The theme of International Women’s Day, 2026 was ‘Give to Gain’. The campaign focused on cultivating a culture of generosity towards women’s causes. It attempted to highlight that contributing to women’s causes, in any way possible, is a step towards collective progress. The theme was a much-needed reminder for organisational leaderships on the importance of investing in and building strong systems for their women employees. One such system requiring constant attention is the one pertaining to safety of women at work, specifically Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Work (PoSH).
In India, despite the compliance mandate of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (PoSH Act), companies often approach PoSH compliance with hesitation. It is an uncomfortable topic to discuss due to its sensitive nature. The resistance also stems from the incorrect and dated belief that talking about PoSH implies that there are underlying issues. PoSH is often viewed as compliance heavy; an unnecessary addition to the expense bracket and a legal checkbox that is required to be ticked off. Why keep an External Member if you have never encountered a sexual harassment complaint from your employees in the last three years? Why do periodical awareness trainings if PoSH is part of the onboarding briefing? The answer is that a preventive culture is simply more financially prudent. Employees speak up and issues get addressed before escalation only when there are proper systems in place. It is far more sensible to invest in strong systems upfront than pay the price of crisis PR for reputational damage and legal consequences when issues escalate.
Another way in which investing in PoSH helps organisations is its impact on Employee wellness. A robust PoSH framework certainly strengthens workplace safety. It also helps with talent attraction and retention. Sexual harassment at workplaces impacts individuals both personally and professionally. It has an impact on psychological safety, engagement at work, productivity, among others. Safe workplaces help employees focus on work performance. Consequently, organisations stand to gain because there is lesser spends on replacement, training, new hiring etc.
It also helps with the sustainable growth of organisation irrespective of what stage of growth they are at. For large organisations, reporting on PoSH is one of the criteria for ESG reporting as per the BRSR framework. For newer entities seeking investments, it is a tangible step in improving investor confidence.
At its core, PoSH Compliance is a strategic organisational investment. When one considers the true gains of workplace safety, it becomes clear that PoSH Compliance is one of the best investments any organisation can make. PoSH compliance not only strengthens organisational culture, but it genuinely transforms organisations into safe and respectful workplaces where employees thrive.