POSH Policy & Internal Committee Compliance
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, known as the POSH Act, requires every employer with ten or more employees to constitute an Internal Committee (still widely called the Internal Complaints Committee, the ICC or the POSH committee) to hear complaints, adopt and publicise a policy, run awareness programmes and file an annual report.
Failing to constitute the Committee or to meet the Act’s other duties can attract a fine of up to ₹50,000, with higher penalties and possible cancellation of a licence or registration for repeat offences. In 2023 the Supreme Court, in Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa, directed that committees be properly constituted and their details made public.
When you need it
When the business reaches ten employees
The duty to constitute an Internal Committee applies at each office or administrative unit with ten or more employees, counting interns, trainees and contract staff.
When opening a new office
Each office or administrative unit needs its own Committee, or a documented arrangement that covers it.
When the Committee’s term ends
Members hold office for up to three years. A lapsed Committee, or one short of members or of the external member, cannot validly hear a complaint.
When a complaint is received
The inquiry has strict timelines and must follow the principles of natural justice. Procedural mistakes are the most common reason findings are set aside.
When clients or investors ask
Enterprise customers, investors and auditors increasingly ask for the Committee order, the policy, training records and the last annual report.
How the process works
Six stages, from a review of what is in place to the annual report. Timings are typical, not promised.
- 1
Compliance review
Usually about a weekCheck what is already in place against the Act and the 2013 Rules: the order constituting the Committee, its members and their terms, the policy, notices displayed at the workplace, training records and past annual reports.
Documents
- The current POSH policy and the order constituting the Internal Committee
- The number of employees at each office
- Records of training and the last annual report, if any
- 2
Constitute or reconstitute the Committee
One to two weeks, depending on nominationsNominate a Presiding Officer (a woman employed at a senior level), at least two employee members and one external member, with at least half the members women. The nomination is made by a written order that names every member and the date.
- 3
Draft or revise the policy
Alongside the CommitteeThe Rules require an internal policy that is widely disseminated. It should explain what sexual harassment is, how to complain, conciliation, the inquiry, interim relief, confidentiality and the consequences of misconduct, and may extend protection beyond what the Act requires.
- 4
Display and communication
On adoptionDisplay the penal consequences of sexual harassment and the order constituting the Committee at a conspicuous place, publish the members’ names and contact details, and make the policy available to every employee.
- 5
Support for inquiries
As complaints ariseAdvise the Committee when a complaint is received: conciliation where the complainant asks for it, the inquiry within 90 days, the report to the employer within 10 days of completing it, and the employer’s action within 60 days of the report.
- 6
The annual report
Once a yearThe Committee prepares an annual report for the employer and the District Officer, covering complaints received and disposed of, cases pending, awareness programmes held and action taken. Companies also report on POSH compliance in the Board’s report.
Common questions
Every employer with ten or more employees at an office or administrative unit, in the private or public sector. Employees include interns, trainees, apprentices and contract staff. Workplaces with fewer than ten employees are covered by the Local Committee that the District Officer constitutes.
Under section 26 of the Act, failing to constitute the Committee, or breaching the Act’s other duties, can attract a fine of up to ₹50,000. A repeat offence can attract twice the punishment and the cancellation of a licence or registration needed to carry on the business.
Someone from a non-governmental organisation or association committed to the cause of women, or a person familiar with the issues relating to sexual harassment. The 2013 Rules describe that second category as a person with expertise on such issues, for example a social worker with at least five years’ relevant experience or a person familiar with labour, service, civil or criminal law. The external member should have no other tie to the employer.
Yes. Rule 13 of the 2013 Rules requires the employer to formulate and widely disseminate an internal policy for the prohibition, prevention and redressal of sexual harassment at the workplace.
The Act protects women. A man can be the subject of a complaint, and many employers adopt gender-neutral policies that give every employee a route to complain. Those wider protections come from the policy, not the Act.
The Act does not fix a date. The report covers each calendar year and goes to the employer and the District Officer. In practice many District Officers ask for it early in the following year, so check the current instructions for your district.
The Committee must complete the inquiry within 90 days and give its report to the employer within 10 days of completing it. The employer must act on the recommendations within 60 days of receiving the report.
Related
To discuss POSH compliance, write to info@ireniclegal.com or call +91 96547 47331. Written by Adv. Kanika Marwaha Bindal; last updated 29 September 2026.