Workplace safety has always been a priority for HR and compliance teams, but over the past decade, the expectations around it have significantly evolved—especially when it comes to sexual harassment. The PoSH Act, 2013 laid the foundation for protecting women at work, and over time, its implementation has become much more nuanced, inclusive, and practical.
As we step into 2025, the role of HR and compliance in ensuring PoSH compliance is more critical than ever. This blog explores how PoSH compliance has evolved over the years, the challenges HR and compliance teams are actively navigating today, and what modern day organizations are doing to tackle them.
The Evolution of PoSH Compliance
When the PoSH Act was introduced in 2013, it created a legal mandate for companies to act on workplace harassment. For many HR teams back then, the initial focus was on checking the basic compliance boxes: setting up Internal Committees (ICs), rolling out PoSH policies, and conducting annual awareness sessions.
But as workplaces have grown more complex—and conversations around gender, power, and safety have become more nuanced—compliance has evolved too. Here’s how:
1.From Reactive to Proactive
Initially, PoSH was seen mostly as a mechanism to react to complaints. Now, many HR teams are taking a more proactive and preventive approach—embedding respectful workplace behaviors into their culture, training people managers, and making psychological safety a core part of employee experience.
2. From One-Off Training to Continuous Learning
Mandatory annual PoSH training still exists, but organizations are moving toward microlearning-scenario-based PoSH e-learning modules that are more engaging and easier to retain. Some companies are even integrating these modules into onboarding or leadership development programs.
3.From Women-Only Focus to Inclusive Safety
Though the POSH Act 2013 is focused on protecting women, workplace conversations have expanded to cover all genders, sexual orientations, and diverse identities. Many HR teams now use PoSH compliance as a starting point for building inclusive workplaces, creating parallel policies or grievance mechanisms for all employees.
4.From Physical Workplaces to Hybrid and Virtual Spaces
The rise of remote and hybrid work has forced a mindset shift. Harassment isn’t just physical anymore—it can happen in a Zoom meeting, over chat, or via inappropriate messages. Today’s compliance efforts need to reflect this reality, with policies that are clear on what’s acceptable across all communication channels.
Current Challenges in PoSH Compliance
Despite progress, challenges persist—especially with evolving work models and shifting cultural expectations. Here are some of the key pain points HR and compliance leaders are grappling with:
1. Remote Work and Digital Harassment
Blurred boundaries in virtual communication can create confusion around what constitutes harassment. Inappropriate jokes on chat, unwelcome video call behavior, or passive-aggressive emails—these can be harder to call out or track.
Companies are updating their PoSH and Code of Conduct policies to clearly outline what harassment looks like in a virtual setting and training employees on digital etiquette and respectful remote behavior.
2. Fear of Retaliation or Escalation
Many employees still hesitate to speak up, fearing backlash, being labeled “troublemakers,” or being socially isolated. This is especially common in smaller organizations or tight-knit teams.
However, organizations are creating helplines, speak up forums and strong whistleblowing and anti-retaliation polices so that employees do not fear retaliation and can report any sexual harassment complaint fearlessly.
3. IC Setup and Sensitivity
Setting up an IC isn’t just about ticking off the legal requirement—it’s about ensuring the members are trained, empathetic, and impartial. Many committee members lack the confidence or skills to handle sensitive cases.
Companies are now investing in specialized training for IC members, including online training modules which are administered every 6 months specially for new IC members, and sensitivity workshops to ensure fair and respectful handling.
4. Documentation and Transparency
Some HR and compliance teams still struggle with documentation like maintaining records of complaints, investigations, filing of PoSH Annual Reports, risking non-compliance under the PoSH Act, 2013.
Introducing digital PoSH compliance tools that help track complaints, timelines, and outcomes securely has helped streamline and standardize processes.
How Organizations Are Strengthening Their PoSH Framework in 2025
Leading companies today are looking beyond minimum compliance. Here’s what we’re seeing from forward-thinking HR and compliance teams:
Making PoSH Everyone’s Responsibility
Instead of siloing PoSH compliance within HR, companies are getting leaders, people managers, and even peers involved in creating a respectful culture. This could mean bystander intervention training or making empathy part of performance reviews.
Emphasizing Psychological Safety
PoSH is no longer only about avoiding legal consequences—it’s about building environments where people feel safe to speak up, share feedback, and be their authentic selves. Many HR teams are now integrating mental health support and DE&I strategies with PoSH efforts.
Regular Review and Feedback
Organizations must review their PoSH policies annually, inviting feedback from employees, and adapting to changing norms—especially as more Gen Z employees enter the workforce with different expectations around respect, safety, and consent.
As workplaces become more diverse, distributed, and digitized, HR and compliance teams have a unique opportunity to drive real impact by:
- Keeping policies inclusive and up to date
- Making reporting safe and simple
- PoSH training should go beyond compliance to build empathy and awareness
- Empowering ICs to act fairly and confidently
- Partnering with employees to co-create respectful work cultures
Because at the end of the day, a safe workplace isn’t just about preventing harassment—it’s about enabling everyone to thrive.
