POSH

INTRODUCTION:

This policy has been framed in accordance with the provisions of “The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013” and rules framed thereunder (hereinafter “the Act”). Accordingly, while the policy covers all the key aspects of the Act, for any further clarification reference shall always be made to the Act and the provisions of the Act shall prevail.

We at en:lyft are committed towards giving every employee a just and fair hearing on issues  encountered by them at the workplace with special attention to sexual harassment and will take very  serious disciplinary action against any victimization of the employee who is complaining or the  alleged harasser that may result from a complaint.

OBJECTIVE:

We value each and every employee working with us and wish to protect their dignity and self-respect. In doing so, we are determined to promote a working environment in which persons of both genders complement each other as equals in an environment that encourages maximum productivity and to keep the personal dignity.

The policy for prevention of sexual harassment at workplace (hereinafter referred to as “POSH  Policy” aims to set the guidelines and processes for Prevention of sexual harassment by setting up  the Internal Complaints Committee (hereinafter referred to as “ICC”) for en:lyft (hereinafter  referred to as en:lyft, which includes all its group companies).

APPLICABILITY:

This POSH Policy applies to:

1. Employees of en:lyft including all its group companies.
2. All suppliers, clients, agents and/or persons related to en:lyft.
3. All third parties including their agents associated with en:lyft.

During all activities conducted at workplace or all work related activities elsewhere.

In case of any conflict between this POSH Policy and the country’s local law, the country’s local law shall supersede this POSH Policy.

This Policy comes into force with immediate effect.

DEFINITIONS:

1. “Aggrieved Individual” means in relation to a workplace, a person, of any age, whether employed or not, who alleges to have been subject to any act of sexual harassment by the respondent and includes contractual, temporary employees and visitors.
   
   
2. “Complainant” is any aggrieved individual (including a representative as more fully described under Rule 6 of the said Rules, if the aggrieved individual is unable to make a complaint on account of his/her physical or mental incapacity or death or otherwise) who makes a complaint  alleging Sexual Harassment under this Policy.
   
   
3. “Employee” as defined under the Act and means a person employed with the Company for any work on permanent, temporary, part-time, ad-hoc or daily wage basis, either directly or through an agent, including a contractor, who with or without the knowledge of the Principal employer,  whether for remuneration or not, or working on a voluntary basis or otherwise, whether the terms of employment are expressed or implied and includes a co-worker, a contract worker,  probationer, trainee, apprentice or called by any other such name.
   
   
4. “Employer” means person who are responsible for management, supervision and control of the workplace including appointment/removal/termination of employees and will include ‘Promoter/Chairman’, ‘Director and General Manager ‘and ‘Chief Operating Officer (COO)’.
   
   
5. “Internal Complaints Committee” means and include an Internal Complaints Committee (hereinafter referred to as the “ICC”).
   
   
6. “Member” means a member of the ICC.
   
   
7. “Presiding officer” means the presiding officer of the ICC and shall be a woman employed at a senior level at the workplace amongst the employees.
   
   
8. ‘‘Respondent” means a person against whom a complaint of alleging sexual harassment has been made under this policy.
   
   
9. “Parties” means collectively the complainant and the respondent.
   
   

“Sexual Harassment” includes any one or more of the following unwelcome acts of behaviour (whether directly or by implication):

A. Any unwelcome sexually determined behaviour or pattern of conduct that would cause discomfort and/or humiliate a person at whom the behaviour or conduct was directed namely

• (i) Physical contact and advances;
• (ii) Demand or request for sexual favours; 
• iii) Making sexually coloured remarks or remarks of sexual nature about a person’s clothing or body; 
• (iv) Showing pornography; 
• (v) Any other unwelcome physical, visual, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature  including but not limited to cat-call, wolf/finger whistle, vulgar/indecent jokes, letters,  phone calls, text messages, e-mails, gestures etc. 

Sexual harassment can involve a series of incidents or it can be a one-off occurrence. 

B. The following circumstances, among other circumstances, if it occurs or is present in relation to connected with any act or behaviour of sexual harassment may amount to sexual harassment:- – Implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in employment; or

– Implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment in employment; or 

– Implied or explicit threat about the present or future employment status; or – Interference with work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment for the person; or 

– Humiliating treatment affecting any person’s health or safety. 

“Workplace” means establishments, enterprises, institutions, offices, branches, premises, locations  or units established, owned, controlled by the Company or places visited by the employees out of  or during the course of employment including accommodation, transportation provided by the  employer for undertaking such journey. 

5. SCOPE:
   

   This POSH Policy is framed as per directions of POSH ACT:-

   • Applicable Jurisdiction: The POSH Act extends to the ‘whole of India’.
   • Aggrieved Woman: As per the POSH Act, an ‘aggrieved woman’ in relation to a workplace, is a woman of any age, whether employed or not, who alleges to have been subjected to any act of sexual harassment. Given that the definition does not necessitate the woman to be an employee, even a customer/ client who may be sexually harassed at a workplace can claim protection under the POSH Act.
   • The POSH Act further stipulates that a woman shall not be subjected to sexual harassment at her workplace. Accordingly, it may be noted that in order for a woman to claim protection under the POSH Act, the incident of sexual harassment should have taken place at the ‘workplace’.
   • The POSH Act protects only women and is not a gender-neutral legislation and protects only women. Therefore, the safeguards under the POSH Act are not applicable to ‘men victims’.
     
     
6. CONSTITUTION OF ICC

The POSH Act requires an employer to set up an ‘internal complaints committee’ (“ICC”), to hear and redress grievances pertaining to sexual harassment. 

1. Presiding Officer – Woman employed at a senior level at the workplace from amongst the employees.
2. Members- Not less than 2 members from amongst employees. Committed to the cause of women or who have had experience in social work or have legal knowledge.
3. External member – From an NGO or association committed to the cause of women or person familiar with issues relating to sexual harassment.
4. Local Member- One Local representative, preferably a woman from particular local offices/factories/workplaces, wherever deemed necessary for ready availability and effectively directing complaints to the main committee members [members mentioned in 6(a)(b)(c)]

Tenure- Shall not exceed 3 years 

Quorum- A minimum of 3 Members of the ICC including the Presiding Officer are to be present for conducting the inquiry. 

7. REMOVAL:
   

   The presiding officer or any member of the ICC shall be removed from the ICC on the following grounds:

   If convicted for an offence or an inquiry into an offence under any law for the time being in force is pending against him/her; or

   If found guilty in any disciplinary proceedings or a disciplinary proceeding pending against him/her; or

   Has abused his/her position as to render his/her continuance in office prejudicial to the public interest; or

   Contravenes the confidentiality clause of this POSH Policy.
   
   

8. COMPLAINT OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT:
   

   (i) Any aggrieved individual may make in writing, a complaint of sexual harassment to the ICC within a period of three (3) months from the date of incident and in case of more than one incident, within a period of three (3) months from the date of last incident. Complaints arising of incidents more than three (3) months old shall not be accepted. 

   (ii) However, the ICC may, for reasons to be recorded in writing, extend such time limit of filing complaint up to further 3 months, if it is satisfied that bonafide circumstances prevented the aggrieved individual from filing complaint within the time limit mentioned in point (a)  hereinabove. The complaint should clearly mention name and available details of both the aggrieved person and the respondent. Anonymous or pseudonymous complaints will not be investigated. 

   (iii) Where the aggrieved individual is unable to make the complaint on account of her/his physical or mental incapacity or death or otherwise, his/her representative, as more fully described under Rule 6 of the said Rules, may make a complaint.

   (iv) The HC Department or Ethics Office will officially forward the complaint to the Presiding Officer of ICC within seven (7) days from the date of making of the complaint. e. The complainant shall submit six copies of the complaint accompanied by available supporting documents and relevant details concerning the alleged act of sexual harassment(s) including  names and address of witnesses, if any which the complainant believes to be true and accurate. 
   
   

9. DRAFTING OF COMPLAINT TO ICC:

• The complaint should be addressed to the IC members and not the employer/HR representative.
• The complaint should be concise, i.e. it should be written in simple language which can be understood easily. Complaints that are well written and presented properly have greater credibility.
• Details of exact incident, date and time, witness etc. to be included.
• Circumstances preceding and following the incident to be recorded.
• Whether the complainant asked the respondent to desist from the unwelcome act(s). Append as many documents as possible in whatever format i.e. relevant e-mails, screenshots of SMS’s/WhatsApp messages, call details, photographs, recordings etc.
• Details of the respondent including name, designation, reporting structure between complainant and respondent if any.
• Do not state any fact that is false or incorrect.
• The relief that is sought from the employer.

The template of complaint to be filed with ICC is as annexed herewith under Annexure 1. 10.

10. WORKING RULES FOR ICC/REDRESSAL MECHANISM:

Working rules for ICC shall be as prescribed in Annexure 2 attached to this POSH Policy. 11. DISCIPLINARY

11. ACTION FOR SEXUAL HARASSMENT:
    

    ICC shall recommend disciplinary action against the Respondent, if found guilty, post completion of the investigation proceedings. The nature and severity of the disciplinary action will commensurate with the severity and persistence of misconduct.

    The disciplinary action includes but is not restricted to:

    • Mandatory written apology accepting such action not to be repeated in future towards any person.
    • Mandatory training or counselling session.
    • Letter of warning that shall be marked in employee’s record with the company.
    • Immediate transfer to a different location, department or both.
    • Withholding of promotion, increment or both.
    • Demotion from the Respondent’s present grade.
    • Dismissal from service of the Company.
    • Any other action that the committee deems fit.

    Failure or refusal of any person to co-operate with the committee for proceedings or giving false testimonials or causing prejudice to the procedure of redressal shall be liable to attract disciplinary action for the same.

    All Employees should note that Complaints of Sexual Harassment should be factual and true. If after investigation it becomes clear that the aggrieved person or any other person making complaint, made false accusation (including producing forged or misleading document) against the Respondent, the so called aggrieved person or any other person making the Complaint would become liable for appropriate disciplinary action.

    The Company shall not accept, support or tolerate victimization or retaliation measures of any kind against any person, acting in good faith, reports acts of Sexual Harassment. Any person who engages in such retaliation/victimization, directly or indirectly or encourages others to do so may be subjected to disciplinary action for the same.
    
    

12.   OTHER DUTIES OR RESPONSIBILITIES OF ICC:
    

    Conducting programs for creating awareness regarding Prevention of Sexual Harassment amongst the employees.

    Updating this POSH policy time to time in accordance with latest amendments and requirements.

    Conducting committee meetings at regular intervals for following, upgrading and innovating methods for creating awareness regarding POSH Policy.

    Maintaining confidentiality of documents and information relating proceedings.

    
    
    
13. CONFIDENTIALITY:

The minutes of meetings of ICC, the findings, recommendations, decisions of the Committees and any document or any verbal communication shall be kept strictly confidential. b. The contents of the complaint made under this POSH Policy, the identity and addresses of the Aggrieved Person, Respondent and witnesses, any information relating to conciliation and inquiry proceedings, recommendations of the ICC, as the case may be shall not be published, communicated or made known to public, press and media in any manner.

Please Note:

6 copies of a written complaint should be submitted to the Committee or any of its members along with list of witnesses and supporting documents. Additional documents and list of witnesses can be submitted to ICC at a later stage during the proceeding.

Below are the new committee members:

Presiding Officer – Jeni Antony

Advocate – Vaidehee Chhatre
Co. Founder – Amar Chavan
Employee – Sankalp Singh
Advocate – Surabhi Mahajan
NGO Social Worker – Joslin Antony

Any complaint you can further raise/ mail at posh@enlyft.in

ANNEXURE-2

WORKING RULES FOR ICC/REDRESSAL MECHANISM

In pursuance of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013 and the Rules framed there under, the Company hereby adopts the following procedure for determining complaints filed to the Internal Complaint Committee (ICC). The procedure complies with the basic principles of natural justice and fair play and has to be adhered to in all complaints, though, in individual complaints, for reasons to be stated in writing, the ICC reserves the right to make exceptions to the procedure stated hereunder. 

1. Any aggrieved woman may make, in writing, a complaint of sexual harassment at work place to the ICC, within a period of three months from the date of incident and in case of a series of incidents, within a period of three months from the date of last incident. 6 copies of a written complaint should be submitted to the Committee or any of its members along with list of witnesses and supporting documents. Additional documents and list of witnesses can be submitted to ICC at a later stage during the proceeding. Provided that where such complaint cannot be made in writing, the Presiding Officer or any other member of the ICC shall render all reasonable assistance to the woman for making the complaint in writing. Provided further that the ICC for the reasons to be recorded in writing, can extend the time limit  not exceeding three months, if it is satisfied that the circumstances were such which prevented the  woman from filing a complaint within the said period. 
   
   
2. Any complaint received by the members should be immediately forwarded to the Presiding Officer, and this must be notified to other committee members at the earliest and not later than 3 days and a meeting should be called for discussing the matter.
   
   
3. The Committee shall discuss and decide on its jurisdiction to deal with the case or reject the complaint prima facie and recommend to the Institute that no action is required to be taken in the matter.
   
   
4. Notice shall be issued to the respondent within 7 working days of receipt of the complaint and 10 working days shall be given for submission of reply (along with the list of witnesses and documents.)
   
   
5. The Committee will provide assistance to the aggrieved woman, if she so chooses, to file a police complaint in relation to an offence under Indian Penal Code.
   
   
6. The Committee may, before initiating an inquiry, at the request of the aggrieved woman, take steps to settle the matter between her and the respondent through conciliation.
   
   
7. No monetary settlement shall be made as the basis of conciliation. Where a settlement has been arrived at, the ICC shall record the settlement so arrived and forward the same to the employer for necessary compliance.
   
   
8. The Committee shall provide the copies of the settlement as recorded under (7) to the aggrieved woman and the respondent. Where a settlement is arrived at, no further inquiry shall be conducted by the ICC.
   
   
9. If conciliation is found to be not feasible, notice will be issued to both parties for hearing.
   
   
10. The Committee may direct the Registrar to ensure the safety and protection of the aggrieved woman if and when required. 

11. As an interim measure, ICC may recommend
    
    a) The transfer of the aggrieved woman or the respondent to another section or Department as deemed fit by the Committee.
    
    b) Grant leave to the aggrieved woman upto a period of three months or:
    
    c) restrain the respondent from exercising any administrative authority or supervision or evaluation of the aggrieved woman.
    
    d) Grant such other relief to the aggrieved woman as the case may require.
    
    
12. The Committee shall proceed to make inquiry into the complaint in accordance with the provisions of the service rules applicable to the respondent considering sexual harassment as misconduct.
    
    
13. The Presiding Officer shall convene the first hearing of the enquiry. The respondent, the aggrieved woman, and the witnesses shall be intimated at least 7 working days in advance in writing of the date, time and venue of the enquiry proceedings. The subsequent proceedings may be on a day to day basis, to be decided by ICC.
    
    
14. The Committee shall provide reasonable opportunity to the aggrieved woman and the respondent for presenting and defending her/his case.
    
    
15. The Committee may at any time during the enquiry proceedings, preclude the face-to- face examination of the respondent and the aggrieved woman and/or their witnesses keeping in view the need to protect the aggrieved woman or the witnesses from facing any serious health and/or  safety problems. 
    
    
16. The Committee may call any person to appear as a witness if it is of the opinion that it shall be in the interest of justice. The aggrieved woman/respondent has to submit the written reply before the committee within the specified time given.
    
    
17. The Committee shall have the right to summon, as many times as required, the respondent, aggrieved woman and/or any witnesses for the purpose of supplementary testimony and/or clarifications.
    
    
18. The Committee shall have the power to summon any official papers or documents pertaining to the aggrieved woman as well as the respondent.
    
    
19. The past sexual history of the aggrieved woman shall not be probed into as such information shall be deemed irrelevant to a complaint of sexual harassment.
    
    
20. The Committee shall have the right to terminate the enquiry proceedings and to give an ex party decision on the complaint, should the respondent fail, without valid ground, to be present for three consecutive hearings convened by the Presiding Officer.
    
    
21. The aggrieved woman and the respondent, or any one person on her/his behalf, shall have the right to examine written transcripts of the recordings with the exclusion of witnesses’ names and identities. Any person nominated by the aggrieved woman and/or the respondent on her/his behalf shall be (only) either a student, or a member of the academic or non-teaching staff. No person who has been found guilty of sexual harassment shall be accepted as a nominee. The aggrieved woman/respondent should inform the Presiding Officer specifically if they wish to exercise this right. The Presiding Officer shall allow access to such documents on a specific date to be intimated at least two days in advance to each of the parties concerned. At no point in time, however, can the concerned parties take these documents outside the office.
    
    
22. The aggrieved woman and the respondent shall be responsible for presenting their witnesses before the Committee. However, if the Committee is convinced that the absence of either of the parties to the disputes is on valid grounds, the Committee shall adjourn that particular meeting of the Committee for a period not exceeding five days. The meeting so adjourned shall be conducted thereafter, even if the person concerned fails to appear for the said adjourned meeting without prior intimation/valid ground.
    
    
23. All proceedings of the ICC shall be recorded in writing. The record of the proceedings and the statement of witnesses shall be endorsed by the persons concerned as well as the committee members present in token of authenticity thereof. In case the minutes cannot be reduced in writing the same day, as audio recording of the proceedings may be made, and the written proceedings will be authenticated on a next available opportunity.
    
    
24. If the aggrieved woman desires to tender any documents by way of evidence, the Committee can supply true copies of such documents to the respondent. Similarly, if the respondent desires to tender any documents in evidence, the Committee shall supply true copies of such documents to the aggrieved woman.
    
    
25. In the event the Committee thinks that supplementary testimony is required, the Presiding Officer shall forward to the persons concerned a summary of the proceedings and allow for a time period of seven days to submit such testimony, in person or in writing, to the Committee.
    
    
26. The aggrieved woman and the respondent shall have the right of cross-examination of all witnesses. However such cross-examination shall be conducted in the form of written questions and responses via the Committee only. The respondent shall have no right to directly cross examine the aggrieved woman or her witnesses.
    
    
27. The respondent/aggrieved woman may submit to the Committee, a written list of questions that he/she desires to pose to the aggrieved woman/witness. The Committee (ICC) shall retain the right to disallow any questions that it has reason to believe to be irrelevant, mischievous, slanderous, derogatory or gender-insensitive.
    
    
28. Amicus Curie can be called for helping the committee if and when required.
    
    
29. After concluding its investigation, the Committee shall submit a detailed reasoned report to the Institute.
    
    
30. If the Committee finds no merit in the allegations, it shall report to the Company.
    
    
31. In the event the Committee finds that the allegation(s) against the respondent have been proved, it shall recommend the nature of action to be taken by the Institute. The following actions may be recommended:
    
    

• A written apology
• Warning
• Reprimand or censure
• Withholding of promotion
• Withholding of pay rise or increments
• Undergoing a counselling session
• Carrying out of community service
• Terminating the respondent from service
• Any other punishment according to the service rules applicable to the respondent

32. When the Committee arrives at the conclusion that the allegation against the respondent is malicious or the aggrieved women or any other person making the complaint has made the complaint knowing it to be false or the aggrieved women or any other person making the complaint has produced any forged or misleading document, it may recommend to the Company to take action against such falsification.
    
    
33. Nothing precludes the Institute authority from taking cognizance of any new fact or evidence which may arise or be brought before it during the pendency of the inquiry proceedings or even after the communication of the findings to appropriate Company authorities.
    
    
34. If the allegation(s) is/are proved against the respondent, the Committee may direct the Company to ensure the payment of compensation to the aggrieved woman by the respondent. The determination of compensation to the aggrieved woman shall be decided based on the following facts:
    
    

• The mental trauma, pain, suffering and emotional distress caused to the aggrieved woman.
• The loss of career opportunity due to the incident of sexual harassment. iii. Medical expenses incurred by the victim for physical or psychiatric treatment
• The income and financial status of the respondent
• Feasibility of such payment in lump sum or in instalments

35. The Company authorities will file a compliance report to the Committee within 30 days of issuance of such recommendation.
    
    
36. ICC shall have the necessary powers to take suo motu notice of incidents of sexual harassment and/or gender injustice in the Company and act against the same in such manner as it deems appropriate.
    
    
37. The identity of the aggrieved woman, respondent, witnesses and proceedings of the Committee and its recommendations and the action taken by the Institute shall not be published, communicated or made known to the public, press or media in any manner and it will be outside the purview of the Right to Information Act, 2005.
    
    
38. No legal practitioner will be allowed to represent either the aggrieved woman or the respondent in proceedings before the Complaints Committee.
    
    
39. The Committee has the powers of a civil court in the following cases.

• i. Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person related to the incident.
• ii. Requiring the discovery and production of any documents
• iii. Any other matter relating to the incident as decided by the Committee from time to time. 
  
  

40. The aggrieved woman or respondent may prefer an appeal to the competent authority.

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