The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, the POSH Act, doesn’t hand employers a template. It specifies outcomes a policy must achieve, and leaves the drafting to each organisation. That gap is where most policies go wrong. A document copied from another company’s intranet might satisfy a compliance checklist, but it won’t survive a real inquiry or a court’s scrutiny if the language doesn’t match the Act’s requirements.
This piece breaks down the nine elements a POSH policy in India must cover, along with drafting pointers for each. It’s written for HR teams, Internal Committee (IC) members, and founders building a policy from scratch or auditing an existing one.
1. Statement Of Intent And Zero-Tolerance Commitment
Every POSH policy must open with a clear statement that the organisation does not tolerate sexual harassment in any form. This isn’t decorative. It sets the tone for how the rest of the document, and the workplace, treats complaints.
Drafting Pointers
- State the commitment in plain language, not legal phrasing borrowed from the Act.
- Name the law explicitly: the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.
- Avoid vague phrases like “we value respect” without tying them to a specific obligation under the Act.
2. Definition Of Sexual Harassment
Section 2(n) of the POSH Act defines sexual harassment through five categories: 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. A policy that paraphrases this loosely creates ambiguity exactly where employees need clarity. TPB’s breakdown of what counts as sexual harassment under the POSH Act walks through how courts have interpreted these categories in practice.
Drafting Pointers
| Element | What To Include |
| Statutory categories | Reproduce all five categories from Section 2(n), not a summary |
| Test for harassment | Specify that the deciding factor is whether the conduct is unwelcome to the recipient, not the intent of the person doing it |
| Illustrative examples | Add two or three workplace-specific examples (after-hours messages, comments at offsites) without narrowing the statutory definition |
3. Scope And Applicability
“Workplace” under the POSH Act is interpreted broadly. It covers client sites, transport provided by the employer, remote work setups, and digital communication platforms used for work. A policy that defines workplace narrowly, limiting it to office premises, leaves the organisation exposed when a complaint arises from a WhatsApp group or a client visit.
Drafting Pointers
- List the specific locations and contexts covered: office premises, client sites, employer-provided transport, work-related digital platforms, and off-site events.
- Clarify who is protected: employees, interns, contract staff, and visitors to the workplace.
- State explicitly whether the policy extends protections to all genders, since the POSH Act itself is women-specific, though some Indian companies voluntarily extend gender-neutral coverage.
4. Internal Committee Details
Section 4(2) of the POSH Act fixes the IC’s composition: a minimum of four members, at least half of them women, a Presiding Officer who is a senior woman employee, two internal members, and one external member from an NGO or someone familiar with sexual harassment issues.
The policy must name the current IC members and provide contact details, not just describe the requirement. TPB’s guide to Internal Committee composition and tenure covers eligibility rules in depth.
Drafting Pointers
- List current IC members by name, designation, and contact channel (email or extension).
- Update this section every time the IC composition changes, since a defective IC gives a respondent grounds to challenge the inquiry.
- Cross-reference TPB’s six red flags that signal a non-functional IC when auditing whether the listed committee is active in practice, not just on paper.
5. Complaint Filing Mechanism
A policy that lists only one contact point, often the head of HR, defeats the structural separation the Act requires. Employees should have at least three independent channels to file a complaint, and the policy must state the filing window: within three months of the incident, extendable by another three months at the IC’s discretion.
Drafting Pointers
- Provide at least three channels: a direct IC member, an email address monitored only by the IC, and a written complaint option.
- State the filing timeline and the extension provision clearly.
- Mention the SHe-Box portal as a parallel route for filing, since employees increasingly use it alongside internal channels. TPB’s explainer on the SHe-Box portal covers how it routes complaints to the right IC or Local Committee.
6. Confidentiality Provisions
Section 16 of the POSH Act mandates confidentiality, but most policies don’t spell out what that means operationally. Who has access to the complaint file. What happens during cross-examination. Whether the respondent’s manager gets informed. Specificity here is what builds the trust that makes employees willing to come forward.
Drafting Pointers
- Name exactly who has access to complaint records: IC members, and no one else by default.
- Specify the consequence for breaching confidentiality, since the Act treats this as a separate violation.
- State how identity is protected during the inquiry, including during any cross-examination stage.
7. Inquiry Process And Timelines
The policy must lay out the inquiry as a sequence with fixed timelines. The IC has 90 days to complete the inquiry from the date the complaint is received. The employer must implement IC recommendations within 60 days of receiving them. Both the complainant and the respondent retain the right to appeal within 90 days of the recommendation.
Drafting Pointers
- Present the process as a numbered sequence: complaint received, notice to respondent, evidence and witness statements, inquiry report, employer action, appeal window.
- State all three timelines explicitly: the 90-day inquiry deadline, the 60-day implementation deadline, and the 90-day appeal window.
- Avoid bundling timelines into a single paragraph. A table or numbered list reduces the chance an employee misreads a deadline.
8. Protection Against Retaliation And Interim Relief
The Act allows the IC to recommend interim measures, such as transferring the complainant or respondent, or granting leave to the complainant, while the inquiry is pending. A policy silent on this leaves employees without recourse during what can be a lengthy process. The policy should also state explicitly that retaliation against a complainant or witness is itself a form of misconduct.
Drafting Pointers
- List the interim reliefs available and who can request them.
- State that retaliation, including changes to performance ratings, exclusion from projects, or hostile treatment, is a separate disciplinary matter.
- Specify the channel for reporting retaliation if it occurs during or after an inquiry.
9. False Complaints, Disciplinary Action, And Annual Reporting
The policy needs a clause addressing malicious or false complaints, but the bar must remain stringent. Mere inability to substantiate a complaint is not the same as a malicious filing. A policy that conflates the two risks discouraging genuine complainants. The policy must also commit to the IC filing an annual report under Section 21, and following the Companies (Accounts) Second Amendment Rules, 2025, listed companies must disclose POSH complaint data, including complaints received, disposed of, and pending beyond 90 days, in their Board Reports.
Drafting Pointers
- Define malicious complaint narrowly: a complaint proven to be filed with knowingly false information, not one that simply fails to meet the burden of proof.
- List the range of disciplinary actions available against a respondent found guilty, from a warning to termination.
- State the organisation’s annual reporting obligation and, for listed companies, the Board Report disclosure requirement.
Quick Reference Table
| Policy Element | Statutory Anchor | Common Drafting Gap |
| Statement of intent | General Act objective | Vague language with no obligation attached |
| Definition of harassment | Section 2(n) | Paraphrased loosely instead of reproduced |
| Scope and applicability | Judicial interpretation of “workplace” | Limited to office premises only |
| IC details | Section 4(2) | Generic description without named members |
| Complaint mechanism | Section 9 | Single point of contact |
| Confidentiality | Section 16 | No operational detail on access |
| Inquiry timelines | Sections 11, 13 | Timelines buried in prose |
| Interim relief and retaliation | Section 12 | No mention of retaliation as misconduct |
| False complaints and reporting | Section 14, Section 21 | False complaint clause too broad |
In The End…
A POSH policy is read closely exactly once, usually by someone deciding whether to file a complaint. At that moment, the document needs to answer practical questions: who do I contact, how long will this take, and what happens to me if I come forward. A policy built around the nine elements above answers those questions before they’re asked.
For organisations updating an existing policy, TPB’s complete guide to POSH Act compliance and practice is a useful companion for the broader compliance obligations that sit around the policy document itself, including IC training cadence and the distinction between an Internal Committee and a Local Committee.
FAQs
What must a POSH policy in India include?
A compliant POSH policy must cover nine core elements: a statement of intent, the statutory definition of sexual harassment under Section 2(n), scope and applicability, Internal Committee details, the complaint filing mechanism, confidentiality provisions, inquiry timelines, protection against retaliation, and provisions for false complaints and annual reporting.
Is a POSH policy mandatory for all companies in India?
Yes. Any organisation with 10 or more employees is required under the POSH Act, 2013 to have a written policy and a constituted Internal Committee, regardless of sector or company size beyond that threshold.
Who must be part of the Internal Committee under the POSH Act?
Section 4(2) requires a minimum of four members: a Presiding Officer who is a senior woman employee, two internal members, and one external member from an NGO or someone familiar with sexual harassment issues, with at least half the committee being women.
What is the timeline for completing a POSH inquiry?
The Internal Committee has 90 days to complete the inquiry from the date the complaint is received. The employer then has 60 days to implement the IC’s recommendations, and either party can appeal within 90 days of that recommendation.
Can an employee file a POSH complaint outside their company?
Yes. Employees can use the government’s SHe-Box portal as a parallel filing route, which routes the complaint to the relevant Internal Committee or Local Committee depending on the organisation’s size and structure.
