Form panel to redress sexual harassment complaints: Chennai Collector to firms
The requirement to form the committee is applicable to companies with ten or more women employees.
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CHENNAI: In a strong step to prevent sexual harassment at workplaces, the Chennai Collector has instructed companies with ten or more women employees to form an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC).
As per the notification issued by Collector Rashmi Siddharth Zagade, the companies must submit an annual report detailing the functioning of the committee to the district social welfare officer. The firms that fail to act on complaints lodged by women employees would be fined Rs 50,000 along with revoking the licence or registration, the note stressed.
The requirement to form the committee is applicable to companies with ten or more women employees. These include all kinds of companies, government offices, non-government organisations, business enterprises and all kinds of industries in Chennai district.
The mandate is being implemented under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act), in companies, including software technology companies.
The committee must consist of five members, including three women members. Under the Act, all companies with women employees must set up a complaint box for filing complaints. Complaints regarding sexual harassment can be lodged at www.shebox.nic.in.
"Once the complaints are received, an investigation will be done by the members of the ICC. If less than ten employees or domestic workers are affected, the person can file a petition against the employer/perpetrator directly in the Local Complaint Committee (LCC) functioning in the districts," the note explained.
Further, every organisation has to submit an annual report to the District Social Welfare Officer once a year regarding the complaints and the actions taken by the ICC/LCC.
"If an ICC is not constituted or action is not taken on the basis of the complaint report, licence or registration of the concerned companies will be cancelled. The owner of the company which did not initiate this complaint will be fined Rs 50,000," the note added.