All business establishments, companies, factories and construction firms in the four southern districts have been instructed to form internal complaints committees (ICC) in their workplaces immediately to probe sexual harassment complaints and display details of the ICC prominently in their firms, the Department of Industrial Safety and Health has said.

In a statement, Joint director of Industrial Safety and Health, Tirunelveli, P. Tamizhselvan said the internal complaints committee for probing sexual harassment in workplaces should be displayed conspicuously in factories and other establishments in Tirunelveli, Tenkasi, Kanniyakumari and Thoothukudi districts. The establishments carrying out construction in the four districts also should constitute ICC in their workplaces and comply with the regulations stipulated under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013.

Names of the members of the Internal Complaints Committee and grievance redressal mechanism of the factory or establishment should be displayed in conspicuous locations and be kept visible to all employees.

The Act had been enacted with the objective to provide protection against sexual harassment of women at workplace and for the redressal of such complaints. It mandated the constitution of Internal Complaints Committee by employers of all establishments employing 10 or more workers to conduct inquiry related to complaints on sexual harassment at the workplace received from their women employees.

Any non-compliance on the part of the employer with respect to the provisions of the Act would entail penalty of up to ₹50,000, cautioned the note.

The standard operation procedures for the establishments to deal with issued on sexual harassment had been framed by the government and, hence, all employers were instructed to strictly adhere to the guidelines, Mr. Tamizhselvan said.