Importance of PoSH Training for Safety And Healthy Work Culture

The Prevention of sexual harassment of women at the Workplace Act was brought into action in our country in 2013. This act was aimed at Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal of instances of sexual harassment. It was passed in Lok Sabha or Lower House of Parliament on 3rd September 2012 and in the upper house or Rajya Sabha on 26 February 2013.

Safe Working Space for Workforce

Nowadays, we can see both men and women being subjected to forms of workplace harassment. However, it is women who face the wrath of sexual harassment every now and then. These instances of harassment make the workspace uncomfortable for both men and women. The indecent environment pushes females to lodge a complaint against the culprit. However, this doesn’t include the fake cases being filed in organizations to harass a male employee. Fake complaints of sexual harassment have proven to a major concern for all organizations.

This has become so prevalent that experts now believe that Sexual harassment isn't confined to any particular gender now. Some women use it as a tool of exploitation. There's no forum where men can address the instances of women using the PoSH Act as a tool of harassment. Also, the biased nature of the law won't let their complaints being taken as seriously as their female counterparts.

The crux of the situation lies in lack of awareness about sexual harassment and the PoSH Act among employees. Neither the female workforce is fully aware of its rights under the act nor the male workforce understands what constitutes sexual harassment to avoid becoming a part of it. The only fitting solution to the above problem is embarking PoSH Law Awareness Sessions to the employees.

Benefits of PoSH Training in Our Country

Here are some stats showing the necessity of PoSH awareness for employees to give a better understanding of Posh Law to employees.

• 76% of all sexual harassment cases happen in working spaces.
• 75% of reports against sexual abuse are not accurate completely.
• 78% of the Internal Complaint Committee need an in-depth training process to ensure the right functioning.
• Most of the cases of sexual harassment at the workspace are malicious in nature.

Creating safety and a general culture of responsibility towards colleagues at the work is mandatory. Organizations must stress on building a robust foundation to leave no room for harassment of any kind: physical or mental. The fulcrum of PoSH Training in the country is to create a socio-legal perspective in the minds of workers. The benefits of the PoSH training are,

• Helps the Internal Committee members to understand their responsibilities and things to do post receiving any complaint.
• Employees struggle to identify with the norms of PoSH Law. PoSH training helps them understand each important detail clearly.
• Getting familiar with legal innuendos and definitions.
• Picturing a social-legal basis for sexual abuse complaint redressal.
• Carry out an extensive investigation process.
• Building a respectful environment among employees.

To Conclude…..

The PoSH Act clearly specifies that the employer has to ensure thorough training for ICC members through orientation programs and seminars for the members. Organizing capacity building or skill-building programs for members will ensure that there's a well-trained committee in place who are well informed about the topic. A well-trained and skilled internal committee will be able to adjudicate the complaints efficiently. It will choose the complaints effectively and after analyzing things and facts alongside pieces of evidence will give a verdict. The proper handling of complaints requires psychological, social, and investigative skills and thus a well-trained committee can go a long way in doing that.

Hence, it can be said that the importance of PoSH training in making employees aware of their rights is important to ensure a safe Working Space. A healthy work culture can only be established by ensuring the safety of both the male and female workforce. Organizations can work towards gender sensitization to reduce the gap in communication between the genders at work. This can only be done by promoting awareness of the PoSH act among employees and realizing the importance of mindful behavior in front of the female workforce.

Dealing with malicious complaints has become a menace for companies. Natter how much training is imparted, there will always be some people who want to take unfair advantage of the privilege. This is quite similar to men who won't stop even after the strict implementation of the PoSH act. Fighting the mentality of such people is important as a society. Companies can contact legal advisory consultancies to organize training sessions and gender sensitization programs to continue to fight against the rotten mentality that leads to harassment.