BENGALURU / KOLKATA: The Me Too movement did help make workplaces much safer for women but the menace of sexual harassment at work still lingers and has gone digital as a majority of India Inc employees work from home amid Covid-19.
A number of companies have started providing training and guidance for employees to recognise and avoid unwanted gestures and behaviours during virtual meetings to check a surge in incidents of online harassment.
Use of inappropriate language or gestures during virtual meetings, making sexually coloured remarks, and unwarranted requests for video calls after office hours – these are some of the behaviours being blacklisted by companies such as PhonePe, NatWest Group India, Razorpay, and Wakefit.co.
“We are sending regular communication to employees, encouraging them to be aware and report any unwelcome behaviour with sexual undertones,” said Anuradha Bharat, head – people operations at Razorpay.
The Bengaluru-based payment solutions startup is training employees across the board on behaviours to avoid in a remote working environment, and changes have been made to the remote working guidelines to include sections that cover PoSH (prevention of sexual harassment). “Managers are also receiving training on various scenarios that can occur and how they can be dealt with,” Bharat said.
Employees of its rival PhonePe, too, have been put through a refresher course to remind them “of their rights and responsibilities towards prevention of any kind of sexual harassment, particularly in the given scenario of working virtually”, its chief people’s officer Manmeet Sandhu told ET.
Organisations such as compliance learning provider eLearnPOSH.com and Avtar Group, a HR consultancy with focus on diversity and inclusion, are helping companies train their employees and improve awareness.
“In the Tier II and III cities, women employees may not even be aware that making gender-biased statements, jokes and remarks can amount to sexual harassment,” said Saundarya Rajesh, founder-president of Avtar Group. “Awareness sessions must be conducted regularly not only for employees, but even customers, suppliers and vendors or those who may have direct access now in the context of virtual environments.”
She said the PoSH Act was defined keeping in mind that sexual harassment can occur via digital medium as well. However, virtual communication also provides a certain degree of anonymity similar to the internet and other social media platforms, Rajesh said.
Santhosh KT, founder of eLearnPOSH.com, that been rolling out learning material on safe remote working and respecting employees’ privacy for partner organisations, said, “Companies are also putting virtual conferencing rules in place, which include having to give sufficient notice for a video call, and not forcing employees to switch their video on.”
Wakefit.co is creating virtual content to drive awareness around sexual harassment in a remote working scenario. “Sometimes people are totally unaware that they may be crossing a line – so sensitisation is the key,” said Chaitanya Ramalingegowda, cofounder of the Bengaluru-based mattress and sleep solutions startup. “We have initiated discussions and training around situational examples so that employees know what to do if such situations arise.”
Maneesh Menda, head of HR at NatWest Group India (formerly RBS India), said, “We are enhancing the guidance and training for all colleagues to reflect the new way of working as we have zero tolerance for harassment of any kind.”
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