Policy Against Sexual Harassment

The Supreme Court guidelines and the The Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention and Redressal) Bill, 2004 (later revised in 2006) have made it explicit that it is mandatory on the part of an employer to ensure an environment free from the threat of any kind of sexual harassment and exploitation.

The Supreme Court has mandated every organisation to have a committee to address incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace. However, a Committee alone will not solve the issue in its entirety, as its presence does not address the issue from the roots. Organisations need to think of a series of steps to address this phenomenon in its varied dimensions. In this context, having a Policy Against Sexual Harassment will be useful in developing a strategy to deal with sexual harassment in the workplace.

The Policy should consist of a set of coherent interwoven decisions, with a common long-term purpose to address sexual harassment at the workplace. These decisions should be based on a definite course of action that is decided upon in the context of the situation, and determine not only the present but also how the issue will be dealt with in the future.

The decision to address sexual harassment at the workplace is supported by the action of setting up a Committee. The decision to increase awareness on the issue of sexual harassment at the workplace is translated into a capacity building/training plan for the staff. However, more important than policies or committees is the commitment of the organisation, the management and its staff to recognise the importance of this issue in the workplace and pledge to counter it at every step.

Adopting a Policy Against Sexual Harassment is the first step in preventing it within a workplace. While drafting a Policy Against Sexual Harassment, it is essential to keep the following components in mind:

• A commitment to prevent and address sexual harassment;
• An explanation of penalties (including termination) the employer will impose for substantiated sexual harassment conduct;
• A detailed outline of the grievance procedure employees should use;
• A clear statement that anyone found guilty of harassment after investigation will be subject to immediate and appropriate disciplinary action, including dismissal;
• A clear understanding and strict rules regarding harassment of or by third parties like clients, customers, etc.;
• Additional resource or contact persons available for support and consultation;
• An express commitment to keep all sexual harassment complaints and procedures confidential and time bound;
• Adequate provisions for training of employees at all levels;
• An anti-retaliation policy providing protection against retaliation to complainants, witnesses, committee members and other employees involved in prevention and complaints resolution (Raymonds, 2003).

Merely adopting a Policy Against Sexual Harassment is not sufficient. It is also essential that the Policy be communicated throughout the organization including to the third parties such as suppliers and customers. New recruits to the organization need to be informed about the Policy from the date of their joining so that they are aware of such a Policy from the very beginning. In case English is not a language that the employees in the organization are comfortable in, there may be a need to translate the Policy into the vernacular language.

Lastly, it should be said that along with developing a Policy Against Sexual Harassment, it would be in place to also develop a Gender Policy within the organization, which deals with the roots of gender inequality, of which one of the outcomes is sexual harassment.

Source: Farrell, M., T. Saxena, J. Thekkudan and P. Pathak, 2008, Engendering Workplaces: Framework for a Gender Policy, New Delhi, PRIA.
Raymonds, N., 2003, Sexual harassment at the Workplace, Combat Law, Volume 2, Issue 3, August-September 2003, http:www.indiatogether.org/combatlaw/vol2/issue3/harass.htm (accessed January 2008)