The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013

What it does

The Act (Act No. 14 of 2013) gives statutory form to the guidelines the Supreme Court laid down in Vishaka v State of Rajasthan in 1997. It prohibits sexual harassment of a woman at the workplace, and it provides a complaint and inquiry process for the redress of such harassment. Sexual harassment is defined in the Act to include unwelcome acts or behaviour, direct or by implication, such as physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. The Act also lists circumstances that amount to sexual harassment where they are connected with unwelcome behaviour, such as an implied or express promise of preferential treatment in employment.

The workplace is defined widely. It includes a department, organisation or establishment of the Government, a private body, a hospital, a sports venue, and any place visited by an employee in the course of employment, including transport provided by the employer. The Act is not confined to the employer's premises.

Who it binds

Every employer. An employer with an office or branch of ten or more employees must constitute an Internal Committee there, and where an establishment has fewer than ten employees, or where the complaint is against the employer, a Local Committee at the district level receives it. The Internal Committee is presided over by a senior woman employee, has at least two members committed to the cause of women or with experience in social work or legal knowledge, and includes one external member from a non-governmental organisation or association committed to the cause of women. At least half of its members must be women.

What has changed, and when

The Act came into force on 9 December 2013, with its Rules. It has not been amended in substance since. What has changed is enforcement. In Aureliano Fernandes v State of Goa in 2023, the Supreme Court found that the Act was not being implemented properly in many places and directed that the authorities and institutions take steps to constitute the committees and ensure compliance.

What turns on it in practice

The process has time limits that employers and complainants both need to know. A complaint is to be made within three months from the date of the incident, or the last of a series, and the committee may extend that period by up to three months for reasons it records. Before it begins an inquiry, the committee may, at the written request of the complainant, take steps to settle the matter by conciliation, but a settlement may not be on the basis of a monetary payment. The inquiry follows the service rules of the employer, or the Rules where there are none, and the committee must report, and the employer must act on its recommendations.

The contents of a complaint, the identity of the parties and the proceedings are confidential. The Act prohibits their publication or disclosure to the public, the press and the media in any manner. Duties on the employer include organising awareness programmes, displaying the penal consequences of harassment and the order constituting the committee at a conspicuous place, and filing an annual report with the District Officer. An employer that fails to comply is liable to a fine, which is higher for a repeat offence and may be coupled with cancellation of a licence or registration.

An employer needs the committee to be properly constituted and its members trained. A defect in the constitution of the committee, such as the absence of the external member, can be raised to challenge an inquiry. For a company, a complaint against a senior person raises questions of independence, interim relief, and the relation between this process and disciplinary action under the employer's own rules. This is part of the employment work of this practice: advice on the committee, the policy and the disciplinary process, and representation in the disputes that arise.