Prevention Of Sexual Harrasment
Objective:
The Company, as a responsible corporate citizen, has adopted a policy of Zero Tolerance to sexual harassment at the workplace. In doing so, it is committed to creating a healthy working environment that enables employees to work with dignity and equal opportunity, without fear of prejudice, gender bias, and sexual harassment, whether physical, verbal, or psychological. This is in accordance with the Supreme Court of India’s directive to corporate entities to lay down guidelines and make available a redressal forum for grievances related to sexual harassment.
Scope:
This Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Policy (“this Policy”) is effective as of 27th September 2021 and supersedes any previous policy or practice on employee harassment. This policy will cover all employees who are required to comply with this policy.
The Company’s workplace referred to in this policy (the “Workplace”) is not only restricted to the Company’s office premises in India but may also include (in connection with the Company’s operations in India) - vehicles taken by Employees for the purpose of work (cabs, trains, buses, airplanes, etc.), third party premises where attendance is required for your job, off-site meetings and office external venues or any other forum which may be defined as ‘extended workplace’ by the management and the Internal Committee. The workplace also includes the extended workplace during work from home and may also include cyberspace and social media as well as electronic communication between persons covered under this policy which may have work-related consequences.
Guiding Principles:
The Company expects employees at all levels to behave professionally, to exercise good judgment in work-related relationships, whether with fellow employees, business colleagues, or members of the public with whom they come into contact in the course of official duties, and to take appropriate measures to prevent Sexual Harassment.
At the Company, Sexual Harassment in any form, either at the workplace or elsewhere, if involving Employees is will be considered serious misconduct and, therefore, punishable.
Definitions:
a) Aggrieved Woman: In relation to a workplace, a woman of any age, whether employed or not, who alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment by the Respondent.
b) Company: Means ahoy cestovani ventures pvt ltd, its subsidiaries, and group companies.
c) Complaint: Means and includes any reporting or escalation of an act of inappropriate behavior or sexual harassment, made by any Employee to the concerned Complaint Redressal Committee, stating therein his/her/their name, the nature of the complaint, the name of the person against whom the complaint is made, and seeking redressal of the matter.
d) Complainant: Means and includes any aggrieved Employee who has faced any situation of sexual harassment and includes an Aggrieved Woman.
e) Respondent: Means and includes the Employee against whom a complaint is received by the Complaint Committee for investigation/redressal.
f) Employee: Means and includes any person on the rolls of the Company, whether temporary and/or permanent, whether working for compensation or not, and includes the following persons:
Trainee, which includes a Company trainee, management trainee, or any other person associated with the Company as a trainee or intern.
Persons on deputation.
Persons on contract.
Vendors.
Persons working on a part-time basis.
Persons working as consultants.
Any person who is in the premises of the Company for any reason and experiences any act that may be deemed as “sexual harassment.”
Any other person as decided by the Management from time to time.
h) INTERIM RELIEF:
The reliefs provided to the Aggrieved Woman upon her written request, by the Employer, upon request of the Internal Committee of the Company in accordance with the Act. These may include, but not be limited to, transfers, grant of paid leave, change of reporting, or any other means to prevent retaliation and/or further contact with the respondent during the pendency of the Inquiry.
i) SEXUAL HARASSMENT includes any one or more of the following unwelcome acts or behaviour (whether directly or by implication), namely:
a. Physical contact or advances; or
b. A demand or request for sexual favours;
c. Making sexually coloured remarks;
d. Showing pornography; or
e. Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.
Provided, where any of the following circumstances (among other circumstances) occur or are present in relation to or connected with any act or behaviour of Sexual Harassment, the same will also be considered sexual harassment. The circumstances are:
a. Implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in employment;
b. Implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment in employment;
c. Implied or explicit threat about present or future employment;
d. Interference with work or creating an intimidating, offensive, or hostile work environment; or
e. Humiliating treatment most likely to affect the safety or health (physical or mental) of the person.
Provided further, the following do not amount to sexual harassment:
a. If the interactions between the individuals are consensual, welcome, appreciated and/or reciprocated, and within professional norms and the Code of Conduct, it does not amount to Sexual Harassment. Any welcome behaviour that is based on mutual attraction, respect, and/or friendship is not sexual harassment.
b. However, the Company requires that any romantic relationships between co-workers, who are in any manner in senior/subordinate roles in the workplace, should be voluntarily disclosed at the first possible instance to their concerned HR representative. The onus of such disclosure shall lie upon the person who is professionally senior amongst the persons in the relationship. All such disclosures shall be held in the strictest of confidence and shall only be disclosed to the Internal Committee for the purposes of an ongoing inquiry, if and when called upon.
In the absence of disclosure, all such relationships may be considered as a conflict of interest. Where a complaint is made alleging that the relationship was entered into under duress, the same may be presumed.
Policy on Sexual Harassment
▪ This policy is formulated bearing in mind interalia the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, Redressal) Act 2013 (“Act” or “subject Act”) and its statutory stipulations. The procedures set out herein are intended to constitute the service rules, which, for the purposes of Section 11 of the Act, are akin to the service rules applicable to all inquiry proceedings under the Act. (“Service Rules”).
▪ All complaints made by an Aggrieved Woman to the Internal Committee (s), in the manner provided herein, and pursuant to the Act shall be addressed in accordance with this policy and the applicable law. In the event that any person not protected by the Act wishes to complain against any form of harassment or sexual harassment, they may complain in accordance with this policy but without reference to the Act.
▪ This policy shall provide a fair and equitable opportunity for the Complainant and the Respondent to place on record their statement of cause and explanation, respectively. This policy is based on the applicable law, the Act, and the principles of natural justice and shall at all times uphold human dignity.
▪ This policy acknowledges that certain behavior, such as conditioning promotions, awards, training, or other job benefits upon acceptance of unwelcome actions of a sexual nature, are inappropriate.
▪ A victim of Sexual Harassment can be a man or a woman or a member of the third sex and may or may not be of the same sex as the harasser. The harasser can be a person or any sex supervisor, co-worker, other Department employee, or a non-employee who has a business relationship with the Complainant.
▪ Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical/non-physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:
o Any unwelcome sexual advances, requests, or demand for sexual favors, made either explicitly or implicitly, in return for employment, promotion, examination, or evaluation of a person towards any Company activity;
o Any unwelcome conduct which unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or abusive work environment;
o Unwelcome sexual advances involving verbal, non-verbal, or physical conduct such as sexually colored remarks, jokes, letters, phone calls, email, gestures, showing of pornography, lurid stares, physical contact or molestation, stalking, sounds, display of pictures, signs, verbal or non-verbal communication which offends the individual’s sensibilities and affects their performance;
o Eve teasing, innuendos and taunts, physical confinement against one’s will which is likely to intrude upon one’s privacy;
o Act or conduct by a person in authority which makes the workplace environment hostile or intimidating for an employee;
o Conduct of such an act at the workplace or outside in relation to an employee of the Company, or vice versa during the course of employment; and any unwelcome gesture by an employee having sexual overtones;
o Giving gifts or leaving objects that are sexually suggestive;
o Off-duty, unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature that affects the work environment.
▪ A quorum of 03 (three) members is required to be present for the proceedings to take place. The quorum shall include the Chairperson, at least two members, one of whom shall be the external member.
▪ Every administrative unit/ office of the Company that has more than (10) ten employees shall have an IC.
▪ An IC shall be set up by passing a Section 4 Order in terms of the subject Act.
▪ The details of the current IC have been provided in Annexure I.
Reporting Sexual Harassment
All employees of the Organization have a responsibility to prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment in the workplace. Management and employees shall create and maintain a working environment in which sexual harassment is unacceptable. They shall ensure that their conduct does not cause offense to others, and they shall discourage unacceptable behaviour on the part of others.
Any employee who is the recipient of any unwelcome sexual behaviour as described by this policy or knows of the occurrence of such harassment to anyone else is expected to report the same at the earliest.
A Complaint must be submitted in writing to posh@atomberg.com or to any member of the Internal Committee (refer Annexure: A). The Complaint must be within 3 months of the date of the occurrence of an act of Sexual Harassment. In cases of a series of incidents over a period of time – within 3 months of the date of the latest occurrence of an act of Sexual Harassment.
In case the Employee communicates verbally to his/her Team Manager, HR Manager, or any other employee about any incident/s, they are encouraged to forward the Complaint in writing to the Complaints Committee or email to [iahoyconsulting.in@gmail.com.
In case of physical incapacity, the Complaint may be filed by her relative/friend/co-worker/any person who has the knowledge of the incident with the consent of her relative or friend.
In case of mental incapacity, the relative/friend/qualified psychiatrist or psychologist/any person who has the knowledge of the incident with the consent of her relative or friend can file the Complaint.
Anonymous complaints are discouraged by the Complaints Committee as details of people involved are essential to the formal investigation process compliant with subject Law. The IC or other Complaint Committee may, in its discretion, conduct fact-finding exercises to ascertain the identity of the Complainant upon receiving anonymous complaints.
Inquiry process
▪ Any employee who feels he or she is being sexually harassed directly or indirectly may submit a complaint of the alleged incident to any member of the Committee in writing with his/her name, employment status (as the case may be), and signature within 10 (ten) working days of the occurrence of the incident.
▪ The procedure enumerated below is a part of the Service Rules of the Company and shall supersede any other rules of similar nature except were expressly made applicable. Any matter not directly expressed in this policy shall fall within the discretion of the management to provide for. The procedure below to handle complaints of Sexual Harassment will be followed by the Internal Committee as far as is practicable, depending on the facts and circumstances of each Inquiry.
Atomberg Technologies Pvt Ltd
3rd Floor, Tower B, 247 Embassy Park, LBS Marg, Vikhroli West, Mumbai,
Maharashtra, India, 400083
▪ The IC will contact the Complainant within 05 (five) working days of the receipt of the Complaint, but no later than a week in any case.
▪ At the first meeting, the Committee members shall hear the Aggrieved Woman and record her testimony under oath. The Aggrieved Woman can also submit any material in evidence with documentary proof, oral or written material, etc., to substantiate her Complaint.
▪ The Internal Committee may, before initiating an inquiry and at the request of the Aggrieved Woman, take steps to settle the matter between her and the respondent through conciliation provided that no monetary settlement shall be made as a basis of conciliation.
▪ Where conciliation has been opted for, the Internal Committee shall provide the copies of the settlement as recorded to the Aggrieved Woman and the Respondent & no inquiry shall be conducted by the Internal Committee.
▪ If conciliation is not successful or where conciliation is not in the best interests of the Company, as solely determined by the Internal Committee, then the Internal Committee will proceed with an inquiry. The inquiry shall be conducted in accordance with this policy and the process provided herein.
▪ Upon initiation of Inquiry, the Complaint received shall be shared with the respondent, who shall be given 5 working days to respond to the same their explanation, names of witnesses, and evidence, if any. The notice of Inquiry may include the following:
o Context of the alleged acts of Sexual Harassment
o Instruction to stop the alleged act of Sexual Harassment immediately
o Instruction to not contact the Aggrieved Woman directly or indirectly until notified otherwise
o A formal request for an explanation from him/her regarding the alleged acts of Sexual Harassment.
▪ The Inquiry will be done promptly, thoroughly, and with utmost confidentiality as practically possible.
▪ The Aggrieved Woman will be offered adequate Interim Relief including but not limited to transfer, change of reporting, leave with pay and/or work from home during the inquiry period. The IC may recommend the same interim measures for the respondent if, at its discretion, it finds appropriate. Meetings may be conducted through video conference, call, or in person. Rules of natural justice shall be followed by the Internal Committee, however, the Parties shall not be allowed to be represented by a legal practitioner in the proceedings.
▪ Examination, cross-examination, and re-examination of the parties and witnesses where applicable, through written questions and the Internal Committee, shall make best efforts, keeping in mind the sensitivities of the case and parties involved to avoid adversarial style of proceedings which may cause hostility between colleagues and impact the work environment. Confidentiality shall be maintained at all times.
▪ All submissions, whether verbal or in writing, made to the Internal Committee will be treated to be made on oath. The inquiry process and end result will be documented in writing, and the findings report shall be shared with the parties for their objections, if any. Such sharing may happen via email or otherwise. If no objections are received within 10 days of the issue of the findings report, the recommendations of the Internal Committee shall become final and shall be implemented.
Redressal
If a Respondent has been found by the Internal Committee to have committed act(s) of Sexual Harassment against an Aggrieved Woman, then the Internal Committee shall recommend disciplinary action in consideration of the nature and extent of injury caused to the Aggrieved Woman, prior complaints and/or repetition of acts of Sexual Harassment and the impact of the offence on the company profile as a whole.
▪ The position of the respondent and the criticality of their position in the Company shall not be any hindrance to the disciplinary action.
▪ The disciplinary action for Sexual Harassment shall be actions taken for misconduct and shall include but not be limited to,
a. Warning
b. Counselling
b. Written apology from offender
c. Bond of good behaviour
d. Debarring from supervisory duties
e. Denial of employee benefits like increments/promotion/salary correction etc.
f. Cancellation of specific work Assignment
g. Suspension
h. Dismissal
i. Other actions/outcomes expressly provided for in the subject Act or as remedies for misconduct under the policies of the Company.
▪ Monetary compensation to Aggrieved Woman may also be recommended subject to the provisions of the Act.
▪ Such recommendations shall form part of the inquiry report of the Internal Committee and shall be acted upon by the Company within sixty days of receipt. A report of the resulting action taken shall be provided by the Employer to the Internal Committee.
▪ In case of a decision that the Sexual Harassment committed by the respondent cannot not be substantiated, the Internal Committee may still take actions that are preventive in nature and designed to ensure that there is no hostility or continuing concerns between the parties. Workshops and trainings may be part of such preventive actions.
▪ In case of a prima facie finding in the Inquiry that the Complaint may have be filed with malicious intent, the Internal Committee may recommend action against the person making the Complaint. However, no such recommendations may be made without such malicious intent being established through a separate and independent inquiry. Mere inability to substantiate a complaint does not indicate a malicious intention.
▪ For cases of Sexual Harassment before other Complaint Committees: In the event the Complaint does not fall under the purview of Sexual Harassment or the Complaint does not
Confidentiality
The Company will exercise the utmost care in ensuring the confidentiality of the process, protection of the victim/harassed, and treat the entire process with dignity & merit it deserves. Breaches of confidentiality that are found to have taken place, by any person who is part of the inquiry process may result in the same disciplinary actions for misconduct as stated above.
General Guidelines
All employees at the Company have a responsibility in contributing to a mature and respectful work environment. With this view, the Company shall undertake all reasonable measures to educate its employees on the provisions of the Act and organise regular training and sensitisation sessions about the policy among its employees. The coverage and frequency of these sessions will be as decided by the Company.
▪ All employees are personally responsible for their actions and must ensure that their behaviour does not constitute sexual harassment, whether it happens deliberately or otherwise.
▪ The Company reserves the right to modify and amend the provisions of this policy, so as to comply with applicable legal requirements, internal policies, or with a view to fine tune or alter the provisions of this policy to the extent deemed necessary by the Company from time to time.
▪ This policy shall be applicable and will be in addition to and not in derogation of the provisions of any other policy and service rules for the time being in force within the Organization and applicable law.
▪ Through various training and awareness sessions, the Company will make employees aware of their roles and responsibilities in the implementation of this policy.
Protection Against Retaliation
▪ Retaliation is a serious violation of this policy, and any person found to have retaliated against an individual for reporting harassment will be subject to appropriate disciplinary procedures.
▪ If anyone feels that he/she is experiencing retaliation of the nature of intimidation, pressure to withdraw the case or threats for reporting, testifying, or otherwise participating in the proceedings, should report the matter to the Internal Committee.
▪ As with complaints of harassment, this too will be treated as misconduct, and the Company will take appropriate action to prevent/rectify the retaliation.
▪ Retaliation will be treated as seriously as an alleged case of harassment and will apply even if the original Complaint is not proven.
▪ If the Internal Committee has reasons to believe that the Aggrieved Woman or the witnesses can be subject to retaliation, then it can recommend a change of reporting from the respondent, transfer of either party, or similar non-retaliatory measures to the Company.