POSH Complaint Management
End-to-end Internal Committee support — from intake to inquiry report, within the 90-day statutory timeline.
Every organisation employing ten or more workers in India is required under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 to constitute an Internal Committee and manage complaints through a structured, time-bound inquiry process. The Act mandates inquiry completion within 90 days, a written report to the employer within 60 days of inquiry completion, and implementation of the IC's recommendations within 60 days of the report each a distinct, auditable obligation. EthicalView provides end-to-end POSH complaint management: IC constitution review, complaint intake, conciliation, inquiry management, written report preparation, and annual compliance documentation ensuring every stage meets the Act's requirements, within the Act's timelines.
90-Day Inquiry Timeline Management
IC Constitution Review
POSH Act Section 4 Compliant
Annual Compliance Documentation
What We Offer:
IC Constitution and Compliance Audit: We review your Internal Committee composition against Section 4 of the POSH Act — Presiding Officer eligibility, member composition, external member credentials, and term compliance — and advise on reconstitution where gaps exist.
Complaint Intake and Formal Acknowledgement: We manage formal written acknowledgement, complaint registration, and the initial assessment of jurisdiction — confirming whether the complaint falls within the Act's scope and the IC's mandate — within the timelines required by law.
Conciliation Process Management: Where the complainant requests conciliation under Section 10 of the Act, we facilitate the process and document any settlement agreement in the legally required format.
90-Day Inquiry Management: We manage the complete inquiry process — scheduling hearings, recording statements, maintaining the evidence chain, ensuring procedural fairness for both parties — and prepare the IC's written inquiry report and recommendations for submission to the employer.
Annual POSH Compliance Documentation: We prepare your annual POSH compliance report for disclosure in the organisation's annual report and, where required, for filing under the Ministry's eSHe portal — including the data on complaints received, disposed of, and pending.
Building a Workplace Where People Feel Safe to Report
POSH compliance is the legal floor. A workplace culture in which employees believe their complaint will be handled with fairness and confidentiality is the goal. The two are not the same and organisations that meet the legal minimum without investing in the cultural foundation find that complaints either don't reach the IC, or reach it through external channels that create far greater organisational disruption. EthicalView's POSH complaint management service addresses both. Our managed process delivers legal compliance at every stage. The independence, objectivity, and consistency with which we handle each case builds the institutional trust that encourages employees to use the internal mechanism before a complaint becomes a legal or media event.
A Complaint Process That Protects Every Party
- The POSH Act requires the Internal Committee to provide both the complainant and the respondent equal opportunity to present their case and to conduct the inquiry with objectivity, consistency, and documented procedure. When IC members are colleagues of either party, or lack investigation training, procedural fairness becomes difficult to maintain and even harder to demonstrate. EthicalView manages the inquiry process with structural independence: we schedule hearings, record statements, maintain the evidence chain, and produce the written inquiry report in the format required by the Act ensuring that the process is defensible at every stage, regardless of the seniority of the parties involved or the complexity of the allegations.
Protecting Your Organisation From POSH Non-Compliance
Section 26 of the POSH Act provides for penalties of up to ₹50,000 for non-compliance and, on repeat violations, cancellation of business registration. Beyond financial penalties, POSH non-compliance creates significant reputational and employment liability. The most common sources of POSH-related legal exposure are timeline breaches the 90-day inquiry period lapses because IC members have competing responsibilities and documentation failures the written inquiry report does not meet the evidentiary standard required if the IC's findings are challenged. EthicalView's managed complaint process eliminates both risks: we own the timeline and the documentation, so your organisation is protected at the points of highest legal vulnerability.
