Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH)
Prevention of Sexual Harassment (PoSH) Training has gained companies’
attention, big or small, due to the recent increase in sexual harassment cases.
Sexual harassment in the organization is a legal offence and cannot be taken
easier by any employer. Organizing PoSH training in the workplace fosters
healthy relationships and equality among employees, ensuring a quality work
environment.
PoSH training- a crucial role in the workplace:
PoSH training helps employees identify and differentiate between appropriate
and inappropriate behaviour in the workplace. Training gives a clear
understanding to employees of which behaviour falls under sexual harassment.
Work-related sexual harassment is one of the major concerns for any
organization today. Even small-sized businesses and family-held companies are
facing such issues. Adopting stringent policies and effective training by
professional HR Training Consultancy are now vital elements in a business. To
overcome these workplace harassment complaints and accusations, strong and
regular training needs to be provided by skilled and experienced HR Services.
Such training educates the employees, mitigates the risk related to legal
liability, and meets legal compliance at the workplace.
What is PoSH training?
Understanding the Act:
Employees must be aware of the fundamental definition of harassment. Most of
the time, employees think that if one person touches another person, it is sexual
harassment. Indeed, this behaviour falls under sexual harassment, but this is not
the only behaviour.
Organizational Culture vs. Social Culture:
Organizations set their values, but one cannot ignore the effects of social culture
on corporate culture. It is observed that employees unconsciously carry social
learning to the workplace. Sometimes, a specific behaviour is acceptable in
society, but it is not acceptable in the workplace.
Legal mandate:
As per section 19(c) Sexual-harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention,
Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013. Sexual harassment workshops should be
conducted for every employee to make them understand the subject of the law.
PoSH talks about the fundamental do’s and don’ts in the workplace. But to
create a diversified workplace, working with individuals to bring a change
during training programs is imperative.
Why is PoSH Training important?
The importance of PoSH training is to make the employees aware of and to
make the consequences of violations in the organization. Training should be
organized for both men and women to understand more about behavioural
acceptance. This helps in maintaining equality in the workplace. In some
instances, women are not aware of the happenings that come under the PoSH
act. People around us are also not aware of the subject of PoSH laws. This is
why PoSH awareness training is primarily important in the organization for the
protection of women’s rights, thus maintaining a high-quality work
environment for success and growth.
The PoSH training is necessary for the employees to be aware of the PoSH act.
The awareness of the training program helps the employees to come out and
report any misconduct in the workplace to ensure safety in the work
environment. Conducting PoSH training sessions for employees must be made
mandatory so they can understand sexual misconduct and what acts constitute
sexual harassment.
Benefits of PoSH training:
• PoSH training ensures prevention, prohibition, and protection against
sexual harassment in the workplace.
• On-time PoSH awareness training saves the company from legal
inaccuracies in legal complexities.
• Reduces incidents and Improves Productivity.
• Helps in maintaining Legal Obligations.
• Boosts Morale and Improves Quality Work Culture.