POSH Awareness Training: The What, Why and How

What is POSH Training?

In 2013, Government of India enacted the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, also called as the POSH Act. The Act holds an organization and the employer responsible for taking measures to prevent incidents of sexual harassment at workplace. The Act also lays down several measures for organizations to be compliant to the Act.  One of them is spreading POSH awareness to all the employees in the organization about their roles and responsibilities through training program and similar initiatives. It is advisable to conduct such trainings at least twice in a year.

Why POSH Training?

Firstly, it is legally mandatory to conduct POSH training. The organization can attract heavy penalties like a fine of INR 50000 for first time offence and cancellation of business license for repeated offence if the law is not followed. In addition, just having a law does not help. Many a times, women question whether a particular behavior can be counted as sexual harassment even after they felt uncomfortable or violated. So, it is important for employees to know what is acceptable in the workplace, what constitutes to sexual harassment and what does not.

Moreover, the employees should also be aware about what to do if their colleagues are subjected to sexual harassment. An effective training on POSH can address these issues. Organizing POSH training is a step towards protecting the rights of women employees and ensuring equality at the workplace. Training must be given to all employees regardless of their gender or designation.

What are the POSH Benefits?

If you think the above mentioned are not good enough reasons to organize POSH training, here is a list of more benefits in conducting POSH training for the organization.

• Sexual harassment can hamper productivity of not only the victims, but also other employees. Better the training, lesser the incidents of sexual harassment and higher the productivity.
• POSH training shows that the organization cares about the employees which can increase job satisfaction and employee engagement.
• POSH training improves employee retention and the quality of workplace culture. In general, the training improves the perception of employees about the organization.
• The reputation and goodwill of an organization can be damaged if employees decide to reveal their horrible experiences of sexual harassment via social media. Organization may lose its customers as well. Sensitizing the employees through POSH courses and programs can safeguard the organization’s reputation and ensure customer retention.
• Like mentioned before, non-compliance to the act can attract penalties. There can also be chances that the legal fight can take a long time which will result in a huge financial impact. Conducting regular POSH training and awareness programs will not only help in avoiding such legal tangles but can also act as a proof in the court that the organization had taken necessary steps for prevention of unfortunate sexual harassment incidents.

What should you cover in POSH training?

All employees in the organization – managers, directors, IC members, human resource professionals and employees- must go through the training. However, a one-size-fits-all training will not help. A common training on the law is important. In addition to this, there should role-specific training as well. For example, Internal Committee members (IC is the institution that will inquire into and redress sexual harassment complaints within the organization) must go through specific training on the inquiry procedure and redressal mechanism. Let us have a close look at what types of you should consider for your organization.

POSH Foundation Course

This course will cater to the entire workforce in the organization. Regardless of the gender or designation, every employee should have a clear understanding of the following:

• The term sexual harassment, what constitutes to sexual harassment and what does not.
• Who are complainant, respondent and what are their rights?
• What do workplace, employee and employer mean in the context of POSH Act?
• IC, its responsibilities and the name and details of IC members of their organization.
• Means of filing a complaint
• The punishments for sexual harassment
• Tips to prevent online/virtual sexual harassment
• Things to keep in mind to prevent sexual harassment arising out of personal relationships
• The consequences of filing a false complaint with malicious intent
• The consequences of retaliation
• Responsibilities of a someone who has witnessed harassment
• The responsibilities of an employee in preventing sexual harassment in the organization.

POSH Training for Managers / Team Leaders / Supervisors

A certain section of the employees has a team to manage and is obligated to provide a safe environment to their team members. They can be People Managers, Reporting Managers, Business Heads, Human Resources (Learning and Development) professionals, Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) champions, etc. The POSH training for them must enable them to effectively handle and manage sexual harassment incidents. Any inappropriate step or negligence on the part of the people manager will have severe consequences to the organization, team and the victim................ Visit Our Website