Is a POSH Policy Required for a 20-Employee Startup with Everyone Working from Home? How Do You Navigate This?

Is the POSH policy mandatory for a startup with 20 employees, all of whom are working from home?

Work from Home and Workplace Definition

Work from home is an arrangement that extends the physical workplace. If you earn a salary by working from home, that place cannot be separated from the definition of the workplace. As such, any harassment to a female employee at that house should come under the purview of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act.

POSH Policy Coverage

The POSH policy covers women employees as well as visitors. It also addresses harassment of women employees and visitors from outsiders and visitors within the premises.

Challenges of Work From Home (WFH)

When WFH is implemented, while the possibility of physical harassment is eliminated, the possibility of oral harassment and visual malpractices are still prevalent, including through communication on WhatsApp, email, and other methods.

Therefore, it is unprofessional to say that WFH stops sexual harassment automatically. You need to have a POSH policy, and it should be modified to include the WFH and all possible scenarios in which sexual harassment can still happen online.