Act No. 14 of 2013
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013
Enacted
22 April 2013
Commencement
9 December 2013 (vide Notification S.O. 3607(E), dated 9.12.2013)
Jurisdiction
Whole of India
Source
- Official source
- India Code, Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India
- Source version
- India Code PDF — last updated 31 August 2021
- Source location
- India Code PDF, pp. 3–14
- Retrieved
Statutory blocks are kept separate from PIH plain-language and operational guidance. The reading copy is not legal advice.
Legal review status: counsel-reviewed for all 30 sections. All sections have valid documentary counsel evidence and publication signals are enabled.
Judicial material: no verified judicial interpretation is published in this reading copy. Judicial analysis is a separate layer from the statutory transcription and PIH editorial guidance.
About This Publication
What This Act Addresses
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is India's comprehensive legislative framework for preventing and addressing sexual harassment at every workplace. It creates institutional mechanisms — the Internal Committee and Local Committee — to receive, inquire into, and resolve complaints.
The Act applies to all employers, whether in the public or private sector, and covers a broad range of workers including permanent employees, contract workers, trainees, and domestic workers. It establishes clear duties for employers, structured procedures for committees, and defined rights for aggrieved women.
This publication presents official-source statutory blocks chapter by chapter, followed by clearly separated PIH editorial explanation. The complete corpus has been counsel-reviewed for publication. This is not legal advice.
Chapters of the Act
The POSH Act is organised into eight chapters covering definitions, committee constitution, complaints, inquiry, employer duties, and enforcement.
Chapter I · Sections 1–3
Preliminary
Scope, definitions, and the Act's baseline prohibition against sexual harassment at the workplace.
Chapter II · Sections 4
Constitution of Internal Complaints Committee
How an employer constitutes the Internal Committee and who must sit on it.
Chapter III · Sections 5–8
Constitution of Local Complaints Committee
District-level committee structure for smaller workplaces and complaints against employers.
Chapter IV · Sections 9–11
Complaint
Who can complain, the complaint window, and when conciliation can happen.
Chapter V · Sections 12–18
Inquiry into Complaint
Inquiry process, interim relief, findings, compensation, confidentiality, and appeal rights.
Chapter VI · Sections 19
Duties of Employer
Standing compliance duties employers must operationalise across the workplace.
Chapter VII · Sections 20
Duties and Powers of District Officer
District-level oversight duties that support the Local Committee system.
Chapter VIII · Sections 21–30
Miscellaneous
Reporting, inspections, penalties, rule-making, and residual powers under the Act.
How To Use
Navigating This Publication
Chapter pages provide an overview of each chapter, listing all sections with their official titles and a summary of the chapter's purpose and scope.
Section pages present official-source statutory blocks followed by clearly labelled plain-language explanations, practical guidance, compliance requirements, and related provisions.
The full-text route renders all 30 section overviews sequentially for continuous reading or printing.
Search covers section numbers, official titles, section overviews, and plain-language explanations.
Editorial Note
Publication Status and Editorial Boundary
The statutory blocks are transcribed from the official India Code source. PIH plain-language explanations, examples, cross-references, and operational guidance are editorial material and must not be read as legal advice.
Publication signals are active following whole-corpus counsel review. The linked India Code source remains the official reference.
This publication does not provide legal advice. Consult a qualified legal professional for specific compliance questions.
Disclaimer
Editorial and Legal Boundary
This reading copy separates the statutory transcription from PIH editorial explanation and practical guidance. It is not a substitute for the official source or legal advice.
The whole corpus has documentary counsel evidence, so these routes are eligible for indexation and sitemap inclusion. The official India Code source remains linked for verification.
This publication does not constitute legal advice. Consult a qualified legal professional for specific compliance questions.