What is POSH Training: Full Form, Meaning & Workplace Compliance

For women, the worst nightmare could be experiencing any form of sexual harassment in workplaces. An unsafe work culture not only discourages employees from showing up to work, but also traumatises them for working in a corporate setting. It was reported that 400 cases of sexual harassment have taken place in the workplace within 2018 to 2022. This alarming rate within Indian companies has created a strong push for the implementation of POSH (also spelt as PoSH) training. Moreover, according to a statistical study, cases of sexual harassment have gradually hiked by 29% from 2022 to 2023 in Indian workplaces. The alarming increase can be observed by just the steep increase in numbers, where in 2021 the total number of POSH cases was only 33, in 2024, it increased to 133. But, what is POSH compliance and what rules does an organisation need to maintain to prevent sexual harassment? Let’s uncover some crucial details.

What is POSH Compliance?

What is POSH: Definition

POSH's full form is Prevention of Sexual Harassment, and officially, it is also known as the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, Redressal) Act, 2013. The Indian Parliament introduced the POSH Act in 2013, and since then, all companies in India have been required to comply with the POSH Act.

Major features of the POSH Act

To answer what POSH is better, we have to know the main features of the act.

• Defence against sexual harassment - POSH Act protects the victim against any form of sexual abuse or harassment in the workplace. It also trains employees to raise awareness and develop a culture of safety and inclusiveness.
• Defines sexual harassment - Whether to count a behaviour as sexually harassing is dependent on how a woman views it and if the woman has experienced anything very uncomfortable or indecent. POSH policy stands for prevention of any sexual harassment, so it appropriately defines the meaning of sexual harassment.
• Retributory in nature - POSH policy meaning stands not only for protecting women in workplaces but also provides retribution as a means of justice. This creates an impervious environment for women in workplaces where any possible cause of sexual harassment is eliminated. Non-compliance with POSH policy results in the direct cancellation of the business license, with the imposition of a fine of ₹50,000.
• Comprehensive coverage - POSH provides all-inclusive protection against any case of sexual harassment and covers all acts of sexual exploitation, harassment and any such imprudent action.

People covered under POSH

• Employees
• Directors
• Managers
• Supervisors or team leaders
• Executives
• Founders

All these members of the organization have to undergo POSH training, although the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) has to specially attend POSH training.

Importance of POSH training at Workplace

POSH training creates a strong sense of awareness among employees, making it a widely adopted policy across national organisations. The main importance of POSH in the workplace are:

• Develops a high work morale: POSH policy meaning is to safeguard employees against any sexually offensive scenario. Based on that, the importance of creating a POSH policy is to create a highly positive work culture, which makes employees feel highly safe and protected.
• Compliance with government regulations: The POSH Act is compulsory training for any organisation that has more than 10 employees, so any organisation must comply with it. Compliance with POSH also provides a certification which creates a sense of trust in employees.
• Goodwill is raised: POSH meaning in corporate is developing a highly safe space for all employees, which improves the goodwill of an organisation. An organisation with strong ethics sense and knowledge of moral behaviour is likely to have a better market reputation with positive employee experience.

Steps to Implement POSH Policy at Workplace

There are multiple answers on what is POSH training already on the internet, yet there is a deficiency in a concise answer. Here is one.

Step 1 Developing POSH policy - The Human Resources department should be entrusted with the responsibility of designing a POSH policy which complies with the regulatory points of the POSH Act, 2013. The policy needs to define an act of sexual harassment with relevant examples, sexual offence consequences and a plan illustrating the entire grievance address process.

Step 2 - Creation of ICC - The establishment of ICC is first after creating and defining the main guidelines of the POSH policy. ICC refers to the Internal Complaints Committee that is mainly responsible for conducting an investigation into a case of POSH violation unbiasedly.

Step 3 - Live training - Every employee needs to participate in the training process about learning, behaving morally, not committing any indecent act and developing a high sense of judgement as well as inclusivity. Moreover, employees need to be taught the consequences of violating the POSH policy, which will make them aware to comply with it.

Step 4 - Explanation of complaint procedure - Lodging a complaint and maintaining confidentiality are two vital aspects of the POSH policy to observe. Human Resources should explain the complaint establishment process, with immediate access to crisis resources.

Employee rights under POSH training

One of the clear answers to what is POSH is defined by the rights reserved by employees under the policy. These are:

• All complaints made are confidential, and employees can claim complete control over the data they share while lodging and registering under the POSH policy.
• A victim of POSH policy cannot face retribution, or any form of punishment that is outside the scope of POSH policy.
• An employee or victim can apply for an interim leave during the application status of POSH under proper reason and by written request from ICC.

Is having a POSH policy at the workplace mandatory?

According to POSH Act, 2013, an organisation with more than 10 employees should compulsorily comply with the law. Compliance with POSH policy indicates that the company is concerned about the well-being of the employee. In the same aspect, such organisations are also required to create an ICC for analysing and investigating any lodged complaints of sexual harassment. An ICC needs to act without any bias and needs to have a woman employee elected as the member of the committee for a fair judgement.

Consequences of lodging POSH

POSH Act mandates a strict inquiry into any complaint of sexual offence, and it also ensures that the victim’s identity remains confidential to avoid any possible case of retribution. The direct consequences of lodging a POSH complaint are:

1. 1- The registered complaint goes to ICC, and the board investigates.
2. 2- Upon finding guilty, ICC may resort to either of the actions. These are suspension or dissolution of the employment of the guilty, transfer to a different department, or even demand psychological counselling.
3. 3- The company may have to pay a fine of ₹50,000 and if any violation of POSH occurs again, the company may face a permanent cancellation of the license.

Conclusion

POSH full form is Prevention of Sexual Harassment (also known as PoSH) and is a policy required to be maintained by an organisation to create a completely safe working environment for employees. After the implementation of the POSH Act, more companies are reporting sexual harassment cases, and more women are getting the confidence to report such cases. Indian workplaces are slowly transitioning from a place of burdening work culture to a more inclusive culture that has zero tolerance for any sexual misbehaviour.