Gender-Inclusive Workplace Protection: Assessing Implementation Of The Posh Act, The Maternity Benefit Act, And The Case For Gender-Neutral Sexual Harassment Laws
Linshi Naresh Kharat, LLM (Constitutional Law), Maharashtra National Law University, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
CHAPTER 1:
INTRODUCTION
India's current framework, the Prevention of Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (POSH Act) and the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 as amended in 2017 has achieved significant normative advances in embedding constitutional principles of equality and dignity within workplace protection regimes. These statutes represent a transformative shift from the legal lacunae that existed prior to the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Vishakha and Others v. State of Rajasthan (1997), which constitutionalized workplace sexual harassment as a violation of fundamental rights under Articles 14, 15, 19(1)(g), and 21 of the Indian Constitution. However, empirical evidence reveals persistent implementation deficits, with compliance remaining uneven across sectors, geographic regions, and organizational scales.
Contemporary data from a comprehensive study of 300 companies shows that in FY 2022-23, only 81 companies reported POSH Act cases, with 219 companies reporting zero complaints, a pattern suggesting either systematic under-reporting or institutional failures in grievance mechanisms. The exclusion of men, transgender persons, and gender minorities from the POSH regime's remedial ambit, combined with enforcement gaps affecting over 90% of India's informal workforce, undermines the constitutional promise of substantive equality and violates emerging international standards. A human rights-centred reform agenda must therefore: strengthen compliance monitoring and data transparency mechanisms; extend comprehensive protection to informal, gig, and migrant workers; align domestic law with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and International Labour Organization Convention No. 190 standards; and legislate gender- neutral anti-harassment protections with survivor-centred, due-process-compliant procedures, while preserving and enhancing targeted safeguards for historically disadvantaged groups.
