Use this self-assessment to review POSH Act and Rules requirements alongside recommended governance controls. Confirm fact-specific applicability, current filing requirements and any related criminal-law references against official sources and qualified advice.
Who this checklist is for
Checklist content
How to use this checklist
Review each item against your organisation’s current position. “Statutory check” identifies a requirement grounded in the POSH Act; “Rules check” identifies a requirement grounded in the applicable Rules; “Related-law check” identifies an obligation from another applicable legal framework; and “Recommended control” identifies a governance practice, not a universal statutory requirement. Verify organisation-specific applicability where needed.
Checklist
Applicability & Organisational Scope
- Recommended control: document the relevant workplaces, establishments, workforce structure, employer identity and locations for fact-specific review
- Statutory check: assess the Internal Committee duty under Section 4 for each relevant workplace
- Statutory check: identify the Section 6 Local Committee route where an Internal Committee has not been constituted because the establishment has fewer than ten workers, or where the complaint is against the employer
- Recommended control: obtain qualified advice for unusual workforce, employer-complaint or multi-location structures
Policy, Prevention & Documentation
- Rules check: an internal policy, charter, declaration or resolution is formulated and widely disseminated under Rule 13(a)
- Statutory check: Section 19(b) workplace displays include the order constituting the Internal Committee and the penal consequences of sexual harassment
- Recommended control: policy approval, employee acknowledgement and accessible-language records are maintained where appropriate
- Recommended control: reporting routes and responsible contact details are current and accessible
Internal Committee / Local Committee Readiness
- Statutory check: the Internal Committee is constituted by written order where Section 4 applies
- Statutory check: membership includes at least two eligible employee members and one eligible external member under Section 4(2)(b)–(c)
- Statutory check: a senior-level woman is the Presiding Officer, subject to the Section 4(2)(a) fallback where unavailable; at least half the members are women under Section 4(2), and the term does not exceed three years under Section 4(3)
- Statutory check: the Section 6 Local Committee route is identified where relevant
- Rules check: the names and contact details of all Internal Committee members are declared under Rule 13(e)
- Recommended control: committee terms, vacancies, succession and role clarity are tracked
Awareness & Role Readiness
- Statutory check: workshops and awareness programmes for sensitising employees are organised at regular intervals under Section 19(c)
- Statutory check: Internal Committee orientation is provided in the prescribed manner under Section 19(c)
- Rules check: orientation programmes and seminars for Internal Committee members are carried out under Rule 13(b)
- Rules check: employee awareness programmes and dialogue forums are carried out under Rule 13(c)
- Rules check: capacity-building and skill-building programmes for Internal Committee members are carried out under Rule 13(d)
- Rules check: State Government modules are used for employee workshops and awareness programmes under Rule 13(f), as applicable in the relevant State
- Recommended control: employees know the reporting route and the available support channels
- Recommended control: managers and HR understand response boundaries and appropriate escalation
- Recommended control: new-joiner awareness and role-appropriate learning records are maintained
- Recommended control: training evidence is not treated as proof of complete compliance
Complaint, Inquiry & Confidentiality Readiness
- Statutory check: complaint and inquiry communications account for the confidentiality restrictions in Section 16
- Recommended control: reporting and intake routes are current, accessible and routed to the appropriate body
- Recommended control: committee process guidance and role boundaries are available to relevant members
- Recommended control: access to complaint records is restricted and handled on a need-to-know basis
- Recommended control: management support does not displace committee independence or predetermine findings
Employer Operational Duties
- Statutory check: arrangements support the safe working environment described in Section 19(a)
- Statutory check: necessary committee facilities, attendance assistance and complaint-related information are operationally available under Section 19(d)–(f)
- Statutory check: the employer provides assistance if the aggrieved woman chooses to file a criminal-law complaint under Section 19(g); Section 19(h) action duties are reviewed, including the stated non-employee-perpetrator workplace route when she so desires
- Statutory check: treatment as misconduct under applicable service rules and monitoring timely Internal Committee reports are addressed under Section 19(i)–(j)
- Related-law check: current criminal-law references, including whether the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita applies to the relevant conduct and date, are verified without rewriting the POSH Act's enacted wording
Reporting, Related Disclosures & Records
- Statutory check: the Internal or Local Committee's Section 21 annual-report responsibility is assigned and tracked
- Statutory check: the employer's separate Section 22 reporting responsibility is identified
- Rules check: applicable Rule 14 committee-report information is verified before filing
- Recommended control: the filing deadline, format and submission route are checked against current state-specific official directions
- Recommended control: records are complete, access-controlled and handled consistently with confidentiality duties
- Related-law check: any other reporting duty is separately source-verified and included only where it applies to the organisation
Applicability & Organisational Scope
Review the relevant workplace, establishment, workforce and location structure against the Act. Section 4 governs the employer's Internal Committee duty; Section 6 provides a Local Committee route in specified circumstances, including where an Internal Committee has not been constituted because an establishment has fewer than ten workers or where the complaint is against the employer. The correct route depends on the facts and should be verified with qualified POSH/legal professionals.
Policy, Prevention & Workplace Displays
Statutory baseline: Section 19(b) requires the employer to display at a conspicuous place the order constituting the Internal Committee and the penal consequences of sexual harassment. Rules baseline: Rule 13(a) requires an internal policy, charter, declaration or resolution to be formulated and widely disseminated. Recommended controls such as approval records, employee acknowledgements and accessible-language versions should be labelled as governance practices, not universal statutory wording.
Internal Committee / Local Committee Readiness
Section 4 requires the employer to constitute an Internal Committee by written order where it applies. The Act addresses the Presiding Officer, employee and external-member categories, gender composition and member tenure. Section 6 provides the Local Committee route in specified cases. Check current composition, terms and relevant locations against the exact provisions; succession and vacancy tracking are useful governance controls, not separate statutory requirements.
Awareness & Role Readiness
Section 19(c) requires regular workshops and awareness programmes to sensitise employees, and Internal Committee orientation in the prescribed manner. Rule 13 sets out related employer measures for employee awareness, Committee orientation, capacity-building, member contact details and State Government modules. Employee awareness, manager response boundaries, leadership/HR responsibilities and Committee orientation serve different roles. Annual refreshers and retained completion evidence may be useful controls, but should not be stated as a universal statutory annual training cadence.
Complaint, Inquiry & Confidentiality Readiness
Review how reporting routes, committee process guidance and appropriate record handling work in practice. Section 16 restricts publication or making known information about a complaint and inquiry proceedings. Access and communications should respect those restrictions. Management support must not displace the Internal Committee's independence or predetermine a finding; this checklist does not assess the merits of any complaint.
Employer Operational Duties
Section 19 addresses a safe working environment, necessary facilities for the Internal or Local Committee, assistance with attendance of respondent and witnesses, and information required for a complaint. It also addresses criminal-law assistance, action in specified circumstances, treatment as misconduct under applicable service rules and monitoring timely Internal Committee reports.
Statutory text and current-law guidance are separate: Section 19's criminal-law wording refers to the Indian Penal Code. For relevant conduct, verify whether the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 applies, including its commencement exception and any applicable transition rules. Do not silently replace the enacted POSH Act wording with current-law guidance; seek qualified legal review.
Section 26 provides a penalty framework for specified employer contraventions of the Act. Review it after the applicable operating duties and obtain qualified advice on its application.
Reporting, Related Disclosures & Records
Keep committee and employer reporting distinct. Section 21 concerns the Internal or Local Committee's annual report; Section 22 concerns the employer's report of cases filed and their disposal. Rule 14 prescribes information for the committee report. Verify the current state-specific deadline, format and submission route before filing; confidentiality-aware record handling is a recommended control.
Other legal frameworks may impose separate obligations on some organisations. This checklist does not assert a universal related corporate disclosure requirement; verify any such obligation against its own current official source and review process.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating compliance as a one-time setup rather than an ongoing operating responsibility.
- Assuming one committee or reporting arrangement fits every workplace or organisational structure.
- Treating training completion or certificates as proof of complete POSH compliance.
- Treating an annual internal review as a universal statutory requirement.
- Using complaint records without suitable confidentiality and access controls.
- Conflating committee and employer reporting duties or relying on an unverified filing route.
- Presenting a recommended governance control as a statutory requirement.
Sources and review
Reviewed compliance aid — not a statutory or government compliance certificate. The checklist separates Act duties, Rules-based requirements, related-law checks and recommended controls. Confirm organisation-specific applicability and current filing details before acting.
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