What is POSH at the Workplace? Meaning and Example

What POSH covers

Sexual harassment includes unwelcome physical contact or advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, and any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. It can happen in person, by phone, in chat groups or on email. POSH policies read the workplace broadly: offices, factories, client sites, work travel, company transport and work events. The law protects women at the workplace, and many companies extend their own policy to cover all genders. See also the rights of women employees.

What employers put in place

Every workplace with 10 or more employees must constitute an Internal Committee to receive and inquire into complaints. The committee is the core, but it only works inside a wider framework that employees know about and trust. A working framework usually has:

A written POSH policy, shared at induction and displayed at every location
The Internal Committee's names and contact details on notice boards
Awareness sessions for all staff, and deeper training for committee members and managers
A confidential way to file a complaint in writing or by email
Protection from retaliation for complainants and witnesses
Confidential records of complaints and outcomes

How a complaint is handled

A woman who faces harassment gives a written complaint to the Internal Committee, which can help her put it in writing. If she asks, the committee can first try conciliation, but money cannot be the basis of a settlement. Otherwise it holds an inquiry: it hears both sides and witnesses, reviews evidence and gives each side a fair chance to respond. It then gives its findings and recommendations to the employer, who acts on them under the company's service rules. The Act sets time limits for each stage, and the committee should follow them closely.

Example: In February 2026, a junior designer at a 120-person Ahmedabad architecture firm complained that a senior associate kept sending her sexually coloured messages after work. She emailed the Internal Committee, whose details were on the office notice board. The committee, headed by senior architect Kavita Joshi, heard both sides, reviewed the chats and found the complaint proved. On its recommendation, the firm issued a written warning, moved the associate to another studio and withheld his next increment.

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Frequently asked questions

Is POSH applicable to companies with less than 10 employees?

The duty to constitute an Internal Committee applies to workplaces with 10 or more employees. Women working in smaller workplaces are still protected by the Act: their complaints go to the Local Committee set up at the district level. Smaller employers should still have a clear policy and a safe way for women to raise concerns.

Does POSH apply to men?

The POSH Act protects women, so a formal complaint under the Act can be made only by a woman. Many Indian companies go further and write gender-neutral anti-harassment policies that let anyone raise a complaint, often handled by the same committee under the company's own rules. Check your company's policy to see how it treats such complaints.

What is a POSH policy?

A POSH policy is the employer's written policy on preventing and handling sexual harassment at work. It defines harassment with examples, names the Internal Committee and how to reach it, explains how complaints are filed and inquired into, promises confidentiality and protection from retaliation, and sets out consequences for proven harassment. See our HR policy templates.