Scope
Our company policy with regards to Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal of Sexual Harassment covers every “employee” across the Company. Our company encourages every employee who believes they are sexually harassed to use the redressal mechanism as provided in this policy. Our company policy is with respect to Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal of Sexual Harassment which may arise in places not limited to geographical location viz. Company’s offices / branches but includes all such places or locations where acts are conducted in context of working relationships or whilst fulfilling professional duties or which may be visited by an employee during employment including transportation provided by the company for undertaking such visit. Our company’s policy against sexual harassment includes sexual harassment by fellow employees’ supervisors, managers as well as agents, contractors, customers, vendors, partners and visitors. Any place visited by the employee arising out of or during the course of employment including transportation provided by the employer for undertaking such journey.
Sexual harassment is judged by the impact on the complainant and not the intent of the Respondent. Sexual harassment as addressed in this Policy need not necessarily be from a male to a female employee, it can be vice versa as well as between individuals of same gender and hence our policy is applicable to both male and female employees. Purpose of this policy is to create and maintain safe work environment, free from sexual harassment & discrimination for all its employees. As per the guidelines of “The Sexual harassment of women at workplace (prevention, prohibition & redressal) Act, 2013.
Sexual Harassment includes any one or more of the following unwelcome acts or behaviour (whether directly or by implication) namely –
I. Physical contact and advances; or
II. A demand or request for sexual favours; or
III. Making sexually coloured remarks; or
IV. Showing pornography; or
V. Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature.
The following circumstances, among other circumstances, if it occurs or is present in relation to or connected with any act or behaviour of sexual harassment: -
Implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in her employment; or
Implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment in her employment; or
Implied or explicit threat about her present or future employment status;
Interference with her work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment for her; or
Humiliating treatment likely to affect her health or safety.
Internal Complaints Committee:
Internal complaints committee shall comprise as follow-
No.
Member Name
Commitee
Contact
1.
Twinkle Dhanani
Presiding Officer
+91-8299234677 ; twinkle.d@myfrido.com
2.
Mr. Sachin Shirol
Member
+91-9833072290 ; sachin.s@myfrido.com
3.
Ms.Shrushti Rangari
Member
+91-8668924637 ; shrushti.r@myfrido.com
4.
Mr. Amit Nayak
Member
+91-9482790672 ; amit.n@myfrido.com
5.
Ms. Pooja Singh
Member
+91-8551822866 ; pooja.s@myfrido.com
6.
Mr. Jai Jagannath Nangre
Member
+91-8108202525 ; jai.n@myfrido.com
7.
Dr. Sandya
Member
Every member of the ICC shall hold office for a period of three years, from the date of their nominations as may be specified by the management and it can be further extended.
Internal Complaints Committee:
Internal complaints committee shall comprise as follow-
CONTACT DETAILS
1.
Twinkle Dhanani
Presiding Officer
+91-8299234677 ; twinkle.d@myfrido.com
2.
Mr. Sachin Shirol
Member
+91-9833072290 ; sachin.s@myfrido.com
3.
Ms. Shrushti Rangari
Member
+91-8668924637 ; shrushti.4@myfrido.com
4.
Mr. Amit Nayak
Member
+91-9482790679 ; amit.n@myfrido.com
5.
Ms. Pooja Singh
Member
+91-8551822866 ; pooja.s@myfrido.com
6.
Mr. Jai Jagannath Nangre
Member
+91-8108202525 ; jai.n@myfrido.com
7.
Dr. Sandya
External Member
Every member of the ICC shall hold office for a period of three years, from the date of their nominations as may be specified by the management and it can be further extended.
Procedure of Filing a Complaint-
Any employee who wants to raise a complaint can do so via a written complaint either by submitting a physical letter to any of the ICC Members or by sending an email on posh@myfrido.com. Please note that anonymous complaints will not be accepted. In case the complainant employee is not in position to raise complaint themselves, they can authorize any other person by giving an authority letter to raise a complaint on behalf of them.
The complaint should be made by an aggrieved man / woman within a period of three months from the date of occurrence of incident and in case of a series of incidents, within a period of three months from the date of last incident. The compliant by an aggrieved man / woman employee shall be made to ICC in writing and be sent either by post or given in person to the ICC of the establishment or any officer authorized by ICC in writing.
The ICC committee can give an extension in writing, of 3 months for the aggrieved to file a complaint if it feels that the aggrieved was unable to do so because of genuine reasons. So, in total the aggrieved can get 6 months to file a complaint, under genuine circumstances.
It is, however, pertinent to state that where the aggrieved man / woman is unable to make a complaint on account of his /her physical incapacity, a complaint may be filled by –
His /Her relative or friend; or
His / Her co-worker; or
An officer of the National commission for woman or State women’s commission; or
Any person who has knowledge of the incident, with the written consent of the aggrieved man / woman;
Where the aggrieved man / woman is unable to make a complaint on account of his / her mental incapacity, a complaint may be filed by
His /Her relative of friend; or
A special educator; or
A quali ied psychiatrist or psychologist; or
The guardian or authority under whose care she is receiving treatment or care; or
Any person who has knowledge of the incident jointly with his / her relative or friend or a special educator or quali ied psychiatrist or psychologist or guardian or authority under whose care she is receiving treatment or care.
Procedure to be Followed Post Receipt of Complaint-
The ICC would go through the details of the complaint and evaluate if there is a prima facie case or not. While doing that, ICC will keep in mind that the Complainant Employee is not subjected to inquiry more than once. However, if the complaint complexity requires that the Complainant Employee is to be called more than once for enquiry, then utmost sensitivity should be displayed and adequate precaution would be taken to ensure that there is no loss of dignity to the Complainant Employee.
The ICC will initiate a detailed enquiry as deemed fit.
The ICC may, before initiating an enquiry and at the request of the Complainant Employee, take steps to settle the matter between him/her and the respondent through conciliation, provided that no monetary settlement shall be made as basis of conciliation. Where a settlement has been arrived during conciliation, the ICC shall be recorded the settlement and forward to the employer or District Officer to take action. However, if the terms arrived during conciliation have been complied with by the RE, the ICC shall proceed to make an enquiry into the complaint or as the case maybe forward the complaint to the police. The copies of the settlement as recorded during the conciliation shall be provided to both the parties.
The ICC shall after completing the enquiry, submit its recommendations to the management with recommendations of the penalty to be imposed. In case no settlement is arrived the ICC, shall, where the respondent is an employee, proceed to make inquiry into the complaint in accordance with the provisions of the service rules applicable to the respondent and where no such rules exist, in such manner as may be prescribed or in case of a domestic worker, the local committee shall, if prima facie case exists, forward the complaint to the police, within a period of seven days of registering the case under section 509 of the Indian Penal Code (45 of 1860), and any other relevant provisions of the said Code where applicable.
Where both the parties are employees, the parties shall, during enquiry, be given an opportunity of being heard and a copy of the findings shall be made available to both the parties enabling them to make representation against the finding before the Committee.
Notwithstanding anything contained in section 509 of the Indian Penal Code), the court may, when the respondent is convicted of the offence, order payment of such sums as it may consider appropriate, to the aggrieved man/woman by the respondent, having regard to the provision of the section 15 pertaining to determination of compensation.
The submission of the recommendations by the ICC to the Management shall be completed within a period of ninety days (90) from the date of receipt of the complaint by the ICC.
The HR/Personnel/Administrative Department will extend full cooperation in facilitating to conduct the proceedings by the ICC.
For making an inquiry under sub section (1), the Internal Committee shall have the same powers as are vested in a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (5 of 1908) when trying a suit in respect of the following matters, namely: -
Summoning and enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him/her on oath;
Requiring the discovery and production of documents; and
Any other matter which may be prescribed.
Guidelines To Be Kept in Mind by ICC While Recommending Action:
To conduct the enquiry as per the principles of natural justice and in a confidential manner.
In cases where the ICC has recommended to Management for compensation to be made to the Complainant Employee, then the said amount shall be deducted from the salary of the Respondent Employee and paid to the Complainant Employee or his/her legal heir/s.
Where the ICC arrives at a conclusion that the allegation against the RE is malicious or the Complainant Employee has made the complaint knowing it to be false or the Complainant Employee has produced forged or misleading document, it may recommend to the Management of the establishments to take action against the Complainant Employee as stipulated by section 14 of the SHWW Act.
Where the ICC arrives at a conclusion that during the enquiry any witness has given false evidence or produced any forged or misleading document, it may recommend to the Management to take appropriate action.
Appeal by the aggrieved Person
Any person aggrieved from the recommendations made by the ICC enquiring with the allegations against the respondent has not proved, or the ICC arrived at a conclusion that during the enquiry any witness has given false evidence or produced any forged or misleading documents or contravenes the provisions of Section 17 of the SHWW Act or when the persons entrusted with the duty to handle or deal with the complaint, the enquiry or recommendations makes known the contents of the complaint and the enquiry proceedings , or non- implementation of such recommendations may prefer an appeal to the court or tribunal in accordance with the provisions of the service rules applicable to the said person or where no such service rules exist then, without prejudice to provisions contained in any other law for time being in force.
Redressal (Disciplinary Process)
An amicable resolution of the complaint is possible only with the written consent of the complainant.
Within 24 hours of closing the case ile, the internal committee shall present the same to and inform its decision to the Managing Director.
In case of decision establishing the offence of Sexual Harassment of the complainant, within 3 working days, the internal committee shall recommend Disciplinary action against the offender considering the nature and extent of injury caused to the complainant, prior complaints or repetition of offence etc. and the impact of the offence on the company pro ile as a whole.
The position of the offender and the criticality of the position occupied by the offender shall not be any hindrance to the disciplinary action taken against the offender.
The disciplinary action that shall be commensurate with the nature of the gravity of the offence, shall include but not limited to,
Warning
Written apology from offender,
Bond of good behaviour
Transfer
Debarring from supervisory duties
Denial of employee benefits like increments/promotion/salary correction etc.
Cancellation of specific work Assignment
Suspension
Dismissal
Actions
The Committee shall on completion of the enquiry provide a report of its findings within 10 days from the date of completion of the enquiry and such report shall be made available to the concerned parties.
If the allegation against the respondent has not been proven, the Committee may recommend that no action needs to be taken in the matter.
If the Internal Complaints Committee arrives at the conclusion that the allegation against the respondent has been proved, it shall recommend to:
Take action for sexual harassment as a misconduct.
To tender written apology to the complainant, issue warning, withholding of promotions / increments of the Respondent, terminating the Respondent.
To deduct from salary of the respondent or issue direction for payment; such sum as it may consider appropriate to be paid to the aggrieved person or to their legal heirs, as it may determine.
Such action will be taken within 60 days of the receipt of report.
Arcatron has added the following instructions to ensure, to the best of its ability, the security of its
Staff
No employee will be subject to any form of retaliation for making a good faith report of conduct that they believe violates the aforementioned policies.
If attending work related social events, meetings, dinners, etc. outside of of ice hours, employees should try and have another Arcatron staff member accompany them if possible. Employees must inform their supervisors of any such events they plan to attend.
Employees must use sound judgment when socializing with external contacts developed through work initiatives. For ex: IPF members, DSI entrepreneurs, portfolio organization staff, donors, etc.
Employees travelling for work must inform their supervisors of the dates, duration, location, and purpose of the visit. Contact information for the partner organization must be documented and provided to a supervisor.
During site visits, or work related travel, employees must use sound judgment at all times and take every measure to ensure their safety. Examples of things to consider may include: Understanding if it is safe to go out at night on your own; keeping host and supervisor informed regarding where you will be staying; avoid attracting unnecessary attention to yourself with unruly behavior; understanding from the host organization any cultural or local sensitivities.
Employees /fellows/interns catching up after office hours have to be careful and should take care of themselves as Arcatron will have no control over any accidents that may occur after office hours
