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Resource centre on India's rural distress
 
 

Sexual harassment at workplace law gets tepid response-Shilpa Phadnis & Sujit John
-The Times of India
 

BANGALORE: It's been a year since the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act was passed; one of Parliament's several responses to increasing attacks on women. The act has been described by some as one of the most exacting in the world, especially with regard to the responsibilities it places on employers.

To understand what has changed since the act came into being, TOI spoke to a number of people - HR heads, employees, and legal and workplace harassment experts. The findings are mixed.

Many of the larger and more progressive companies have taken important steps, but even among them, most are yet to implement measures in the full spirit of the act. The vast majority of business establishments, however, are still trying to figure out what to do.

Gaurang Kanth, a Supreme Court lawyer who specializes in workplace harassment cases, provides a particularly harsh assessment. He says organizations have "completely failed" in their obligations. "I find more and more sexual harassment cases coming from workplaces." He points to a teacher's case against the principal and two other management committee members of Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Delhi, and one from a major technology company that he does not wish TOI to name because the case is not yet public.

On the contrary, Nirmala Menon, founder of Interweave Consulting, an organization focusing on diversity management and inclusion at the workplace, says there is some visible change. "Companies are far more proactive in addressing issues around workplace harassment. It's more than putting a check in the box. It's like fire insurance, and firms realize that there is too much to lose, including the company's brand equity, besides stringent penalties imposed by law. Companies have put in place stringent polices and set up committees to look at issues," she says.

Some have even asked Interweave to create policy documents and literature in regional languages for the benefit of their housekeeping and administrative staff who may not understand English.

Experts agree that most companies have, at best, taken only partial steps in all of these areas. Many rushed to establish internal complaints committees soon after the act was passed. But not many of these committees have, as required by the law, a person from an NGO or association committed to the cause of women.

"Companies are mechanically putting together three people from the legal team and one woman employee. They are treating it in a legal mode, rather than in a resolution mode," says Pankaj Sharma, chief trustee of the non-profit Centre for Transforming India and an expert on workplace sexual harassment issues.

He notes that the committee has been bestowed partial powers of a civil court - to take penal action, impose fines. "It's the first time private entities have been offered such powers. But most companies are yet to define their sexual harassment policies and service rules, what would constitute, for instance, a sexually coloured remark. They have not defined their investigation process. So on what basis will these committees act?" Sharma asks.

The biggest ground yet to be covered is in educating and sensitizing employees. Some have one-off workshops for department heads, but make no effort to ensure the message filters down.

"Many organizations are not actively communicating the policy among its employees ... Merely having the policy as part of the induction does not suffice. They have to communicate it at regular intervals so that it comes alive through campaigns and creative platforms like theatre," says Menon.

Some do have regular programmes. Priti Kataria, chairperson of Wipro's Prevention of Sexual Harassment Committee, says the company has put up its policy and redressal mechanism on the intranet, conducts regular awareness campaigns, and encourages all employees to take the company's 'Prevention of Sexual Harassment' online training module to understand what behaviours constitute harassment.

Infosys has classroom sessions, e-learning programmes, poster campaigns and mailers stressing on the importance of professional behaviour at the workplace. Mindtree has made an e-learning course on sexual harassment mandatory.

But in most cases, such programmes are not mandatory and, therefore, have limited impact. Several employees in different companies that TOI spoke to confirmed this. "I know the policy exists because of the group mail and intranet. The company conducts quizzes once in three months, but it's not mandatory, so most of us don't take it. Many employees don't really go through the policy document," said an employee in a large Indian IT company.

Sharma says companies are following a minimal approach fearing that if employees know more, they will raise more complaints. Menon has a different take. She says now when companies are focusing on being fun workplaces, they are concerned about impacting the camaraderie between employees. "They are working to see how the policy can be communicated in the right spirit."