POSH Internal Committee Lawyers India: IC Support

Internal Committee (IC) Support And Management

POSH Internal Committee Law Firm for Constitution, SOPs and External Members

Setting Up and Running the POSH Committee

A well-functioning Internal Committee is at the heart of an effective POSH framework. Under Section 4 of the POSH Act, the committee has a Presiding Officer who is a woman employed at a senior level, at least two employees committed to the cause of women or with legal or social work experience, and one external member from an NGO or association committed to the cause of women, or a person familiar with issues of sexual harassment. At least half the members must be women, and members serve for up to three years.

We draft the order constituting the committee for each office, help identify suitable external members, and write the standard operating procedures the committee follows from the day a complaint arrives to the day its report is issued. During a live complaint we give the committee real-time advice on screening, notices, hearings and the report.

Committees also need maintenance. Members leave, tenures expire, and conflicts of interest arise in particular complaints. We handle reconstitution, recusals and the annual report the committee must submit to the employer and the District Officer.

Our Services

  • Legal structuring and constitution of Internal Committees as per POSH Act
  • Development of IC Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
  • Real-time legal support during inquiry proceedings
  • Review of IC recommendations and reports for procedural integrity
  • Guidance on complaint screening and prima facie determination
  • Handling recusals, conflicts of interest, and jurisdictional challenges
  • Strategic advice for employers on implementing IC decisions

Key Highlights

What an Internal Committee SOP covers

  • Receiving and acknowledging a complaint, and helping a complainant who cannot put it in writing
  • Preliminary screening for jurisdiction and limitation
  • Conciliation at the complainant’s request under Section 10
  • Notices and replies within the Rule 7 timelines
  • Conduct of hearings, quorum and the handling of witnesses
  • Interim relief under Section 12
  • Recording evidence and the format of the findings report
  • Confidentiality and the keeping of records

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FAQs

By a written order of the employer that names a Presiding Officer (a woman employed at a senior level), at least two employee members, and one external member, with at least half the members being women. The order should be displayed at the workplace, and a separate committee is needed for each office or unit at a different location.

Section 4(2)(a) allows the Presiding Officer to be nominated from other offices or administrative units of the workplace. If none is available there either, she can be nominated from other offices of the same employer or from another department or organisation.

The Act has no list of recusal grounds, but natural justice requires a member with a personal interest or a likely bias, such as a close working relationship with either party or being a witness to the events, to step aside. The recusal should be recorded in the committee’s minutes.

Yes. Section 4(4) requires the employer to pay the external member fees or allowances for holding the proceedings of the committee.

Yes. Under Section 4(5), a member must be removed if they disclose confidential information in breach of Section 16, are convicted of an offence or face a pending inquiry under any law, are found guilty in disciplinary proceedings, or abuse their position. The vacancy is filled by a fresh nomination.

Prepare an annual report under Section 21 and Rule 14 and submit it to the employer and the District Officer. It records the complaints received and disposed of, cases pending for more than 90 days, workshops or awareness programmes held, and the action taken.