Prevention Of Sexual Harassment POSH Policy¶

Version history¶

Version Number	Date	Description	Created By	Approved By
0.1	23/Jan/2024	Initial Copy	[Name]
0.2	18/Jun/2024	Approved	[Name]	[Name]
0.3	28/Aug/2026	Knowledge kernel, AI/agents, control alignment	Knowledge steward	[Name]

Objectives¶

Our Company is committed to providing a positive work experience for all our employees which includes a zero-tolerance approach to Sexual Harassment.

This Policy outlines the organization’s expectations with respect to behavior exhibited by our employees, vendors, consultants, trainees, and visitors and outlines procedures for filing complaints, investigating sexual harassment claims, and issuing appropriate disciplinary measures in the case of violations. The policy is intended to protect employees from inappropriate sexual behavior which may include, but is not limited to, violence, grooming, misconduct, and harassment.

Scope¶

This policy applies to all our employees at all locations and is deemed to be incorporated in the service conditions of all employees, vendors, consultants, trainees, and visitors. All workers, at every level, will be subject to discipline for any violation of this policy. The policy will be applicable both on and off company premises and during or outside of work hours. Local country laws will take precedence over this policy, in other geographies, if applicable.

Requirement¶

6.

7.

Important Definitions¶

Employee – Includes a person carrying out any work on behalf of the Company and may have been hired as Permanent, Temporary, Contracted or on Retainership basis, Part-time basis etc. either directly or indirectly or through any vendor organization.

Sexual Harassment – Harassment of an employee consisting of any unwelcome sexually determined behavior, whether directly or indirectly, by any male/female in charge of the management or a male/female co-employee either individually or in association with other persons to exploit the sexuality of a co-employee to harass him/her in a manner which prevents or impairs his/her full utilization of full benefits, facilities or opportunities or any other behavior which is generally considered to be derogatory.

Respondent – A person against whom a complaint of sexual harassment has been made by a victim.

References - Code of Conduct Policy

Roles and Responsibilities¶

Responsibilities of Individual: It is the responsibility of all individuals to respect the rights of others and to never encourage harassment. It can be done by:

Refusing to participate in any activity which constitutes harassment.
Supporting the person to reject unwelcome behavior.
Acting as a witness if the person being harassed decides to lodge a complaint.

All are encouraged to advise others of behavior that is unwelcome. Often, some behaviors are not intentional. While this does not make it acceptable, it does give the person behaving inappropriately, the opportunity to modify or stop their offensive behavior.

Responsibilities of Managers: All managers must ensure that nobody is subjected to harassment and there is equal treatment. They must also ensure that all employees know and understand that harassment will not be tolerated; that complaints will be taken seriously; and that the complainant, respondent/s, or witnesses are not victimized in any way.

Policy guidelines¶

Sexual Harassment shall include but not limit to:

Physical contact & sexual advances.
Demand or request for sexual favors.
Sexually colored remarks.
Showing pornography.
Any other unwelcome physical, verbal, or non-verbal or written conduct of a sexual nature.

Key Elements of workplace sexual harassment

Very often situations that start off innocently end up in inappropriate and unprofessional behavior.
It is important to remember that workplace sexual harassment is sexual, unwelcome and the experience is subjective.
It is the impact and not the intent that matters and it always occurs in a matrix of power.
It is possible that a person may experience a single instance of sexual harassment or a series of incidents over a period.
It is important also to remember that each case is unique and should be examined in its own context and according to the surrounding circumstances.
To enable the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace, it is critical to recognize and differentiate between welcome and unwelcome sexual behavior.
Listed are some examples of how “unwelcome” and “welcome” behavior is experienced.

Impact of inappropriate behavior:

The impact of sexual harassment at the workplace is far-reaching and is an injury to the equal right of an individual. Not only does it impact them, but it also has a direct bearing on workplace productivity as well as the development of society. Below is a list of select examples of such negative impacts.

Professional	Personal
Decreased work performance	Depression
Increased absenteeism, loss of pay	Anxiety, panic attacks
Loss of promotional opportunities	Traumatic stress
Retaliation from the respondent, or colleagues/ friends of the respondent	Sleeplessness
Subjected to gossip and scrutiny at work	Shame, guilt, self-blame
Being objectified	Difficulty in concentrating
Becoming publicly sexualized	Headaches
Defamation	Fatigue, loss of motivation
Being ostracized	Personal Difficulties with time
Having to relocate	Eating disorders (weight loss or gain)
Job and career consequences	Feeling betrayed and/or violated
Weakened support network	Feeling angry or violent towards the respondent
	Feeling powerless
	Loss of confidence and self-esteem
	Overall loss of trust in people
	Problems with intimacy
	Withdrawal and isolation

Examples of behaviors and scenarios that constitute sexual harassment:

Below are examples of behavior that may or may not constitute workplace sexual harassment in isolation. At the same time, it is important to remember that often, such behavior occurs in clusters. Distinguishing between these different possibilities is not an easy task and requires essential training and skill-building.

Some examples of behavior that constitute sexual harassment at the workplace:

Making sexually suggestive remarks or innuendos.
Serious or repeated offensive remarks, such as teasing related to a person’s body or appearance.
Offensive comments or jokes.
Inappropriate questions, suggestions, or remarks about a person’s sex life.
Displaying sexist or other offensive pictures, posters, MMS, SMS, WhatsApp, or e-mails.
Intimidation, threats, and extortion around sexual favors.
Threats, intimidation, or retaliation against an employee who speaks up about unwelcome behavior with sexual overtones.
Unwelcome social invitations, with sexual overtones commonly understood as flirting.
Unwelcome sexual advances which may or may not be accompanied by promises or threats, explicit or implicit.
Physical contact such as touching or pinching.
Caressing, kissing, or fondling someone against their will (could be considered assault).
Invasion of personal space (getting too close for no reason, brushing against or cornering someone).
Persistently asking someone out, despite being turned down.
Stalking an individual.
Abuse of authority or power to threaten a person’s job or undermine their performance against sexual favors.
Falsely accusing and undermining a person behind closed doors for sexual favors.
Controlling a person’s reputation by rumourmongering about their private life.

Some examples of behavior that may indicate underlying workplace sexual harassment and merit inquiry:

Criticizing, insulting, blaming, reprimanding, or condemning an employee in public.
Exclusion from group activities or assignments without a valid reason.
Statements damaging a person’s reputation or career.
Removing areas of responsibility, unjustifiably.
Inappropriately giving too little or too much work.
Constantly overruling authority without just cause.
Unjustifiably monitoring everything that is done.
Blaming an individual constantly for errors without just cause.
Repeatedly singling out an employee by assigning her/him/them with demeaning and belittling jobs that are not part of his/her/their regular duties.
Insults or humiliations, repeated attempts to exclude or isolate a person.
Systematically interfering with normal work conditions, sabotaging places, or instruments of work.
Humiliating a person in front of colleagues, engaging in smear campaigns.
Arbitrarily taking disciplinary action against an employee.
Controlling the person by withholding resources (time, budget, autonomy, and training) necessary to succeed.

Some examples of workplace behaviors that may not constitute sexual harassment:

Following up on work absences.
Requiring performance to job standards.
The normal exercise of management rights.
Work-related stress e.g., meeting deadlines or quality standards.
Conditions of work.
Constructive feedback about the work mistake and not the person.

Forms of workplace Sexual Harassment:

Workplace sexual harassment refers to two common forms of inappropriate behavior:

Quid Pro Quo (literally ‘this for that’)
Implied or explicit promise of preferential/detrimental treatment in employment
Implied or express threat about his/her/their present or future employment status
Hostile Work Environment
Creating a hostile, intimidating, or offensive work environment
Humiliating treatment likely to affect his/her/their health or safety.

Grievance Mechanism¶

Procedure to register complaints: A complaint shall be submitted in writing to contact@tecciance.lk or to any member of the Internal Committee mentioned herein within 3 months of occurrence of an act of Sexual Harassment. If the respondent is the direct supervisor of the complainant, or person influencing the career growth of the complainant, the reporting structure will be changed until the enquiry is completed.

Internal Complaints Committee¶

To prevent instances of Sexual Harassment and to receive and effectively deal with complaints pertaining to the same, an "Internal Complaints Committee" is constituted at each location. All details pertaining to the committee will be informed to all the employees at the location (workplace).

The committee at each location will comprise of:

A Presiding Officer: A woman employed at a senior level in the organization or workplace.
A minimum of two members are chosen from the employees, who are committed to having legal knowledge.
One external member who is familiar with issues related to Sexual Harassment.
At least half the members of the committee will be women.

The committee is responsible for:

Receiving complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace.
Initiating and conducting an inquiry as per the established procedure.
Submitting findings and recommendations of inquiries.
Coordinating with the employer in implementing appropriate action.
Maintaining strict confidentiality throughout the process as per established guidelines.
Submitting annual reports in the prescribed format.

Each complaint of Sexual Harassment shall be dealt with utmost confidentiality and urgency by an Internal committee consisting of:

Presiding Officer: one member from the management, Female
Member - HR Department
External Member – Legal Representative, Female
Member – Senior Employee, Male
Within three working days, the Internal committee shall commence an Official Internal Enquiry by:
By informing the said complaint to the respondent.
By instructing to stop the alleged act of Sexual Harassment immediately.
By informing not to reach out to the complainant directly or indirectly.
By immediately asking him/her for an explanation for the same.
Within five working days from the receipt of the original complaint, the designated person shall respond in writing to the complainant informing him/her about the initial steps taken by the committee to stop the alleged act(s).
Within 15 days from receipt of the original complaint, the Internal Committee shall record and communicate in writing to the Complainant and the Respondent, its prima facie findings, after giving the concerned parties a fair and due opportunity to represent themselves and upon conducting fact finding, truth verification and counselling sessions with the persons involved in alleged act(s).
A complaint will be closed no later than one month from receipt of original complaint by recording the decisions of the Internal Committee, accordingly, informing the complainant and the Respondent of the same.
All employees are duty bound to assist in investigative steps, every employee’s wholehearted participation will be mandatory in this regard. Whistle blowers shall be protected from exposure, retaliation, or hostility.
Within two working days from receipt of primary findings or the charges, if the Complainant or the Respondent is dissatisfied with the decision of the Internal Committee, she/he may appeal specifying the reasons in writing to the Managing Director. Within five working days from the receipt, the appeal shall be finally disposed of by written communication to the said party. The decision of the Managing Director shall be final and cannot be appealed.

Lodging a Compliant¶

The Complainant needs to submit a detailed complaint, along with any documentary evidence available or names of witnesses, to any of the committee members at the workplace.

The complaint must be lodged within 3 months from the date of incident/last incident. The Committee can extend the timeline by another 3 months for reasons recorded in writing, if satisfied that the reasons prevented the lodging of the complaint.

Provided when such a complaint cannot be made in writing, the Presiding Officer or any Member of the Internal Complaint Committee shall render all reasonable assistance to the women for making the complaint in writing.

If the aggrieved woman is unable to lodge the complaint in account of her incapacity, the following may do so on her behalf, with her written consent.

Legal heir, relative or friend.
Co-worker.
Any person having knowledge of the incident.

If the initial complaint is made to a person other than a committee member, upon receiving such a complaint, it will be the responsibility of the complaint receiver to report the same to the Committee immediately.

Wherever possible we will ensure that all the complaints of harassment are dealt with speedily, discreetly, and as close as possible to the point of origin.

Receiving a Complaint¶

Dealing with incidents of harassment is not like any other type of dispute. Complainants may be embarrassed and distressed, and it requires tact and discretion while receiving the complaint.

The following points are to be kept in mind by the receiver of the complaint:

The complaint is listened to thoroughly and the complainant is informed that the Company takes these concerns seriously. The complainant is informed that these concerns will be reported to the appropriate Committee and a follow-up will be done speedily.
Situations are not pre-judged. Written notes are taken while listening to the person. Complainant is allowed to bring another person to the meeting if they wish. When taking accurate notes, complainant’s own words, where possible, are used. A clear description of the incident in simple and direct terms is prepared and details are confirmed with the complainant.
All notes are kept strictly confidential. The complainant’s agreement is taken to allow proceedings with the matter, which involves a formal investigation.
The Complainant is advised that although the process is confidential, the respondent needs to be informed and any witnesses and persons directly involved in the complaint process will also learn of the Complainant’s identity.
Care is taken to prevent any disadvantage to or victimization of either the Complainant or the Respondent.

Redressal¶

An amicable resolution of the complaint is possible only with the written consent of the Complainant.

Within 24 hours of closing the case file, the Internal Committee shall present the same to and inform its decision to the Managing Director.

In case of decision establishing the offence of Sexual Harassment of the Complainant, within 3 working days of file submission, the Internal Committee shall recommend Disciplinary Action against the Offender considering the nature and extent of injury caused to the Complainant, prior complaints, or repetition of offence etc. and the impact of the offence on the Company profile as a whole.

The position of the offender and the criticality of the position occupied by the offender shall not be any hindrance to the Disciplinary Action taken against the offender.

The Disciplinary Action that shall be commensurate with the nature of the gravity of the offence, shall include but will not be limited to,

Warning
Written apology from offender
Bond of good behavior
Transfer - Debarring from supervisory duties.
Denial of employee benefits like increments/promotion/salary correction etc.
Cancellation of specific work assignment
Suspension
Dismissal

Annual report summarizing complaints and Redressal of Sexual Harassment shall be prepared by the HR member. The said report as well as all documents regarding Sexual Harassment complaints shall be in the custody of HR department and will be termed as ‘Strictly Confidential.’

Confidentiality¶

The identity of the Complainant, Respondent, Witnesses, Statements, and other Evidence obtained during the inquiry process, recommendations of the Committees, action taken by the employer is considered as confidential materials, and not published or made known to public or media.

Any person contravening the confidentiality clauses is subject to disciplinary action as prescribed in the act.

The company understands that it is difficult for the victim to come forward with a complaint of Sexual Harassment and recognizes the victim’s interest in keeping the matter confidential. To protect the interests of the victim, the accused person and others who may report incidents of Sexual Harassment, confidentiality will be maintained throughout any investigatory process to the extent practicable and appropriate under the circumstances.

Responsibility regarding Sexual Harassment¶

All employees, volunteers, stakeholders, and associates of the company have a personal responsibility to ensure that their behavior is not contrary to this policy. This policy is deemed to be a part of the terms of employment of every employee. All employees are encouraged to reinforce the maintenance of a work environment free from Sexual Harassment.

Review¶

This document will be updated annually and when meaningful change happens to the relevant areas covered.

Exceptions¶

Any deviation from the policy will be strictly a management call, when and where required. Such deviations can be considered as precedence and not a reference for future situations. Also, each variance will be one of its kind.