POSH Policy

POLICY AGAINST SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE

‍

BACKGROUND

‍

Indinvoice Tech Solutions Private Limited (“Company”) is committed to creating a healthy working environment that enables female employees to work without fear of prejudice, gender bias and sexual harassment. The Company has zero-tolerance for sexual harassment and values every single female employee working at the workplace and wishes to protect her dignity. In so doing, the Company is determined to promote a working environment in which persons of both sexes complement each other as equals in an environment that encourages maximum productivity.

‍

The Policy against Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (“Policy”) is formulated in accordance with the provisions under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (the “POSH Act”) and the Rules made thereunder for providing protection to women against sexual harassment at the workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment.

‍

POLICY PURPOSE

‍

To comply with the POSH Act;
To ensure that all employees work in an environment, free from all forms of sexual harassment and gender bias;
To ensure that all employees of the Company respect one another's dignity, privacy and enjoy equal treatment at the workplace;
To establish a productive and pleasant working environment that is free of sexual harassment;
To ensure that all cases of sexual harassment at the workplace are dealt in accordance with the POSH Act in a procedurally and substantively fair manner to prevent their recurrence.

‍

SCOPE

‍

‍‍This Policy applies to:

All Employees of the Company (as defined hereinafter);
All Aggrieved Women covered under the POSH Act, and
All persons associated with or visiting the Company at any of its workplaces.

‍

DEFINITIONS

‍

Act

Act shall mean the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 as amended from time to time.

‍

Rules

Rules shall mean the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Rules, 2013 as amended from time to time.

‍

Aggrieved Woman

In relation to a workplace, a woman, of any age, whether employed or not, who alleges to have been subjected to any act of Sexual Harassment by the Respondent.

‍

Respondent

A person against whom the Aggrieved Woman has made a complaint under the present Policy.

‍

Sexual Harassment:

Sexual harassment would mean and include one or more of the following unwelcome acts or behaviour (whether directly or by implication) namely:

physical contact and advances;
a demand or request for sexual favours;
making sexually coloured remarks;
showing pornography, sexually explicit material, or any objectionable material by any means;
any other unwanted/unwelcome physical, verbal or non- verbal conduct of sexual nature;
sending undesirable sexually coloured oral or written messages, text messages, e-mail messages, or any such messages by electronic, manual or other means;
stalking or consistently following Aggrieved Woman in the Company premises or outside;
voyeurism including overt or tacit observation by the Respondent by any means of the Aggrieved Woman in her private moments;
any conduct whereby the Respondent takes advantage of his position and subjects the Aggrieved Woman to any form of sexual harassment and seeks sexual favours specially while holding out career advancements whether explicitly or implicitly, as an incentive or a natural result of submitting to the insinuations/demands of the Respondent;
any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature which creates an intimidating environment in the workplace for the Aggrieved Woman;
The following circumstances, among other circumstances, if it occurs or is present in relation to or connected with any act or behaviour of sexual harassment may also mount to sexual harassment:

implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in their employment;

implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment in their employment;

implied or explicit threat about their present or future employment status;

interference with their work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment for them;

humiliating treatment likely to affect their health and safety;

‍

Employee:

A person employed at a workplace for any work on regular, temporary, ad hoc or daily wage basis, either directly or through an agent, including a contractor, with or without the knowledge of the principal employer, whether for remuneration or not, or working on a voluntary basis or otherwise, whether the terms of employment are express or implied and includes a co-worker, a contract worker, probationer, trainee, apprentice or called by any such other name.

‍

Employer:

Employer means any person responsible for the management, supervision and control of the workplace, discharging contractual obligations with respect to his or her Employees.

‍

Presiding Officer:

The Presiding Officer means the Presiding Officer of the Internal Complaints Committee nominated by the Company in accordance with the POSH Act.

‍

Internal Complaints Committee or Committee:

Refers to the Committee constituted, by an order in writing, by the Employer under Section 4 of the POSH Act for the redressal of complaints against Sexual Harassment. At all times, the composition of the Committee shall not deviate from the following structure –

Will have at least 4 members, unless any other minimum requirement is stipulated under the POSH Act subsequently;
Will be headed by a Presiding Officer who shall be a woman employed at a senior level at workplace from amongst the employees; and in case of unavailability of a senior level woman employee, the Presiding Officer shall be nominated from (i) other offices or administrative units of the workplace; or (ii) in the absence of senior level woman employee as per (i), any other workplace of the same Employer or other department or organisation;
Not less than two members from amongst employees preferably committed to the cause of women or who have had experience in social work or have legal knowledge;
Will have one external member from amongst non-governmental organisations or associations committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with the issues relating to Sexual Harassment. The Member appointed from amongst such non-governmental organisations or associations shall be paid such fees or allowances for holding the proceedings of the Committee, by the Employer, as may be prescribed under the POSH Act;
Will have at least 50 % women members;

‍

The Employer of the Company will nominate the Committee members and shall ensure that the composition of the Committee is in accordance with the applicable provisions of the POSH Act and that the minimum number of members of the Committee is always maintained.

‍

Every member of the Committee including the Presiding Officer shall hold office for a term not exceeding 3 years from the date of nomination.

‍

Some general principles pertaining to the Committee are as follows:

The Committee members shall be nominated by the Employer;
Vacancies shall be filled with fresh nomination;
The Presiding Officer or any member shall be removed if confidentiality is violated or is convicted for any offence, found guilty of any disciplinary action or abused her position so that continuation in office is against public interest;
The nominating authority shall have the authority for removal.

‍

The Committee presently comprises of members whose names are provided in “Annexure A” to this Policy, which Annexure will be updated from time to time to reflect changes in the Committee members.

‍

‍GUIDELINES FOR INQUIRY

‍

Procedure:

‍

Conciliation-

The Committee may, before initiating any inquiry under any complaint of sexual harassment and at the request of the Aggrieved Woman, take steps to settle the matter between her and the Respondent through conciliation, provided that no monetary settlement shall be made as a basis of conciliation.
Where a settlement has been arrived at between the Aggrieved Woman and the Respondent, the Committee shall record the settlement so arrived and forward the same to the Employer to take action as specified in the recommendation. The Committee shall also provide copies of such settlement to the Aggrieved Woman and the Respondent.
Where a settlement has been arrived at between the Aggrieved Woman and the Respondent, the Committee shall not conduct any further inquiry into the complaint. However, if the Aggrieved Woman informs the Committee that the Respondent has not complied with any term or condition of the settlement, the Committee shall proceed to make an inquiry into the complaint

‍

Filing a complaint-

All complaints must be made in writing to the Committee within a period of 3 (three) months from the date of the incident; if there exists series of incidents, such complaints must be made within a period of 3 (three) months from the date of the last incident.
The complaint can be made either in sealed cover at the registered office of the Company by addressing the envelope clearly to the Presiding Officer of the Committee and marking the same as “Strictly Confidential” or by way of an email which can be sent to the Committee at posh@cashinvoice.in.
In case the complaint cannot be made in writing, the Presiding Officer or other member of the Committee shall render all reasonable assistance to the Aggrieved Woman for making the complaint in writing.
If the complaint cannot be filed within the stipulated period of 3 (three) months and such reason is recorded in writing, the Committee may extend the time limit for a period not exceeding 3 (three) months if it is satisfied with the reasons that prevented the Aggrieved Woman from filing her compliant within the stipulated period of 3 (three) months.
Where the Aggrieved Woman is unable to make the complaint on account of her physical incapacity, her legal heir, relative or friend, co-worker, an officer of the National Commission for Women or States Women’s Commission or any person who has the knowledge of the incident can make a complaint with a written consent from the Aggrieved Woman.
Where the Aggrieved Woman is unable to make the complaint on account of her mental incapacity, (i) her legal heir, relative or friend, (ii) a special educator, (iii) a qualified psychiatrist or psychologist or, (iv) the guardian or authority under whose care she is receiving treatment or care or (vi) any person who has the knowledge of the incident jointly with her relative or friend, a special educator, a qualified, psychiatrist or psychologist or the guardian or authority under whose care she is receiving treatment or care, can make a complaint.
Where the Aggrieved Woman for any other reason is unable to make a complaint, a complaint may be filed by any person who has knowledge of the incident, with her written consent.
Where the Aggrieved Woman is dead, the complaint may be filed by legal heir or any person who has the knowledge of the incident, with the written consent of the legal heir.

‍

Complaint Handling –

On receipt of complaint, the Committee shall decide the date, place and time for hearing the complaint and shall intimate the date, time and place of hearing to the Aggrieved Woman and Respondent. The Committee shall follow principles of natural justice while handling and inquiring into such complaints.
In conducting an inquiry, a minimum of three members of the Committee including the Presiding Officer shall be present.
The Committee will maintain the norm of gender sensitivity and take into cognizance of all aspects of the incident, the time, place and the context.
The Aggrieved Woman shall submit 6 (six) copies of the complaint along with the supporting documents and the name and addresses of the witnesses, to the Committee. The Committee shall send one copy to the respondent within a period of 7 (seven) working days.
The Respondent shall file his reply to the complaint along with his list of documents and name and addresses of any witnesses within a period not exceeding 10 (ten) working days from the date of receipt of the documents.
If the Aggrieved Woman or the Respondent fails, without sufficient cause, to present herself or himself for three consecutive hearings convened by the Presiding Officer, the Committee shall have the right to give an ex-parte decision on the complaint, or terminate the inquiry proceedings, provided that such termination or ex-parte order may not be passed without giving a written notice 15 (fifteen) days in advance, to the party concerned.
The parties shall not be allowed to bring in any legal practitioner to represent them in their case at any stage of the proceedings before the Committee.
The inquiry shall be completed within a period of 90 (ninety) days.
The copy of any inquiry report shall be provided to the Aggrieved Woman and the Respondent.

‍

Action during inquiry

During an inquiry, if the Aggrieved Woman makes a written request, the Committee may recommend to the Employer the following:

Transfer the Aggrieved Woman or the Respondent to any other workplace.
Grant paid leave to the Aggrieved Woman up to a period of 3 (three) months and such leave shall be in addition to the leave to which she is otherwise entitled.
Grant such other relief/s to the Aggrieved Woman as may be decided by the Committee.
Restrain the Respondent from reporting on the work performance of the Aggrieved Woman or writing her confidential report, and assign the same to another officer.

‍

Actions

If the Respondent is found guilty, the Committee shall recommend to the Employer to take any action, which may include any of the following:

Written apology;
Warning, reprimand or censure;
Withholding of promotion;
Withholding of pay rise/ increment/s/bonus;
Transfer or relocation;
Termination/Dismissal from service;
Carrying out community service;
Undergoing a counselling session;
To deduct from the salary or wages of the respondent such sum as it may consider appropriate to be paid to the Aggrieved Woman or her legal heirs;
In case of inability of the Employer to make deduction on account of the absence from duty or cessation of employment of the respondent, it may direct the respondent to pay such sum to the Aggrieved Woman.
In case of further failure of the Respondent from paying the sum referred to above, the Committee may forward the order for recovery of the sum as an arrear of land revenue to the concerned District Officer.
Any other disciplinary actions as deemed fit by the Committee.

‍

False or Malicious Complaints or false evidence -

If the Aggrieved Woman or any other person making the complaint is found to have made a malicious complaint against the Respondent or submitted false evidence or produced any forged or misleading document, the Committee may recommend to the Employer to take action against the Aggrieved Woman or the person who has made the complaint, which may include any of the following:

Written apology;
Warning, reprimand or censure;
Withholding of promotion;
Withholding of pay rise of increments;
Termination from service;
Undergoing a counselling session;
Carrying out community service;
Any other disciplinary actions as deemed fit by the Committee.

‍

The Committee shall ensure that the aggrieved person is not victimized. A mere inability to substantiate a complaint or provide adequate proof need not attract action against the Aggrieved Woman.

‍

Inquiry Report

The Committee shall within a period of 10 (ten) days from the date of completion of the inquiry submit the report of its finding to the Employer and shall make it available to the concerned parties (“Inquiry Report”).

‍

If the Committee finds that the allegation against the Respondent has not been proved then it shall recommend to the Employer that no action is required in the matter.

‍

The Employer shall, within 60 (sixty) days of the receipt of the Inquiry Report and the recommendations contained therein, act upon the recommendations of the Committee.

‍

Appeal

Any person aggrieved by the recommendations made by the Committee or non-implementation of such recommendations can appeal to appellate authority under clause (a) of Section 2 of the Industrial Employment Standing Orders Act, 1946 within 90 days from the date of the recommendations by the Committee.

‍

‍REPORTING

‍

The Committee will prepare an annual report in each calendar year and submit the same to the Employer and the district officer as required under the POSH Act which shall have the following details:

Number of complaints of sexual harassment received in the year;
Number of complaints disposed off during the year;
Number of cases pending for more than 90 (ninety) days;
Number of workshops or awareness programs against sexual harassment carried out;
Nature of action taken by the Employer.

‍

The Employer shall include in its report the number of cases filed, if any, and their disposal under the POSH Act in the annual report of the Company.

‍

‍COMPENSATION

‍

‍‍For the purpose of determining the sums payable to the Aggrieved Woman, the Committee shall consider:

the mental trauma, pain, suffering and emotional distress caused to the Aggrieved Woman;
the loss of career opportunity to the Aggrieved Woman due to the incident of sexual harassment;
medical expenses incurred by the victim for physical or psychiatric treatment;
the income and financial status of the Respondent; and/or
feasibility of such payment in lump sum or in instalments.

‍

‍GUIDELINES FOR EMPLOYEES

‍

‍‍It is critical to recognize and speak up against sexual harassment when it happens. All employees are encouraged to attend the awareness programs that are organised by the Employer for sensitizing the Employees with the provisions of the POSH Act.

‍

‍GENDER SENSITISATION ACTION/ DUTIES OF EMPLOYER

^‍‍

The Employer shall undertake the following activities to improve gender sensitization at the workplace^:

provide a safe working environment at the workplace which shall include safety from the persons coming into contact at the workplace.
the members of the Committee shall be provided orientation programmes, seminars, capacity building and skill building programmes by the Company.
provide necessary facilities to the Committee for dealing with the complaint and conducting an inquiry.
assist in securing the attendance of Respondent and witnesses before the Committee.
make available such information to the Committee as it may require having regard to any complaints raised by the Employees regarding harassment.
provide assistance to any woman if she so chooses to file a complaint in relation to the offence under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 or any other law for the time being in force.
cause to initiate action, under the Indian Penal Code, 1860 or any other law for the time being in force, against the perpetrator, or if the Aggrieved Woman so desires, where the perpetrator is not an Employee, in the workplace at which the incident of sexual harassment took place.
treat sexual harassment as a misconduct under the service rules and initiate action for such misconduct.
monitor the timely submission of reports by the Committee.
plan, initiate and proactively organise programmes like workshops, seminars, posters, debates, displays, etc. to create awareness among the employees at the workplace for sensitizing them about gender issues including the need to recognize harassment when it happens and the redressal measures available to aggrieved persons.
ensure prominent dissemination of the Policy at all conspicuous places at the workplace.
display at any conspicuous place in the workplace, the penal consequences of sexual harassments; and the order constituting the Committee.
declare the names and contact details of all the members of Committee.
use modules developed by the State Governments to conduct workshops and awareness programmes for sensitising the employees with the provisions of POSH Act.
the Employer may enlist the help of specialized NGO's, women’s organizations or associations, volunteers and/or any lawyers, / lawyer’s bodies to carry out these programmes.
the Employer may enlist and activate an adequately representative team of volunteers and shall ensure the widespread publicity of the contact details of all its members and volunteers. The services of such volunteers shall be available at all times to any Aggrieved Woman or any person in need of consultation or guidance. Volunteers will also assist in the gender sensitization, crisis mediation and crises management but shall not participate in the task of formal redressal of complaints under this Policy.

‍

‍CONFIDENTIALITY

‍‍

The contents of the complaints of sexual harassment, the identity of the Aggrieved Woman, Respondent, and witnesses, if any, any information relating to conciliation and inquiry proceedings, recommendations of the Committee and the action taken by the Employer shall be kept and treated as strictly confidential. Only those individuals who may have received the complaint or are necessarily involved in the inquiry process or in the decision regarding any allegation of sexual harassment who have a need to know will be informed of it. All information regarding sexual harassment complaints will be maintained in a confidential file to be kept securely by the head of the Committee.

‍

‍MISCELLANEOUS

‍

All matters not specifically dealt with herein shall be governed by the POSH Act and the Rules notified thereunder. In case of any conflict between this Policy and the POSH Act, the POSH Act (including the Rules made thereunder) shall prevail.

‍

AMENDMENT TO THE POLICY

‍

The Company reserves the right to amend the Policy from time to time to comply with any law/rules/regulations that shall come into effect from time to time pertaining to Sexual Harassment.

‍

Annexure A

Internal Complaints Committee

‍

Designation :- Presiding Officer

Name : - Aastha Mital‍

e-Mail :- aastha@cashinvoice.in

‍

Designation :- Member

Name : -Avinash Pandey‍

e-Mail :- avinash@cashinvoice.in

‍

Designation :- Member

Name : - Bharat Shukla‍

e-Mail :- bharat@cashinvoice.in

‍

Designation :-Member

Name : -Sushira Gopalarao‍

e-Mail :- sushira@cashinvoice.in

‍

Designation :-External Member

Name : -Rashi Goel‍

e-Mail :- rashi.goel@indithinkk.com

‍