Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013: formula sheet

Key formulas

Extent and commencement

Extends to the whole of India; in force from the date notified by the Central Government (9 December 2013)

Section 1(2) and 1(3). The date comes from the notification, not from the Act itself.

Sexual harassment (Section 2(n))

Unwelcome act or behaviour, direct or by implication: (i) physical contact and advances; (ii) demand or request for sexual favours; (iii) sexually coloured remarks; (iv) showing pornography; (v) any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature

Any one or more is enough. Intention of the respondent is not the test; unwelcomeness is.

Aggrieved woman (Section 2(a))

Workplace: a woman of any age, employed or not. Dwelling place or house: a woman of any age employed there

Only women are covered. Employment is not needed for a workplace complaint.

Employee (Section 2(f))

Person employed for any work on regular, temporary, ad hoc or daily wage basis, directly or through an agent or contractor, paid or not, or voluntary

Includes co-worker, contract worker, probationer, trainee and apprentice.

Employer (Section 2(g))

Government bodies: head of the department or officer specified. Other workplaces: person responsible for management, supervision and control. Dwelling place: person or household employing or benefiting from a domestic worker

For non-government workplaces, management includes the person, board or committee that formulates and administers policies.

Workplace (Section 2(o))

Government and public bodies; private organisations; hospitals and nursing homes; sports venues; any place visited in the course of employment including employer transport; a dwelling place or house

Not limited to the office premises.

Circumstances under Section 3(2)

Promise of preferential treatment; threat of detrimental treatment; threat about employment status; interference with work or hostile environment; humiliating treatment likely to affect health or safety

These 'may amount to' sexual harassment. They are circumstances connected with an act, not a closed list.

Unorganised sector (Section 2(p))

Enterprise owned by individuals or self-employed workers, producing or selling goods or providing services, employing fewer than ten workers

Relevant where no Internal Committee exists.

Prohibition (section 3(1))

No woman shall be subjected to sexual harassment at any workplace

The Act protects women. The prohibition applies at any workplace.

Circumstances (section 3(2))

Promise of preferential treatment | Threat of detrimental treatment | Threat about present or future employment status | Interference with work or hostile environment | Humiliating treatment likely to affect health or safety

Each may be implied or explicit (the first three). The list is illustrative, not exhaustive, as the section says "among other circumstances".

Employer duties (section 19)

(a) safe working environment, including safety from persons coming into contact at the workplace; (b) display penal consequences and the order constituting the Internal Committee; (c) workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals, plus orientation for Committee members; (d) facilities to the Committee; (e) assist in securing attendance of respondent and witnesses; (f) make information available to the Committee; (g) assist the woman if she chooses to file a complaint under criminal law or any other law; (h) initiate action against the perpetrator under law; (i) treat sexual harassment as misconduct under service rules; (j) monitor timely submission of Committee reports

Ten clauses, (a) to (j). Learn them in the groups given in the concept section.

Committee order (section 4(1))

Employer constitutes the Internal Complaints Committee by an order in writing, at all administrative units or offices

Section 19(b) requires this order to be displayed at a conspicuous place.

Complaint time limit (section 9(1))

3 months from the date of incident (or last incident in a series); extendable by up to 3 months for reasons recorded in writing

Useful as a link point when a question mixes prevention and complaint.

Internal Committee: who constitutes it

Employer, by an order in writing, at every office or administrative unit (Section 4(1))

Required at each unit where offices are at different places or at divisional or sub-divisional level.

Internal Committee: composition

Presiding Officer (senior woman employee) + not less than 2 employee Members + 1 NGO or person familiar with sexual harassment issues (Section 4(2))

At least one-half of the total Members nominated must be women.

Presiding Officer fallback

Own office → other office or unit of the workplace → any other workplace of the same employer, or other department or organisation

Applies if no senior level woman employee is available at the first level.

Internal Committee tenure

Not more than 3 years from the date of nomination, as specified by the employer (Section 4(3))

The NGO member is paid fees or allowances by the employer, as prescribed.

Local Committee: who constitutes it and when

District Officer constitutes it in each district for establishments with fewer than 10 workers, or where the complaint is against the employer (Section 6(1))

Jurisdiction covers the areas of the district where it is constituted (Section 6(3)).

Local Committee: composition

Chairperson (eminent woman in social work) + 1 woman Member from block, taluka, tehsil, ward or municipality + 2 Members from NGOs or persons familiar with the issues (at least one a woman) + ex officio social welfare or women and child development officer (Section 7(1))

At least one nominee preferably has a legal background. At least one nominee must be a woman from SC, ST, OBC or a notified minority community.

Local Committee tenure and fees

Not more than 3 years from the date of appointment, as specified by the District Officer (Section 7(2))

Fees or allowances are payable as prescribed to all except the Members under clauses (b) and (d) (Section 7(4)).

Removal of a member

Contravention of Section 16; conviction or pending inquiry into an offence; guilty or pending disciplinary proceedings; abuse of position prejudicial to public interest

Same grounds in Section 4(5) and Section 7(3). The vacancy is filled by fresh nomination.

Nodal officer

Designated by District Officer; forwards complaints to the Local Committee within 7 days (Section 6(2))

Section 20: the District Officer also monitors timely submission of reports by the Local Committee and engages NGOs for awareness.

Time limit for complaint (Section 9)

3 months from the date of incident (or from the last incident in a series)

The committee may extend by not more than 3 months, for reasons recorded in writing, if circumstances prevented the woman from filing in time.

Who can complain (Section 9)

Aggrieved woman; or legal heir / prescribed person if she is incapacitated, dead or otherwise unable

Complaint must be in writing. The committee must help if she cannot write it.

Conciliation (Section 10)

Only before inquiry + only at the woman's request + no monetary settlement as basis

After a recorded settlement, no further inquiry is held. Non-compliance revives inquiry or police referral (Section 11).

Inquiry period (Section 11)

Inquiry to be completed within 90 days

Civil court powers: summoning, examining on oath, discovery and production of documents.

Interim relief (Section 12)

Written request by woman → committee recommends → employer implements and reports

Transfer of woman or respondent; leave up to 3 months (in addition to her normal leave); other prescribed relief.

Report (Section 13)

Report to employer within 10 days of completing inquiry; employer acts within 60 days of receipt

Report is made available to both parties.

Outcome of report (Section 13)

Not proved → no action. Proved → action as misconduct under service rules + deduction from salary or wages as per Section 15

If deduction is not possible, the respondent may be directed to pay. Non-payment: recovery as arrear of land revenue.

Timelines

Inquiry: 90 days | Report to employer: 10 days after inquiry | Employer acts: within 60 days of receipt | Appeal: within 90 days

Sections 11(4), 13(1), 13(4) and 18(2). Learn them as one chain.

Compensation factors (section 15)

(a) mental trauma, pain, suffering, emotional distress; (b) loss of career opportunity; (c) medical expenses; (d) respondent's income and financial status; (e) feasibility of lump sum or instalments

Five factors. Three relate to the woman's loss, two to the respondent's capacity to pay.

If allegation proved (section 13(3))

Action as misconduct under service rules + deduction from salary/wages for payment to aggrieved woman or legal heirs

If deduction is impossible, respondent is directed to pay. Non-payment: recovery as arrear of land revenue via District Officer.

False complaint or evidence (section 14)

Malicious intent established by inquiry before action is recommended; mere failure to prove is not enough

Section 14(2) covers witnesses giving false evidence or forged or misleading documents.

Confidentiality (sections 16 and 17)

Complaint contents, identities and addresses, conciliation and inquiry information, recommendations and action taken: not to be published or made known to public, press and media

Applies despite the RTI Act. Proviso allows information on justice secured without any identifying particulars. Breach: penalty under service rules, or as prescribed.

Employer penalty (section 26)

Fine up to ₹50,000; on repeat conviction: twice the punishment, and cancellation, withdrawal or non-renewal of licence or registration

Triggers: not constituting IC under section 4(1), not taking action under sections 13, 14 and 22, or contravening other provisions.

Appeal (section 18)

Appeal to court or tribunal per service rules, or as prescribed, within 90 days of the recommendations

Covers recommendations under sections 13(2), 13(3)(i) and (ii), 14(1), 14(2), 17, or their non-implementation.

Appropriate Government: publicity and training (section 24)

May (subject to resources): develop IEC and training materials, run awareness programmes, frame orientation programmes for Local Committee members

Permissive, not mandatory. The training programmes named are for Local Committee members.

Appropriate Government: monitoring (section 23)

Shall monitor implementation and maintain data on cases filed and disposed of

This is a mandatory duty, unlike section 24.

Power to call for information and inspect (section 25)

Order in writing, public interest or interest of women employees: call for information from employer or District Officer; authorise officer to inspect records and workplace

The inspecting officer reports within the period set in the order. Employer and District Officer must produce records on demand.

District Officer (sections 5 and 20)

Notified District Magistrate / Additional District Magistrate / Collector / Deputy Collector; monitors Local Committee reports; engages NGOs for awareness

Section 20 says monitor timely submission of reports by the Local Committee.

Committee annual report (section 21(1))

ICC or LC: annual report each calendar year, in prescribed form and time, to employer and District Officer

Form and time are fixed by rules under section 29(2)(m).

District Officer to State Government (section 21(2))

District Officer forwards a brief report on annual reports received to the State Government

It is a brief report, not a full copy of each report.

Employer's reporting (section 22)

Include number of cases filed and their disposal in the organisation's annual report; if none is required, intimate the number to the District Officer

If there were no cases, the figures are stated only 'if any'.

Quick revision

• The Act extends to the whole of India and came into force on 9 December 2013.
• The employer must constitute the Internal Committee by an order in writing, at every office or administrative unit.
• The Presiding Officer must be a senior-level woman employee, with fallback nominations from other units or workplaces.
• The Internal Committee has not less than two employee Members and one member from an NGO or a person familiar with the issues; at least one-half of the Members must be women.
• Members hold office for a period not exceeding three years, as specified by the employer.
• A Local Committee is formed by the District Officer where there are fewer than ten workers or the complaint is against the employer himself.
• Nodal officers forward complaints to the Local Committee within seven days.
• The committee gives its inquiry report within ten days of completing the inquiry, and the employer must act within sixty days of receiving the recommendation.
• Where the allegation is proved, recommended action includes treating it as misconduct and deducting a sum from salary to pay the aggrieved woman.
• Failure to prove a complaint alone does not attract action against the complainant; malice must be established after inquiry.
• Section 16 bars publishing complaint contents and identities, even under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
• The committee files an annual report every calendar year with the employer and District Officer.

Common mistakes

• Writing that only an employed woman can be an aggrieved woman. Fix: Quote Section 2(a)(i): a woman of any age, employed or not. Only for a dwelling place must she be employed there.
• Treating workplace as the office building only. Fix: Learn the six limbs of Section 2(o). Remember any place visited during employment and employer-provided transport.
• Treating the section 3(2) list as a closed list. Fix: Remember the words "among other circumstances" and "may amount to". Say the list is illustrative.
• Saying any one of the five circumstances is automatically sexual harassment. Fix: Write that the circumstance must occur in relation to or be connected with an act or behaviour of sexual harassment.
• Saying the Local Committee is set up by the employer or the State Government. Fix: Remember: the employer sets up the Internal Committee; the District Officer sets up the Local Committee.
• Stating that the Internal Committee is needed only at the head office. Fix: Write that it must be constituted at all administrative units or offices where they are located at different places or at divisional or sub-divisional level.
• Saying the complaint time limit is three months from the date the woman decides to complain. Fix: Count from the date of the incident, or from the last incident in a series of incidents.
• Saying the extension can be any period the committee thinks fit. Fix: The extension cannot exceed three months, needs reasons recorded in writing, and requires circumstances that prevented the woman from filing.
• Saying the Committee itself punishes the respondent or deducts salary. Fix: Write that the Committee recommends, and the employer or District Officer implements within sixty days.
• Treating a complaint that could not be proved as a false complaint. Fix: Quote the proviso to section 14(1): inability to substantiate need not attract action. Malicious intent must be established after an inquiry.

Exam tips

• Learn Section 2(n), 2(o), 2(a), 2(f) and 2(g) almost word for word. Definition questions reward accuracy of wording.
• In a fact-based question, quote the section number beside each fact you match. This is the ICSI answer style: provision, analysis, conclusion.
• Remember the three basics for a short note: extends to the whole of India, comes into force on notified date (9 December 2013), and Vishaka guidelines are its background.
• Do not stop at the five limbs of sexual harassment. Add the Section 3(2) circumstances to show depth.
• Use the correct present-law names: refer to criminal law under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita where you need it, not the repealed IPC, unless you are quoting the Act's own text.
• For "state the circumstances" questions, write section 3(1) first and then all five circumstances of section 3(2) as bullets. Add that the list is not exhaustive.
• For "duties of employer" questions, group the ten clauses of section 19 and mention at least eight to ten with their clause letters.
• In case-based questions, name the exact circumstance or clause that matches each fact, then give a clear conclusion.