Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
Written By Admin on February 17, 2014 | Monday, February 17, 2014
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition
and Redressal) Act, 2013 came into force with effect from 9th December
2013. The Act seeks to cover all women, irrespective of their age or
employment status and protect them against sexual harassment at all
workplaces both in public and private sector, whether organized or
unorganized. “Sexual harassment at the workplace” is defined in a
comprehensive manner, in keeping with the definition laid down in the
Vishaka judgment, and broadening it further to cover circumstances of
implied or explicit promise or threat to a woman’s employment prospects
or creation of hostile work environment or humiliating treatment, which
can affect her health or safety. Furthermore, the Act goes much further
in defining the ‘workplace’ to include organisations, department,
office, branch unit etc. in the public and private sector, organized and
unorganized, hospitals, nursing homes, educational institutions, sports
institutes, stadiums, sports complex and any place visited by the
employee during the course of employment including the transportation.
For the first time, the Act provides protection to regular/temporary/ad
hoc/daily wage employees, whether for remuneration or not and can also
include volunteers. This covers domestic workers too.
The Act under Section 4 and Section 6 creates a redressal mechanism
in the form of Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) and Local Complaints
Committee (LCC). The Act mandates that the Committee shall complete the
inquiry within a time period of 90 days. On completion of the inquiry,
the report will be sent to the employer or the District Officer, as the
case may be and they are mandated to take action on the report within 60
days. The Act under Section 19 casts a responsibility on every employer
to create an environment which is free from sexual harassment.
Source :PIB
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