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Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Policy
Introduction
The POSH (Prevention of Sexual Harassment) policy is a set of guidelines and regulations created to address and prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. The policy is intended to ensure a safe and secure environment for all individuals, regardless of gender, age, or status.
What is the POSH Policy?
The POSH Policy is a formalized set of guidelines and procedures that aim to prevent and address incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace. It provides a clear understanding of what constitutes sexual harassment, the reporting procedures, and the consequences for those who engage in such behavior.
What is Sexual Harassment?
Sexual harassment is any unwelcome sexual conduct, such as physical contact or verbal comments or actions, that creates a hostile or offensive work environment. This behavior can occur between any two individuals of any gender and can take various forms, including but not limited to unwanted advances, requests for sexual favors, or any other form of unwelcome sexual behavior.
Who is covered by the POSH Policy?
The POSH Policy covers all One2N employees and anyone who has contact with One2N, including contractors, vendors, and visitors. It applies to all forms of harassment, whether they occur on or off-premises, during working hours or outside of them, and online or offline.
What is the procedure for reporting Sexual Harassment at One2N?
You should report the incident(s) of sexual harassment to the POSH committee.
A POSH committee is a team, that is the first point of contact for you to report the harassment.
All the above committee members can be contacted together through their common email group, posh@one2n.in
Send an email to posh@one2n.in raising your complaint, along with corroborating evidence like a document, image, or video, if any. Even if you don’t have any corroborating evidence, raise your complaint.
The committee will revert to you via email with an acknowledgment. Subsequently, they will connect with you, either via call or email, or in person, for further communication on the matter.
Please note that you can also speak with any of the POSH committee members first, if you feel more comfortable, before sending the email mentioned above.
What next?
The POSH committee investigates the incident(s), and if it finds the accused guilty of harassment, it takes the relevant punitive action.
What are the punitive actions taken against the harasser?
The POSH Policy clearly outlines the consequences of engaging in sexual harassment, including disciplinary action, termination of employment, or even legal action. The severity of the consequences depends on the nature and severity of the harassment.
Important notes:
- Privacy - The POSH committee respects your privacy and will keep your anonymity during this entire process and beyond if you wish for the same.
- Informal resolution - If you wish to resolve the issue informally with the harasser instead of filing a formal complaint, you can do the same. You can speak with a POSH committee member and request to convene a meeting between the harasser, the committee member and yourself. The committee member will convene this meeting to resolve the issue informally.
- However, please note that the POSH committee members will not force you, or influence you to take your course of action, be it formal complaint, or informal resolution. That decision is solely yours.
- The POSH committee also reserves the right to take relevant punitive action against the accuser, if, upon investigation, their accusation is found to be fabricated.
What if my harasser is a POSH committee member?
As mentioned above, the POSH policy covers all One2N employees and anyone who has contact with One2N, including contractors, vendors, and visitors. Naturally, this includes all POSH committee members too.
So, you can follow the same process outlined above for raising a complaint against a POSH committee member.
The POSH Policy is essential for creating a safe and secure work or educational environment free from sexual harassment. It provides clear guidelines for identifying and reporting incidents of sexual harassment and outlines the consequences of engaging in such behavior. By following the guidelines outlined in the policy, indviduals can help to ensure that everyone is treated with dignity and respect.