The District Women and Child Development Office, Government of Maharashtra mandated, by its circular dated March 23, 2017 (“Circular”), that all organizations having 10 or more employees constitute an Internal Committee (IC) under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) and register details of the ICs constituted by them in the prescribed format, on or before July 20, 2019, failing which, a penalty of INR 50,000 would be imposed on the employer. As the deadline for registering the details of the IC is fast approaching, establishments in the state of Maharashtra are advised to do so in the prescribed format prior to July 20, 2019.

The POSH Act has been introduced to combat and redress the issue of workplace sexual harassment. The legislation requires every employer having 10 or more employees (including workers engaged through a contractor) to set up an IC to receive, investigate and redress grievances of workplace sexual harassment in a confidential and time bound manner. The statute prescribes the constitution and quorum for the committee, process and timelines for the inquiry and obligations of the employer and the committee.