Duty of Employer to Conduct Mandatory Employee Awareness Workshops and Training

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 makes it mandatory for all employers to conduct prevention from sexual harassment awareness and sensitization training sessions for all their employees.The duty to conduct these awareness and sensitizations sessions is mandatory for all organizations irrespective of the size of the organization/office, unlike the responsibility to create an Internal Complaints Committee, which is mandatory only for organizations/offices that have more than 10 employees.The first question which comes to every employers and HR professionals mind is why conduct these awareness and sensitization training or workshops? What is the purpose of it? Hence, lets first understand that apart from the fact that it is mandatory under law to conduct awareness and sensitization training for employees, what is the need for conducting these workshops?Sexual Harassment at Workplace interferes with an individuals right to be treated with equality, live with dignity, and with their right to practice any profession/work.Sexual harassment at the workplace also comes in between the employers profession, in the following ways:(i) Interferes with opportunities at work for both employees and employers(ii) Creates an unsafe and hostile work environment

What does an awareness workshop cover?

An ideal awareness and sensitization workshop should cover the following topics-(a) What is sexual harassment and examples of sexual harassment;(b) Who is protected under the law;(c) Definition of workplace;(d) Law and the sexual harassment policy of the organization;(e) Redressal format for sexual harassment policy;(f) How to file a complaint;(g) What are your rights in cases you file a complaint; and(h) What to expect if a complaint is filed against you.

Pointers for awareness workshops

Sexual harassment is a subjective experience and it is possible that during the workshop, employees through examples and case study’s understand or feel that certain instances that have taken place with them are instances of sexual harassment and hence it is essential to conduct these workshops in a sensitive and empathetic manner.It is also essential to ensure that an appropriate remedy is provided to the employees. It is to be kept in mind that due to its very nature, there are diverse views and opinions with regard to the same and all views and opinions need to be respected and balanced keeping in mind the law and rights of all the individuals.

What should be the frequency of the workshop?

(a) Bi-Annually(b) Quarterly

Can there be any follow up measures to improve the impact of the awareness workshop?

Measures such as periodic testing and questionnaires, go a long way in helping employees absorb the message of the workshop/training.