POSH Compliance for Indian Workplaces - Built to Work in Practice.

An organization is required to establish an Internal Committee if it employs 10 or more people. This requirement applies regardless of whether employees are scattered across different locations or branches. The act of forming an IC cannot be postponed once the organization crosses the threshold of 10 employees. For smaller organizations with fewer than 10 employees, alternative mechanisms must be put in place to address complaints, such as appointing a Local Complaints Committee or designating an external authority to handle grievances.

An organization with 10 or more employees must establish an Internal Committee. This requirement is mandatory regardless of employee distribution across locations, and cannot be delayed once the threshold is reached.

A replacement must be appointed within 30 days of resignation. Pending complaints continue without interruption, and the remaining IC members proceed with inquiries while maintaining all case documentation and records.

Yes, digital communications like emails and WhatsApp are valid evidence if they are authentic, verified by the original sender, relevant to the complaint, and preserved in original form with dates and timestamps intact.

A manager should listen without bias, document the concern, assure confidentiality, report immediately to the IC, guide the employee to file a formal complaint, and ensure no retaliation occurs while keeping the complainant informed.

Annual compliance includes updating the POSH policy, conducting mandatory awareness training, maintaining an updated IC, performing workplace risk assessment, documenting all complaints, ensuring support services for complainants, monitoring for retaliation, and submitting annual reports to statutory bodies.