POSH act
11 months ago
Hi, a female colleague use to talk to me about office romance and virginity and send inappropriate content from Netflix. (She cleverly deleted all chats and most of the things she use to say on calls only so I also have no proof of the same). Later when i got interested in her she registered a POSH complaint on me. After an year i told a girl you're looking hot and she also registered a complaint against me and I've received a POSH warning letter. Will i be able to get any job in the future? Will this warning letter be revealed during every background check?
A.Dear Client
Laws under the POSH are one of those laws which is like double edged sword and many a times it gets misused by the complaint. As humans we live in a society which is by its basic structure interactive in nature and when lot of interaction takes place between two opposite sexes then there might rise situations where romantic colour can appear. getting romantic is not an issue but as long as that two people working in an employment or professional environment is concerned there has to be some rule and avoid unwarranted issues.
Two people can get into romantic relationship even if both of them are working in an organization but it has be to remembered and always kept in mind that one cannot harass or abuse another person. Especially a male employee should create a condition in the office which leads to sense of harassment or discomfort to a female employee.
For that matter even uttering any sexually coloured word or gesture can be categorized as an act under the POSH Act.
Many a times the romantic relationship advances are made by the female employee and when things go wrong a false complaint of POSH act can be raised by the female employee. That does not mean that the accused person is going to get penalized straight way. There is a prescribed process for adjudicating the matter by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and come to the proper conclusion.
The proceedings of the ICC is quasi legal in nature and opportunity to both the complainant and the accused is given to resent their case and bring up the evidence and witness, if any. And then finally the judgement delivered. So, you see even when the complaint is made there will be an unbiased proceedings to arrive at the outcome.
In your case let me tell you that since the POSH committee has already given you a warning letter so the matter ends there and this should not have any bearing on your career or future employment. Usually the previous employer does not disclose about such things unless the next employer has specifically asked for it. So, if the next employer is not asking about it then in your background verification ( BGV) it may not be disclosed.
Laws under the POSH are one of those laws which is like double edged sword and many a times it gets misused by the complaint. As humans we live in a society which is by its basic structure interactive in nature and when lot of interaction takes place between two opposite sexes then there might rise situations where romantic colour can appear. getting romantic is not an issue but as long as that two people working in an employment or professional environment is concerned there has to be some rule and avoid unwarranted issues.
Two people can get into romantic relationship even if both of them are working in an organization but it has be to remembered and always kept in mind that one cannot harass or abuse another person. Especially a male employee should create a condition in the office which leads to sense of harassment or discomfort to a female employee.
For that matter even uttering any sexually coloured word or gesture can be categorized as an act under the POSH Act.
Many a times the romantic relationship advances are made by the female employee and when things go wrong a false complaint of POSH act can be raised by the female employee. That does not mean that the accused person is going to get penalized straight way. There is a prescribed process for adjudicating the matter by the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and come to the proper conclusion.
The proceedings of the ICC is quasi legal in nature and opportunity to both the complainant and the accused is given to resent their case and bring up the evidence and witness, if any. And then finally the judgement delivered. So, you see even when the complaint is made there will be an unbiased proceedings to arrive at the outcome.
In your case let me tell you that since the POSH committee has already given you a warning letter so the matter ends there and this should not have any bearing on your career or future employment. Usually the previous employer does not disclose about such things unless the next employer has specifically asked for it. So, if the next employer is not asking about it then in your background verification ( BGV) it may not be disclosed.
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A.Hello,
If you are innocent and being framed in any malicious complaint then, you can take the following steps to sail through the process of judgement:
Keep calm and cooperate with the internal complaints committee that handles cases of sexual harassment of women at the workplace. If you are innocent and provide full support to investigating team in their research, then this will work in favor of you to proclaim innocence.
Section 18 of the PoSH Act 2013 gives the respondent the ‘right to appeal’ against the recommendations or findings of the investigating team of the internal complaints committee.
This acts as a deterrent to any false complaints and prevents the misuse of power granted to the internal complaints committee. So, do not refrain from taking any legal help if you feel your case is not being investigated properly or the investigating team is acting with a certain bias towards the complainant. Going with your legal team to show your side of the story is favorable these days as even courts are stricter on the fake PoSH complaints.
Recollect all the details about the alleged incident and give names of all witnesses to the investigating team to tell your side of the story and prove your innocence.
Some of the PoSH complaints are made after the break-up of some consensual personal relationship. Your workplace might have the policy to refrain from such relationships but even in that case come out clear in front of the investigating team about your relationship. It could lead to a suspension for both of you, but it will save your career from damage due to an offense related to sexual harassment.
Ensure that your side of the story is clearly heard by the internal complaints committee and all the norms of natural justice are followed by the complaints committee during investigation and hearing.
If the case seems to be filed as a way of taking revenge by the complainant, then it is wise to request interim relief from the organisation in form of leave or temporary transfer to some other department to stay away from any friction with the complainant in the workplace.
If the allegations are too serious to wait for the outcome of the investigation by the internal complaints committee then hire an advocate to look after the case or seek legal help to protect your career and reputation from the damage.
If there is a possibility of resolving the issue by mutual conciliation without face-off with the other party, then go for it as it will save you from getting into a further adversary and mental stress.
If you feel that you might have done something innocently in the alleged incident and it was unintended and taken in a completely wrong way then explain your side of the story and apologize stating that it was totally harmless from your part. It could happen that you cracked a sexual joke without awareness of any women nearby or made an insensitive comment that could hurt female sentiment. In these cases, a simple apology will go a long way in saving you from the troubles due to the PoSH complaint.
Do not repeatedly try to justify your action or assert that it wasn’t intended as sexual harassment. Instead, accept that whatever you have done may have been interpreted in the wrong way and you will take care that it won’t be repeated.
If you are innocent and being framed in any malicious complaint then, you can take the following steps to sail through the process of judgement:
Keep calm and cooperate with the internal complaints committee that handles cases of sexual harassment of women at the workplace. If you are innocent and provide full support to investigating team in their research, then this will work in favor of you to proclaim innocence.
Section 18 of the PoSH Act 2013 gives the respondent the ‘right to appeal’ against the recommendations or findings of the investigating team of the internal complaints committee.
This acts as a deterrent to any false complaints and prevents the misuse of power granted to the internal complaints committee. So, do not refrain from taking any legal help if you feel your case is not being investigated properly or the investigating team is acting with a certain bias towards the complainant. Going with your legal team to show your side of the story is favorable these days as even courts are stricter on the fake PoSH complaints.
Recollect all the details about the alleged incident and give names of all witnesses to the investigating team to tell your side of the story and prove your innocence.
Some of the PoSH complaints are made after the break-up of some consensual personal relationship. Your workplace might have the policy to refrain from such relationships but even in that case come out clear in front of the investigating team about your relationship. It could lead to a suspension for both of you, but it will save your career from damage due to an offense related to sexual harassment.
Ensure that your side of the story is clearly heard by the internal complaints committee and all the norms of natural justice are followed by the complaints committee during investigation and hearing.
If the case seems to be filed as a way of taking revenge by the complainant, then it is wise to request interim relief from the organisation in form of leave or temporary transfer to some other department to stay away from any friction with the complainant in the workplace.
If the allegations are too serious to wait for the outcome of the investigation by the internal complaints committee then hire an advocate to look after the case or seek legal help to protect your career and reputation from the damage.
If there is a possibility of resolving the issue by mutual conciliation without face-off with the other party, then go for it as it will save you from getting into a further adversary and mental stress.
If you feel that you might have done something innocently in the alleged incident and it was unintended and taken in a completely wrong way then explain your side of the story and apologize stating that it was totally harmless from your part. It could happen that you cracked a sexual joke without awareness of any women nearby or made an insensitive comment that could hurt female sentiment. In these cases, a simple apology will go a long way in saving you from the troubles due to the PoSH complaint.
Do not repeatedly try to justify your action or assert that it wasn’t intended as sexual harassment. Instead, accept that whatever you have done may have been interpreted in the wrong way and you will take care that it won’t be repeated.
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Rohan Uttekar
Replied 11 months ago
Looking at the above information would you say i was wrong or innocent?
1) last year the girl was also involved & talking about short office romance & other stuffs.
2) this year i made a comment to a female colleague stating "she is looking hot" i wanted to only make this comment as for the Kapil Sharma show so we both could have a short laugh. But i received a warning letter.
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