The Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act, 2013 ("POSH Act") mandates an Annual Report ("Annual Report") that is to be filed annually by an Organisation to the relevant district authority. The dates of the filing differ from state to state between 31st December and 31st January and each state, through a notification, notifies the district authority that the report is to be filed to and the deadline for the same. The following are a few particulars on the same:
There are two reports to be submitted by the employer:\
- Annual Report to the Employer and District Officer - The Annual report is a report prepared by the Internal Committee of the Organization and filed before the District Officer.
- Report to the Registrar of Companies - The Ministry of Corporate Affairs, in 2018, amended the Companies (Accounts) Rules 2014. By this amendment, it is now mandatory for a company to make a statement in the Director’s Report that it has complied with the provisions regarding the constitution of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC). This is a disclosure made by a company in the Director’s report and is filed before the Registrar of the company. This Director's Report is filed along with the annual returns to the Registrar of companies.
Who files the Annual report?
As per section 21 of the POSH Act, it is the duty of the ICC to submit a POSH annual report, each calendar year, to the Employer, who in turn files it with the District Officer. It is to be noted that certain district officers may prescribe a format of the report to be filed.
What should be included in the Annual report?
According to Rule 14 of the POSH Act, the following needs to be included in the annual report:
- Number of complaints of sexual harassment received in the year;
- Number of complaints disposed off during the year;
- Number of cases pending for more than ninety days;
- Number of workshops or awareness programme against sexual harassment carried out;
- Nature of action taken by the employer.
Apart from the above, the Board of Directors' Report should also mention the number of complaints received and resolved.