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SHTC
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11 June 2025
Why Regularly Update Harassment Prevention Policies
Today, when companies focus on progress and regulations, it is essential to guarantee that every employee feels safe and respected. A main part of this process is regularly putting in place and altering sexual harassment prevention policies. When organizations make policies, they tend to ignore the need to review and update them to ensure they are useful and follow the rules.
In our blog, we want to explain why we should reassess these policies, how they help with the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Act, and how online and in-person training programs in Delhi can help with this matter.
Why Sexual Harassment Policies Need Regular Updates
The policy against sexual harassment should be flexible. It should keep changing along with changes in:
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Workplace dynamics
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Legal amendments
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People’s views on what harassment means
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Suggestions from workers and case studies
If a company’s policies are not updated properly, it may expose itself to legal issues, make employees feel dissatisfied, and hurt the organization’s reputation. Now we should further examine the factors that make updating regularly essential.
1. Compliance with the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act
As per India’s Prevention of Sexual Harassment Act, which is officially known as the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, all employers must make sure harassment in the workplace does not happen and that if it does, it is redressed.
With time, the ways in which the legislation is interpreted and applied have changed. Rules from case studies and written releases from the government add to what employers must do. For instance:
- Changes in reporting processes
- Clearing up the guidelines for what workplace boundaries include, especially for remote employees
- Going beyond looking at only the experience of women to look at the experiences of all genders
- To maintain compliance, teams in HR need to often adjust their internal policies according to the current laws.
2. Creating Awareness through POSH Training for Employees
A solid policy is meaningless if employees are unaware of it and do not follow its rules. At this step, POSH training for staff is very important.
- Training both on the internet and in person regularly benefits our knowledge and skills.
- They know the right and wrong ways to act at work.
- They are able to handle incidents in a confidential way.
- They are encouraged to take action in the right way.
POSH Training Online is a useful choice for organizations with teams that are either in different places or mix remote and office work. When companies want training in specific regulations, attending a POSH session in Delhi is much appreciateable.
All new policies need to be included in the training process so that employees are taught about the current rules and the ways to address them.
3. Adapting to the Hybrid and Remote Work Culture
The world of work has been significantly transformed after the coronavirus pandemic. It is now possible for harassment to happen during Zoom calls, talks on Slack, or through cooperative work done online.
It is possible that old policies do not address issues that remote work brings.
- Virtual misconduct
- Issues caused by improper messages in workplace chats
- Dealing with harassment while joining a virtual meeting
Because of this shift, dealing with sexual harassment should happen in a new modern way using technology. It is important to update policies often, so training covers sexual harassment that happens in digital situations or cases.
4. Changing Workforce Demographics and Expectations
The work environment is undergoing fast developments. Employees from Gen Z are looking for companies that are clear, open to everyone, and provide active HR policies. People tend to raise complaints about companies on social media or review sites if their conduct is not properly handled.
- Updated policies:
- Support and stand by progressive beliefs.
- Always use languages that don’t distinguish people by gender or sexual orientation.
- Prove that the company cares about its employees’ welfare.
Because of this approach, talented employees tend to stay, the employer’s reputation grows, and trust increases among colleagues.
5. Learning from Internal Feedback and Past Incidents
When employees give feedback or data about previous mistakes is available, organizations should use those insights to update their policies in the future.
For instance:
- Was there a delay when addressing your complaint?
- Was the investigation unclear on points or did it lack sufficient steps?
- Did employees not know how to proceed about making a claim?
They help a lot in making the complaint process better, highlighting tasks for the Internal Committee, and addressing the issues at hand.
If a policy remains the same, it fails to make use of ways to advance progress. A developing organization keeps up with them.
6. Better Enforcement and Internal Committee Efficiency
The POSH Act chiefly depends on the Internal Committee for handling complaints. When policies are not clear or proper guidance is not given, they may come across many problems.
- Investigation timelines
- Documentation protocols
- Decision-making consistency
If an organization updates its IC policy, tasks handled by the IC are more streamlined, risks are lower, and the redressal process improves its reputation. It supports using fair and trauma-sensitive ways in handling different situations.
7. Boosting Organizational Culture and Trust
Staff members are more inclined to tell about harassment or provide help to others when they are certain that concerns will be handled promptly and fairly. If policies are outdated, it may cause people to be confused or distrustful and stop them from reporting incidents.
When employees notice regular news, clear instructions, and clear training like POSH Training for Employees, it helps them in the following ways:
- It helps people believe in the system.
- Spanish law has no tolerance for misconduct.
- Ensures everyone feels safe at work psychologically
- Culture depends not only on rules, but also on how regularly and honestly they are looked at and reinforced once more.
- Best Practices for Policy Updates
- The best framework for making changes to policies
Here are a few things to keep your sexual harassment prevention policy up to date and abiding by the regulations:
✅ It is important to have regular reviews of the company policy.
- Mark an annual date in your calendar to check and review your POSH policy.
- Getting Advice from a Lawyer
- Ensure you join hands with legal experts who know about the details of POSH regulations.
- POSH provides special training programs.
- Take advantage of POSH Training online and in Delhi, so your training processes new policy updates.
- Involvement of Employees
- Ask employees to take part in anonymous surveys or give their opinions on the organization’s policies and the ways they are put into practice.
- Information from several departments should be used.
- Despite where employees work, these three departments should cooperate to improve policies
Read More: https://www.shtc.co.in/blog/how-to-respond-to-a-sexual-harassment-complaint
Read More: https://www.shtc.co.in/blog/workplace-harassment-laws-every-woman-should-be-aware-of