Harassment: Companies ill-equipped to deal with cases
“The survey was conducted among 129 companies across the country'' Fraud Investigation said
By : sangeeta bora
Update: 2015-05-10 05:58 GMT
Bengaluru: Sexual harassment at the work place is a fact even considering that the sexual harassment of women at the workplace act was legislated in 2013. A survey conducted by EY, Fraud Investigation and Dispute indicated that over a quarter (27 %) of the large companies and half the small and medium companies that were surveyed were not compliant with the act. In fact, 35 percent were unaware of the penal clause.
Arpinder Singh, partner and national Leader, Fraud Investigation and Dispute Services said, “The survey was conducted among 129 companies across the country. What we have observed is that despite the act being in force for more than a year, the awareness is very low.” He further added, “It is shocking that non-compliance among Indian companies was higher compared to the average – 36% had not constituted ICCs (Internal Complaints Committee) or were still in the process. MNCs were marginally better, standing at 25%.”
According to our survey, 60% of the companies agreed to hold the mandatory training required for ICC members.
This implies that almost 40% did not do so earlier or are probably in the stage of giving the training now. This issue is more pronounced among small and medium-sized companies. According to 63% of the respondents, their companies had not conducted the ICC training mandated under the Act. And 44% of the respondents’ organizations did not display the penal consequences of sexual harassment at conspicuous places
Interestingly, 12% of the respondents were of the opinion that malicious complaints increase after appraisals and 50% of the respondents were unclear about the genuineness of the complaints received after assessment of the performance of employees. Arpinder adds, “The good thing is that there has been a rise in the number of complaints after the act came into force.
This brings in challenges in the ascertaining of the complaints received, whether they are malicious or frivolous. This is because it is difficult to verify the legitimacy of any complaint without thorough investigations and assessments.”
On the positive side, an overwhelming majority (98%) of the respondents indicated that their organizations would provide assistance to women if they chose to file complaints.
While companies may be willing to support the aggrieved women employees, the question remains, how will they ensure that these women will feel confident enough to approach them if they do not have the mechanisms to address these issues in the first place?