Labor Welfare⁴

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) was enacted to provide protection against sexual harassment of women at the workplace and for the prevention and redressal of complaints of sexual harassment and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto. Under the POSH Act, all the establishments are covered. For establishments employing less than 10 employees a Local Committee has to be constituted to look into the sexual harassment complaints under the POSH Act and thereby investigate the matter and recommend measures to resolve it. Likewise, establishments having 10 or more employees, have to constitute an Internal Committee, which shall look into the matter of sexual harassment under the POSH Act. Constitution of such committees shall be as per the prescription under the POSH Act. All establishments are required to comply with the mandates under the POSH Act to avoid attracting any penalties for non-compliances prescribed thereto. In line with recent regulatory developments under the POSH Act, registration of all private sector organizations in India has been mandated through a series of State and District-level directions, reinforced by the Supreme Court’s continuing monitoring of POSH Act compliance on the SHe-Box portal. The SHe-Box (Sexual Harassment Electronic-Box) is a centralized online complaint management system administered by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. It provides a single-window mechanism for women to lodge complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace across both the organized and unorganized sectors, and across public and private establishments, with facilities for online submission as well as real-time tracking of complaint status.

The Supreme Court is separately monitoring nationwide compliance with the POSH Act in Aureliano Fernandes v. State of Goa, and by orders dated 3 December2024, 12 August 2025 and 7 January 2026 has directed district-wise surveys of establishments, the appointment of District Officers and nodal officers, and the onboarding of Internal Committee details onto the SHe-Box portal. In Dr. Sohail Malik v. Union of India (decided 10 December 2025), the Supreme Court has further held that an aggrieved woman may approach the Internal Committee of her own workplace even where the respondent is employed with a different organization.

Enforcement activity has intensified markedly in 2026. In April and May 2026, allegations of sustained sexual harassment at the Nashik (Maharashtra) BPO unit of a leading IT services company led to multiple FIRs, a Special Investigation Team probe and arrests, including of a senior manager for allegedly failing to act upon a verbal complaint. The National Commission for Women, taking suo motu cognizance, conducted a fact-finding inquiry on 18 April 19 April 2026 and, in its report submitted to the Maharashtra Government on 8 May 2026, found material non-compliance with the POSH Act, including the maintenance of a single Internal Committee shared between two offices in different cities, and directed the constitution of separate Internal Committees at each unit employing 10 or more employees. The episode underscores that an Internal Committee must be constituted at every workplace; offices and administrative units at different locations each require their own committee, and managerial inaction upon a complaint, however informally made, can attract personal criminal exposure in addition to penalties under the POSH Act.

In the wake of these events, the Maharashtra Women and Child Development Department has, by circular dated 14 May 14, 2026 issued under Section 25 of the POSH Act, authorized 12 categories of officials, including District Officers and officers of the Women and Child Development Department, to inspect government, semi-government and private establishments for POSH compliance against a standardized 31 point checklist covering, inter alia, Internal Committee constitution, complaint-handling timelines, awareness and training, annual reporting, SHe-Box onboarding and the extension of safeguards to remote and virtual work environments. Employers with establishments in Maharashtra should accordingly anticipate inspection-led enforcement and maintain demonstrable, documented compliance.

• 4.Acts and Rules, Chief Labor Commissioner, https://clc.gov.in/clc/acts-rules/acts-and-rules