (21 per cent ).To put it another way, 79% of Indian women (aged 15 and up) do not even seek a job.

Women’s participation rates are two to three times greater in nations with which India is frequently compared, such as China, the United States, Indonesia, and Bangladesh. The decline in workforce participation is partly about culture. Doing nothing risks derailing the country’s efforts to become a competitive producer for global markets. Even though women constitute 48% of the population in India, they contribute just around 17% of GDP, compared to 40% in China.

Image Source: Bloomberg

The debate about women’s low labour-force participation should centre on how the burden of domestic tasks and caregiving work is distributed between the genders.

According to OWID (Our World in Data) data from 2014, India has the third highest female-to-male ratio of unpaid care labour hours at 9.83. As a consequence, in 2017-18, 62.1 per cent of women aged 15 to 59 participated in domestic tasks. Women’s ability to participate in the labour market is hampered by cultural norms that place them in charge of routine household chores.

The study also shows that women bearing domestic responsibilities are willing to work regularly, provided their commitments can be fulfilled from home. Another study conducted in West Bengal by Kabeer and Deshpande discovered that 73.5 per cent of unemployed women are interested in work opportunities. However, the vast majority of them (67.8 per cent) anticipate working part-time.

The statistics reveal how cultural norms in India influence female labour supply responses to economic opportunity. Women are not in a position to neglect their domestic obligations, despite their desire, they can only take up opportunities that allow them to combine paid and unpaid work.

Image Source: The Print

Aside from resource constraints, there is a considerable unmet need for female labour supply in the country. Women have been disproportionately affected by the Indian economy’s unemployment rise. Between 2012 and 2018, India’s working-age population increased by 65 million men and 63 million women. The LFPR (Labour Force Participation Rate) for men remained steady, but the LFPR for women decreased, showing that the labour market could accommodate a rising number of male employees but not female workers.

For two reasons, women have borne the brunt of this increase.

• First, agricultural mechanisation, such as seed drills and threshers, has reduced manual labour, which was primarily performed by women.
• Second, India’s industrial sector has not generated labour-intensive employment that women who have been displaced from agriculture might fill.

As a result, India’s growth story is fraught with complexities. On the one hand, there has been a lack of labour-intensive growth, structural reform, and formalisation, while caste dynamics and social norms continue to regulate labour mobility. The combination of these distinguishing characteristics of the Indian economy has resulted in unequal gender diversity in the workplace. This market failure’s loss impacts not just Indian women, but the whole economy. After all, half of the individuals who could contribute to the country’s growth are unable to do so.

Ratio of female to male labor force participation rate (%) (modeled ILO estimate)

Country	1990	2019	Absolute Change	Relative Change
India	35.73%	27.38%	-8.34 pp	-23%
Canada	76.18%	87.15%	+10.98 pp	+14%
New Zealand	71.92%	86.99%	+15.07 pp	+21%
United Kingdom	70.20%	85.38%	+15.17 pp	+22%
United States	74.64%	82.75%	+8.11 pp	+11%

Source: Our World in Data

In recent years, government policies were aimed at addressing the falling FLPR have mainly focussed on launching employment programmes with special provisions to incentivize female employment such as:

• MGNREGA; Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency (MUDRA);
• Launching special skill training programmes; and heavy investment programmes that support the education of girl children.
• Working Women Hostels for ensuring safe accommodation for working women away from their place of residence.
• Support to Training and Employment Program for Women (STEP) to ensure sustainable employment and income generation for marginalized and asset-less rural and urban poor women across the country.
• Rashtriya Mahila Kosh (RMK) provides microfinance services to bring about the socio-economic upliftment of poor women.
• National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) to strengthen the overall processes that promote the all-round development of Women
• Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017
• Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act at Workplace, 2013

Persisting challenges

Gender roles

Gender roles and the obligations placed on women to conform to them vary by geography, faith, and household. One way that conformity manifests itself is through marital status. Women with a spouse, for example, are less likely to be working or actively pursuing employment in both developed and developing nations. This can be induced by the economic stability of a partner’s wage, which can perpetuate the “male breadwinner” bias in some couples. In developing countries, the contrary is true: economic necessity pushes all women to work, regardless of marital status.

Work-family balance

Women and men both believe that the most difficult hurdle for women in a paid job is balancing it with family duties. Work like childcare, cleaning, and cooking are vital for the well-being of a home ? and hence for the well-being of societies as a whole ? yet women continue to bear the burden of this often unseen and underestimated job.

Lack of transport

The absence of safe and accessible transportation is the most difficult problem for some women who report being affected in underdeveloped and emerging nations. On their everyday commute, women are all too often subjected to harassment and even sexual assault.

Sexual Harassment

According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), 3.59 lakh complaints of sexual harassment against women were filed in 2017. Women’s career choices and job participation decisions might be influenced by safety concerns. Gender-based violence and harassment at work escalated throughout the epidemic, severely impairing women’s capacity to work.

Lack of affordable care

A shortage of affordable and accessible daycare for children or family members is a global obstacle for women, both those seeking employment and those who are currently working. It reduces a woman’s chances of getting married by about 5 percentage points in impoverished nations and 4 percentage points in developed countries (data from the World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends for Women 2017).

Bridging the gap

Flexible working options

Flexible working options must be provided to and used equally by men and women, such that flexible working is accepted as standard practise and there are no conscious or unconscious gender biases against those who work flexibly.

Affordable childcare

More affordable childcare choices are required to assist minimize the unpaid care load faced by women. According to one research, the installation of free child-care facilities in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, nearly quadrupled the employment rate of moms (who were not working prior to getting this benefit) from 9% to 17%

Equal paid parental leave

The Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act of 2017, which increased paid maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks, has the unintended consequence of preventing businesses from hiring more women. The lack of similar benefits for fathers creates bias against female employees. As a result, governments and businesses must implement equal paid parental leave laws to help distribute women’s unpaid care burden. This will increase women’s participation in paid labour and provide more opportunities for advancement. This will also help to bridge the pay gap between men and women.

Creating a Safe Work Environment

All employees should be able to work in a safe and healthy setting. Every female employee should be given a forum to voice their concerns. Laws and rules pertaining to women’s safety in organisations should be strictly enforced. Every enterprise and factory that employs women should have a zero-tolerance sexual harassment policy. Creating an Internal Committee (IC) to address sexual harassment concerns in businesses and put rules in place to protect women at work.

Conclusion:

Women must be equal participants in schools, health care, financial systems, legal institutions, and families in order to be equal partners in society. To improve women’s status, societal standards must change, from condoning domestic abuse to feeling it is wrong for women to work outside the home.

References:

1. https://teamstage.io/women-in-the-workforce-statistics/
2. https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/03/01/nearly-2-4-billion-women-globally-don-t-have-same-economic-rights-as-men
3. https://www.pwc.com/id/en/pwc-publications/services-publications/consulting/women-in-work-index.html
4. https://indianexpress.com/article/business/economy/women-workforce-pandemic-unemployment-7948977/
5. https://ourworldindata.org/female-labor-supply
6. https://www.catalyst.org/research/women-in-the-workforce-india/
7. https://teamstage.io/women-in-the-workforce-statistics/
8. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/no-place-for-women-what-drives-indias-ever-declining-female-labour-force/articleshow/83480203.cms?from=mdr
9. https://interactive.unwomen.org/multimedia/infographic/changingworldofwork/en/index.html
10. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-06-02/covid-cut-india-s-women-out-of-the-job-market-now-90-aren-t-in-the-workforce
11. https://www.zigsaw.in/jobs/women-safety-at-workplace/

For more blogs and articles, visit our official website. Contact us for workshops and queries related to POSH, EAP(Employee Assistance Program,) and Diversity and Inclusion.

 

 

Gender diversity has become the mantra for an organization’s productivity and success in the past few decades. Several domains that were once biased and considered suitable for only men have embraced diversity, witnessing women folk entering them without hesitation. Aspirations of women are soaring high, and both in the corporate and non-corporate world, there is a significant number of women in mid-management, and statistics back this claim.

Having established this, it is also vital to look at the diversity statistics, i.e., the number of women in high-level management and board rooms. Unfortunately, gender diversity in the top management in any field, be it in politics, corporate, manufacturing, or even the civil services, is not convincing. There is a bias, a glass ceiling, that stops women from realizing their true potential in the higher levels of management.

India is ranked at 140 in the global gender rank report, considering its cultural diversity, diverse population, and gender. This conveys an undeniable message that despite several sectors welcoming and encouraging women to seek career opportunities with them, there exists a glass ceiling. There may not be explicit biases towards women in organizations, especially at management levels, but they are prevalent in several subtle ways.

In discussion with Viji Hari, CEO of CecureUs, in light of Womens’ Day and to break the bias in the organizations, IAS officer, Priyadarshini Bhattacharya, currently serving in West Bengal, Bipin Reghunathan, Vice President of DHL supply chain in India, and Ms. Siji Varghese, founder of ‘Leaders In Lipstick,’ have shared their invaluable inputs on,

• Different forms in which biases, the glass ceiling exists in various sectors,
• The importance and role of gender diversity across all levels of an organization, and
• How organizations can break the bias and shatter the invisible glass ceiling that hinders women from venturing into and taking up roles in top-level management.

Gender Bias – the starting point!

In Indian society, gender bias, the invisible glass ceiling, begins at home. For centuries, Indian households have been absorbed into notions that men are the primary breadwinners of the family and women are best suited for only some roles, with caring for the family being the predominant one. It had become next to impossible for society to see women in leadership and management roles and in positions of power, and even today, this clash of ego exists in several teams. This puts a cap on their aspirations from a very young age, offering just a handful of careers considered best-suited for women. The glass ceiling in the form of these regressive thoughts has made it challenging for women to venture into several fields. But thanks to the current widespread awareness about gender bias and the need for gender diversity in recent years, women can have much higher ambitions and career goals, shattering this glass ceiling.

Glass Ceiling in various sectors

In sectors like civil services, this glass ceiling, the biases at various levels are inconspicuous and subliminal. Statistics reveal that the average age at which women crack the UPSC exams is 26, while men, at 32. This clarifies that there is no lack of talent in women. But it also raises a question as to why gender diversity in management and administrative departments is not up to the mark. Right from the preparatory stage, there is a substantial bias regarding sending women away from home for coaching, their training programs and placements happening far away from home, the insecurities of the family members about women interacting with their male educators, their prospect of embracing a marital status being delayed, not having time to care for the family, etc.

This is true with women who aspire to have careers in aviation, automobile, manufacturing, and a few other male-dominated sectors, although the past decade has witnessed an increased number of women entering the manufacturing and supply chain sectors. In retrospect, these industries remain male-dominated partly because women are not passionate about having careers in these fields. And the only way to bring in gender diversity in these sectors is to provide a courteous and respectful working environment with benefits for achieving work-life balance and exciting roles for women.

Women and leadership

For women to take up leadership roles and excel in them, there is an immediate need to shatter the glass ceiling. The existing biases need to be nipped in the bud. Organizations must nurture a work culture enriched with diversity, where talent is valued over gender. Women bring perspectives and balance into organizations, and those organizations that value women power and talent have achieved excellence and promising results, simultaneously tapping a diverse customer base.

Tips to organizations for breaking the glass ceiling across all levels of the corporate ladder

To shatter the glass ceiling and provide opportunities for women to be on par with their male counterparts, every organization should embrace diversity and bring about a few changes in its policies and practices.

• Offer special training programs for women leaders in mid-management to shed their inhibition and apprehensions about management roles and realize their true potential to climb to the top of the corporate ladder.
• Remove names of applicants from CVs to cater to a gender bias-free hiring process that values merit and talent.
• Paid leave for women to focus on family and children.
• Employ women in challenging management roles and provide assistance for women-folk to sail through such positions and operate with ease.
• Train employees to follow the chain of command irrespective of the leader’s gender.
• Offer flexible working hours for work-life balance and retain talent by allowing hybrid working modes.
• Women-friendly workspaces with day care/creche facilities to care for infants and toddlers.
• Provide medical assistance for women by employing doctors and nurses in the workplace.
• Intervention programs for women empowerment, training for financial management, and independence.
• Motivational talks and training by existing women leaders to shatter the glass ceiling, inspire and pave the way for more upcoming leaders.
• Create a nurturing work environment by implementing Diversity and Inclusion across all organizational levels.
• Bring cognizance in the entire organization of the benefits of having a diverse work culture.
• Implement PoSH laws and strict measures against sexual harassment to cater to a safe work environment.

What can families do to break the bias and bridge the gender gap?

The change to shatter the glass ceiling must begin at home. Families must embrace progressive thoughts and let go of the bias about women being the weaker gender.

• Nurture and support the ambitions of young girls.
• Introduce girls to various management professions and allow them to choose their careers.
• Ensure that marriage and child-rearing do not stop women from letting their careers take a back seat.
• Allow daughters and daughters-in-law to pursue studies, irrespective of family commitments and age.
• Ensure men of the house share the family responsibilities and workload so that women are not overburdened or overwhelmed by multitasking.
• Value women’s inputs on the financial and other family responsibilities.
• Allow women to step out of their comfort zones, find a mentor for themselves, and pave the path to shape their careers and families.

Bridging the gender gap, breaking the glass ceiling, and achieving gender diversity in every possible sector is a dream that cannot be achieved overnight. However, with every measure implemented at familial and organizational levels, we, as a society, are taking one step closer to a bias-free future! This Women’s Day, let us take a pledge to gift women in our lives a bias-free and safe society. Cheers!

For more blogs and articles, visit our official website. Contact us for workshops and queries related to POSH, EAP(Employee Assistance Program,) and Diversity and Inclusion.

Gone are the days when women had to silently endure sexual harassment in their workplaces. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) passed in the year 2013, has given the courage to millions of women all over the globe to voice their support for the prevention of sexual harassment and work for the prohibition of any form of harassment in the workplaces. Organizations take the PoSti law compliance seriously and ensure that the workplaces are harassment-free. Women stand up for themselves and for each other in the workplace, and through training programs, both men and women are made to comprehend the impact of sexual harassment and its prevention and prohibition. Complaints are now investigated instantly and impartially to redress perpetrators immediately to offer safe workplaces for women.

Compliance laws and reporting – an overview:

Every organization must aspire to provide a safe workplace free from harassment to all its employees. As organisations grow in size and complexity, it is practically challenging to keep all employee-related issues, especially sexual harassment, in check. Reporting and compliance laws ensure that organisations track cases of sexual harassment and motivate women to come forward to report harassment to ensure the prevention and prohibition of such instances.

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act,) passed by the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare in 2013, holds employees accountable for the prevention and prohibition of sexual harassment at the workplace and compliance by all organizations to provide a safe working space for women employees.

The POSH Act 2013 on what is mandatory.

The Basics:

According to POSH Act 2013, every entity with 10 or more employees must

• Create an Internal Committee (IC) headed by a woman/female
• Create a policy for the organisation outlining the prevention and consequences of sexual harassment and assure compliance
• Create and conduct training programmes on POSH for all the employees
• Create an Annual Report specifically for POSH
• Appoint a neutral ‘External Member’ or third party, an individual with commitment and expertise in sexual harassment compliance policies and laws, as a prime member of the committee. The member must not exhibit or have any association with the organization other than their capacity as an External Member of the Internal Committee.

POSH Annual Report Filing:

Here are the legal compliance aspects of the POSH Annual Report as per the POSH Act, 2013.

Responsibility

The Internal Committee (IC) must prepare and submit an annual report to the employer.

As per Section 21 of the Act, (I) The Internal Committee or the Local Committee shall in each calendar year prepare, in such form and when may be prescribed, an annual report and submit the same to the employer and the District Officer.

As per Section 22 of the Act, The employer shall include in its report the number of cases filed, if any, their disposal under the PoSH Act in the annual report of the organisation. In cases where no such report is prepared, the employer must intimate the number of cases, if any, to the District Officer.

Authority

The employer reviews and forwards this report to the District Officer (DO), who then has to summarise all the POSH annual reports in a document and submit it to the respective State Government.

As perSection 23 of the Act, The appropriate Government shall monitor the implementation of this Act and maintain data on the number of cases filed and disposed of in respect of all cases of sexual harassment at workplace.

Details

According to PoSH compliance procedures, the details to be specified in the District Officer’s report are:

• No. of complaints received
• No. of complaints disposed of
• No. of cases pending for more than 90 days
• No. of workshops/awareness programmes conducted and executed
• Nature of action taken by the employer/DO to ensure compliance with complaints redressal.

Director’s Report

The Companies Act was amended such that each and every Annual Report must include a Director’s report on the Prevention Of Sexual Harassment, with effect from 31st July 2018. It must highlight compliance with the POSH Act and disclose the number of cases of sexual harassment. This report accompanies the Annual Return filing to the Registrar of Companies.

According to the Companies Rules under Section 134 of the Companies Act, A statement that the Company has ensures compliance with provisions relating to the constitution of Internal Complaints Committee under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 – must be included in the company’s Annual Report.

Non-compliance

An employer can be subjected to a penalty of up to INR 50,000 for non-compliance acts like,

• Failure to constitute Internal Committee at the workplace
• Failure to assure compliance with or act upon recommendations of the Internal Committee
• Failure to file an annual report to the District Officer where required
• Contravening or attempting to contravene or abetting contravention of the Act or Rules.
• Where an employer repeats a breach under the Act, they shall be subject to:
• Twice the punishment or higher penalty, if prescribed under any other law for the same offence.
• Cancellation/Withdrawal/Non-renewal of registration/license required for carrying on business or activities.

How and where to file?

The details of the template or format to file, where to file , and the address of the major district offices to file POSH Annual report can be downloaded from the link https://cecureus.com/sdm_downloads/posh-annual-report-filing/

Why is PoSH compliance essential?

Compliance with PoSH laws is integral,

• For an organization to provide a safe and secure workplace for employees
• For the protection of an organization and its brand value
• To ensure the safety of third parties like contractors, vendors, and customers, who are visiting the premises. Under the PoSH compliance laws, third parties can file a complaint of sexual harassment that occurred at the workplace.
• To handle sexual harassment complaints methodically without bias.
• To ensure harassment prevention and prohibition, failing which the workplace becomes hostile for the employees, especially women.
• To create awareness among employees about the effects of sexual harassment.

For more information on the Legal Compliance aspects of Posh and the services related to Prevention of Sexual Harassment(POSH), write to us at connect@cecureus.com or call us at +91-7200500221

Workplace PoSH compliance – A brief introduction

Women are subjected to harassment of various forms, irrespective of their class in society. Whether at the workplace or outside, these harassments can cause emotional trauma to women. The Prevention Of Sexual Harassment/PoSH law articulates a mechanism for fairly addressing harassment complaints of women at the workplace to bring justice to the victim. The PoSH rules guarantee a fair and thorough examination of the complaints submitted by women and a transparent unbiased enquiry system to ensure that there are no malicious complaints at the workplace for women to remain harassment-free.

The PoSH act demands organizations to conduct periodic PoSH training. These aim at attaining sexual harassment-free workplaces by educating the employees about the various aspects of sexual harassment and the importance of a harassment-free workplace for women. Employees are trained to comprehend the impact and consequences of sexual harassment of women in the workplace through these mandatory PoSH programs.

Though the act is called The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, this does not mean that the act favours only women when related to workplace harassment complaints, and there would be a dictatorial approach toward the other party. The POSH rules guarantee that, during the proceedings, the other party will also be assured a right of equal representation as that of women and free trial for justice. In this article, we will further discuss this concept and its relation to principles of natural justice.

PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL JUSTICE AND THE POSH ACT

To understand the relationship between principles of natural justice and the PoSH act, we need to understand the principles of natural justice. The principles of natural justice talk about the fundamentals of a fair trial. This includes the primary elements of natural justice like adequate notice period, fair hearing, and unbiased judgment. Also, natural justice is not limited to ‘fairness;’ it also implies reasonability, equity, and equality.

Two principles are prime in this context:

1. Nemo judex in causa sua – This Latin maxim states that no one should be made the judge of their cause. Justice should be achieved in an unbiased manner. Therefore the adjudicating authority must have a neutral approach to harassment complaints of women.
2. Audi Alteram Partem – This legal maxim proclaims that during the examination of a PoSH complaint, no party (women or men) should remain unheard while achieving justice.

The premise of the POSH Act is based on the principles of Natural Justice and ensures a harassment-free workplace for women.

1. The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, Rule 7(4)categorically states that the complaints committee shall abide by the principles of natural justice in the procedure of inquiry of PoSH complaints, rendering an unbiased examination and enquiry of complaints and similarly in the process of attaining justice.
2. Section 11 of the PoSH Act states that, during an enquiry, both parties must be given an equal opportunity of being heard.
3. In Section 14, there is a provision under which the respondent can file a case if he faced any malicious prosecution.

There is a Case Law that affirms that in the PoSH Act, principles of natural justice and unbiased compliant examination procedures are followed and also that the PoSH Act and its institutes like the Internal Complaints Committee are committed to providing justice impartially.

CASE LAW – AVINASH MISHRA vs. UNION OF INDIA

In this case, the petitioner had filed a suit challenging the proceedings of the internal complaint committee. Referring to the IC, he said that he was not allowed to cross-question the witnesses, and he was denied the right to a fair trial. He also stated that his explanations for the allegations were not considered. Additionally, he claimed that the witnesses were all examined by the IC Committee in his absence and that he was not given copies of the witness statements, and, most importantly, he was denied the right to cross-examine them, and there was no justice. He contended that the internal complaint committee’s proceedings were not abiding by the principles of natural justice. Such proceedings were a clear violation of article 14 of the PoSH law of the Indian Constitution.

Undoubtedly, sexual harassment of women in the workplace is prone to severe consequences, and if the allegations are proven correct, the culprit shall not be spared. But the approach adopted to reach judgment should not be biased at all.

It is also vital to know that the respondents did not deny that the petitioner was not allowed to cross-examine the witnesses presented before the complaints committee. Consequently, the reports made by the complaints committee based on their examination of the PoSH complaint were set aside, and the complaints committee was given directions regarding the inquiry.

The directions were as follows:

1. The respondent must present all the copies of every relevant material which had not been provided to the petitioner earlier.
2. The inquiry would now begin from the stage of cross-examination. The petitioner would now be entitled to cross-examine the witnesses.
3. The cross-examination would be conducted by the female defence assistant of the petitioner’s choice or a male defence assistant. Even if he does not avail of the services of any such defence assistant, he may present a questionnaire to cross-examine the complainant and the witnesses.

CONCLUSION

The PoSH Act was instituted to ensure that the perpetrators of sexual harassment must be punished through unbiased examination and trial and that justice must be served to achieve a 100 percent harassment-free workplace for women. But in the pursuance of justice, one must not be guided with any prejudice. To prevent such actions, the PoSH Act has encoded several sections which ensure that both parties will get a fair trial by adhering to the PoSH rules.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hemansh Tandon is a fourth-year law student from Indraprastha University. He is an avid reader and has a keen interest in writing prose and verses.

For more information on Prevention of Sexual Harassment(POSH), EAP (Employee Assistance Programs), D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) offerings by CecureUs , please contact connect@cecureus.com or call us at +91-7200500221

GENESIS OF THESE REGULATIONS

The corporate world is witnessing a significant increase in female employees. Thanks to the PoSH act, 2013, promising safe workplaces for female employees, this has become achievable. This increase in the number of female employees participating in the corporate workspace is also an indicator that the number of female students accessing the higher educational institutes has also improved.

According to a report in 2015, India has 760+ universities and affiliated educational institutes and over 38,498 colleges. According to a study by UGC India, The University Grants Commission of India ( UGC is the governing body that grants affiliations and recognition to all educational institutes and also ensures that all institutes maintain the academic standards set by the UGC) the number of cases of sexual harassment reported between 01/04/2018 to 31/03/2019 in the higher educational institutes where 171. Such factors were indicators to the UGC that legislation dedicated to higher educational institutes is mandatory.

Although the PoSH Act categorically includes higher educational institutes within its definition under section 2(o) of its act, to stress its implication concerning the higher educational institutes, the UGC, along with the Ministry of Human Resource Development, drafted the University Grants Commission (Prevention, prohibition, and redressal of sexual harassment of women employees and students in higher educational institutions) Regulations, 2015, keeping the benefits of PoSH act to the female employees in mind.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE UGC REGULATIONS

UGC Regulations emphasized the responsibility of Higher Educational Institutes to act decisively against all gender-based violence against employees and students of all sexes, including the third gender. The regulation states that sexual harassment is gender-neutral, and educational institutes should act upon complaints of both male and female employees and all students, male, female, and third gender.

GENDER NEUTRALITY CLAUSE

These regulations of the UGC have taken a revolutionary initiative by adopting a gender-neutral approach which means that irrespective of the gender, the victim can lodge a complaint, and the UGC PoSH regulations shall protect the rights of students enrolled at the institute and ensure that they are all safe from sexual abuse regardless of the gender.

Regulation 2(k) of the said regulation defines sexual harassment. Regulation 3 (d) of the UGC PoSH regulation states that Higher Educational Institutes must act swiftly in the wake of any sexual harassment against the staff and students, whether male, female, or third gender, recognizing that primarily female employees and students are subjected to sexual harassment. But this UGC PoSH law does not exclude male students and students of the third gender.

In this PoSH regulation, this clause of  gender impartiality is revolutionary in many ways. It has helped to interpret the discrimination and abuse of male, female, and third gender students and employees on par with the corporate world, which is hierarchical. For instance, it helps resolve incidents between the student and teacher in educational institutes, employees (male, female, or third gender) of these institutes, and employers. Moreover, this gender-neutral UGC PoSH anti-sexual harassment regulation would help perceive sexual misconduct better and its consequences for men and sexual minorities.

This regulation was recently upheld in the case law of Malabika Bhattacharjee vs. Internal Complaints Committee, Vivekananda College, and Ors.

CASE LAW- Malabika Bhattacharjee v. Internal Complaints Committee, Vivekananda College and Ors.

In this case, which was presented before the single bench of Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya, the concern was whether a lawsuit lodged against a Respondent of the same gender as the complainant was legitimate or not.

This case challenged the internal committee of a higher educational institute as it had refused to accept a complaint because the complainant and respondent both belonged to the same gender, i.e., female. In this case, the petitioner argued that such complaints aren’t valid.

Relying upon the case example of Vishaka and others versus the State of Rajasthan, the bench contended that the fact and principles of gender equality depend on whether the complainant falls under the periphery of the PoSH Act 2013 or not. Therefore if the gender of both parties is the same, then the issue of gender equality doesn’t arise.

On the other hand, the respondents relied upon the University Grants Commission (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment of Women Employees and Students in Higher Educational Institutions) PoSH Regulations, 2015 and stated that the regulations include a wide range of people, including people of the same gender, employees, and students, and call for action in cases of sexual assault. They also argued that this, when combined with the concept of Respondent in Section 2 (m) of the PoSH 2013 Act that refers to a person as a respondent, it is evident that same-gender allegations can be considered under the PoSH 2013 Act, formed for the benefit of employees in an organization.

The High Court determined that nothing about Section 9 of the PoSH 2013 Act [referenced in Section 2(m)] prevents a same-gender lawsuit under the PoSH Act. The court also said that the definition of sexual harassment as written in section 2(n) should be interpreted in the context of the dynamic society we live in now, which has abolished section 377 and has initiated a debate on the legalization of same-gender marriage.

Also, the definition of sexual harassment in section 2(n) of the PoSH act talks about infringement of personal rights nowhere includes that an individual from the same gender cannot infringe personal liberty. Regardless of the sexuality or gender of the perpetrator, any individual (a student or an employee of the institution) of any gender can feel potentially threatened or sexually abused if their dignity is violated by any of the actions contemplated in section 2(n) of the PoSH act.

STEPS THAT MUST BE TAKEN

Understanding the PoSH Act and the UGC Regulations clarifies that the higher educational institutes must take steps to ensure that the educational institutions are safe for all. The below-mentioned steps are necessary for the educational institutes to ensure that they can build a safe environment for the students, employees, academicians, and teachers.

1. Formation of internal complaints committee as per the UGC PoSH regulations The composition as per regulation 4 of the UGC PoSH regulations is as follows

• A presiding officer who shall be a female faculty member at a senior level and is nominated by the executive authority
• Two faculty members and two non-teaching employees, nominated by the executive authority
• Three students, who shall be elected through a democratic process
• One member from the non-government organizations
• This constitution should ensure that women constitute half of the total members.

2. Duties of the internals complaint committee The committee shouldn’t be for mere compliance or made for moral policing.

• Any case involving sexual assault should be brought to the committee’s attention, as per the PoSH regulation.
• Due to the sensitivity of gender-related concerns, the committee will be approachable and not infringe on the privacy of those concerned.
• After the committee has been established, the members may determine the protocol for complaint resolution, abiding by the UGC PoSH regulations.
• The Committee should meet twice a year, with additional meetings if needed to address any concerns or grievances that might arise.

3. Gender sensitization This means spreading awareness relating to issues about gender and creating an environment that inculcates a sense of personal security and gender justice. This can be achieved by orienting students and employees through seminars and workshops.

Conclusion

These regulations have been able to adapt to the dynamic world we live in by including clauses of gender neutrality. These PoSH regulations have helped to spread awareness in educational institutes. These regulations on paper represent a world wherein there is a sense of personal liberty, and if they are breached, their grievances are heard. The educational institutes should ensure that they don’t take them as mere compliance but instead act upon these regulations and help build a secure environment.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Hemansh Tandon is a fourth-year law student from Indraprastha University. He is an avid reader and has a keen interest in writing prose and verses.

For more information on Prevention of Sexual Harassment(POSH), EAP (Employee Assistance Programs), D&I (Diversity and Inclusion) offerings by CecureUs , please contact connect@cecureus.com or call us at +91-7200500221