An employer should not assume that one head-office Internal Committee covers every Delhi branch. The POSH framework specifically addresses offices and administrative units located at different places and requires committees at the relevant units and offices. A company-wide policy can be coordinated centrally, but the committee structure needs a separate location-based assessment.
At the same time, the Local Committee has a statutory role for establishments with fewer than ten workers and for complaints against the employer. The practical answer therefore begins with a map of the workplace, the organisation and the people working there. It does not begin with choosing the cheapest single committee for the entire company.
A useful review distinguishes three questions: where an Internal Committee must be constituted, who may complain and which body has jurisdiction over a particular complaint. The answers are connected, but they are not identical.
Map offices and administrative units accurately
List every Delhi office, branch, service centre and other administrative unit. Include shared offices and recently opened locations. Record the legal employer, address, local management, functions, employees and relationship with other units.
Identify whether a location is an office or administrative unit in its actual operation. A separate GST registration, cost centre or lease is relevant evidence but is not the complete POSH test. Conversely, keeping one corporate registration does not prove that multiple offices are one location for committee purposes.
Use a location register:
| Field | What to record |
|---|---|
| Legal employer | Entity responsible for the workplace |
| Location and function | Office, branch, administrative unit or other work setting |
| People working there | Direct and relevant non-direct categories |
| Committee position | Written constitution order, members and term |
| Complaint route | Accessible contact and relevant Local Committee details |
| Review trigger | Opening, relocation, growth or membership change |
For hybrid teams, distinguish the organisational office from each day’s attendance. A branch does not cease to exist on days when most employees work remotely. Equally, do not mechanically describe every employee’s residence as a separate branch requiring its own committee. Assess the workplace and organisational facts.
Count people using the POSH framework
The POSH employee definition is broad. It reaches beyond permanent payroll staff to categories including contract workers, probationers, trainees and apprentices. It can include unpaid and voluntary arrangements. A count based only on people receiving salary through the company’s payroll may therefore be incomplete.
Include male employees when assessing the relevant employee strength. The Act’s protection for an aggrieved woman does not mean that the ten-person assessment counts only women. Nor should an employer wait until it recruits its first woman before considering the committee structure.
Reconcile the location list with HR, contractor deployment and training records. If a security guard or housekeeping worker is supplied through an agency, determine where the person works and how the relevant workplace relationship should be reflected. Avoid assuming that the agency’s payroll automatically removes the worker from every principal-employer assessment.
A visitor presents a different issue. A woman need not be an employee to qualify as an aggrieved woman in relation to a workplace. That does not mean every customer who enters the building becomes an employee in the headcount. Keep eligibility to complain distinct from the employee-count exercise.
A national policy is not a substitute for local constitution
The statutory office and administrative-unit provision prevents a company from assuming that headquarters alone supplies the required committee everywhere. Apply it to the actual units, read with the Local Committee jurisdiction for smaller establishments. Where the unit structure or counting position is genuinely uncertain, obtain a reasoned assessment rather than rely on a blanket under-ten branch exemption.
For example, an employer with a substantial central office and another separately managed Delhi office should examine the requirement at the second office expressly. A policy sentence directing all complaints to headquarters does not explain compliance with the location provision.
A small satellite desk needs a factual analysis: is it an administrative office, who works there, what is its relationship to the establishment and which statutory complaint route applies? Document that conclusion. Do not use the satellite label as an automatic exclusion.
Some members may be capable of serving on more than one properly constituted committee, subject to eligibility, conflicts and practical availability. That is different from treating one undifferentiated committee as automatically constituted for all locations. Each required constitution should have clear authority, membership and scope.
Check composition before describing the body as an Internal Committee
Constitute the committee by a written order. Its Presiding Officer must be a woman employed at a senior level, with the statutory alternatives considered where such a woman is unavailable. The body must include at least two employee members with the relevant commitment, experience or legal knowledge, and an external member meeting the statutory description.
At least half of the nominated members must be women. Check the actual arithmetic whenever membership changes. Replacing a woman member with a man without reconsidering the total composition can create a defect even if the committee still has four names.
The external member is not merely a signature provider. Assess relevant familiarity with sexual-harassment issues, independence, availability and ability to participate fairly. A general designation as lawyer, consultant or trainer does not explain the individual’s suitability on its own.
Set the term within the statutory maximum of three years and record its beginning and end. Keep acceptance and contact details and address disqualifications, removal and vacancies through the appropriate process. Do not wait for a complaint to discover that the constitution order expired months earlier.
The inquiry rules also prescribe a minimum of three members, including the Presiding Officer or Chairperson, for conducting an inquiry. That procedural minimum should not be confused with the full constitution requirements. A three-person hearing quorum does not authorise constituting a permanently incomplete committee.
The Local Committee is a real alternative jurisdiction
The Local Committee receives complaints from establishments where an Internal Committee has not been constituted because they have fewer than ten workers, and where the complaint is against the employer. An employer should not redirect a complaint against itself to a committee it controls merely for administrative convenience.
Delhi’s Women and Child Development implementation information identifies the District Magistrate as the District Officer for the district-level Local Committee arrangement. Use the current district administration to obtain the applicable committee and nodal-officer details. Confirm the address, receiving route and current constitution rather than circulating a personal contact copied from an old PDF.
A departmental Internal Committee is not the same as the district Local Committee. Delhi WCD’s own employee committee documents, for example, should not be treated as a general complaint committee for every private Delhi business.
Record the relevant Local Committee information in the location file and test that staff can find it. If the current contact is unclear, seek it promptly from the District Officer. Do not tell a complainant simply to search online or delay assistance while an internal headcount debate continues.
Contractors, visitors and coworking premises need coordination
A coworking provider’s committee does not automatically discharge the tenant employer’s obligations. The provider and tenant may each have responsibilities within their own workplace relationships. The lease should address access, preservation of security records and cooperation, while the legal complaint route is assessed under the Act.
For a complaint involving an agency worker, identify the aggrieved woman, respondent, workplaces and employers. Coordinate necessary records and participation while protecting confidentiality. Avoid moving the complainant from one helpdesk to another without identifying the competent body.
A customer or visitor complaint should not be rejected solely because the woman is absent from payroll. Examine whether the alleged conduct relates to the workplace. Where criminal-law assistance or action concerning a non-employee is relevant, consider the employer’s statutory duties separately from the committee’s inquiry jurisdiction.
Security footage, entry logs and messages can disappear quickly. A preservation instruction should identify the records and restrict access; it should not prejudge the complaint. Keep the complaint and evidence out of general branch-management chat groups.
Constitution and publicity must lead to an accessible process
Display and communicate the committee details and the consequences of sexual harassment as required. Check that published email addresses work, nominated members still hold office and staff know how to seek help in putting a complaint in writing.
Train committee members for their role and conduct employee awareness programmes. An external member appointment does not eliminate the need to prepare the internal members. A generic compliance presentation may not equip them to handle evidence, confidentiality, natural justice and recommendations.
Do not create an informal senior-management fact-finding panel to replace the statutory process. A 2026 Delhi High Court decision reinforces the importance of the Act’s own mechanism. Immediate safeguarding and lawful management steps should be coordinated with the competent process, rather than used to conduct a parallel merits inquiry.
Keep administration separate from case content. The branch compliance register may show that the committee is current and training occurred. It should not contain the identities and narrative of every complaint. assureOffice can support related practice records, but confidential POSH case management requires a separately controlled process; no specialist dispute-handling feature should be assumed at assureoffice.in.
Use opening and vacancy reviews as practical controls
Before opening a branch, complete the location and employee assessment, identify the committee position, issue required appointments and publish the complaint route. Include contractor onboarding and shared-space cooperation in the review.
Repeat the assessment when a branch grows, relocates, changes legal employer or takes on a substantial contractor workforce. Check committee membership when a person leaves, changes role, reaches the end of term or develops a conflict. These event-based reviews are recommended controls, while the underlying constitution duties come from law.
A central compliance team can coordinate calendars, training evidence and annual reporting. It should retain location-specific constitution records and avoid substituting one corporate acknowledgement for every required unit. Any current government portal or district submission direction should be checked against its actual scope; portal registration itself does not validate an otherwise defective committee.
The final review record should state what was checked, the conclusion and the next action. Supporting professional records at assureoffice.in can accompany the governance work, while the employer remains responsible for valid committees and accessible redress.
Frequently asked questions
1. Can the head-office committee automatically cover every branch?
No. Assess the office and administrative-unit provision and the actual location structure. A national policy or common employer does not by itself demonstrate that every required committee has been constituted. Record the conclusion for each relevant office.
2. Does a branch with fewer than ten workers always need its own committee?
The Local Committee route applies to establishments below ten workers, but the office and administrative-unit requirement also needs consideration. Do not treat every small branch as automatically separate from a larger establishment. Assess the organisational facts and document the applicable route.
3. Do male employees count?
Yes, the assessment is not limited to women. Distinguish the relevant employee strength from the class protected as an aggrieved woman. A workplace with predominantly male employees still needs to evaluate its POSH duties.
4. Should contract staff be considered?
Yes. The employee definition is broader than direct permanent payroll. Review deployment and workplace facts, including relevant agency workers. Do not assume that paying the contractor’s invoice removes every obligation concerning people working at the premises.
5. Are trainees and apprentices excluded from the count?
The POSH definition expressly includes trainee and apprentice categories. An exclusion under another labour or social-security law does not automatically carry across. Use the definition relevant to the POSH assessment.
6. Can a visitor complain?
A woman need not be an employee to be an aggrieved woman in relation to a workplace. Assess the workplace connection and competent process. This is separate from whether a visitor belongs in the employee headcount.
7. What if the complaint is against the employer?
The Local Committee has statutory jurisdiction for complaints against the employer. Identify the legally relevant employer rather than assuming every senior employee fits that category. Provide the appropriate route and do not force the complaint into a conflicted internal process.
8. Who is the District Officer in Delhi?
Delhi’s implementation information identifies the District Magistrate for the district-level arrangement. Obtain the current Local Committee and receiving details from the relevant district administration. Verify the current office rather than relying on an old individual’s name.
9. Is Delhi WCD’s own Internal Committee the Local Committee?
No. An organisation’s employee committee and a district Local Committee are different bodies. A departmental constitution order should not be circulated as the receiving authority for every private workplace in Delhi.
10. Can the same external member serve several committees?
Assess eligibility, conflicts, capacity and any applicable direction. Separate written appointments and clear committee scope are necessary where the person serves multiple bodies. Sharing a suitable member is different from assuming one committee automatically covers every branch.
11. Must the external member be a practising lawyer?
The statute provides a broader description involving relevant organisations or familiarity with sexual-harassment issues. Assess substantive suitability and independence. A legal qualification can be relevant, but the title alone does not establish that the appointment is appropriate.
12. What if there is no senior woman at a branch?
Use the statutory alternatives for nominating the Presiding Officer from other offices, units or relevant workplaces or organisations. Do not replace the required woman Presiding Officer with a man simply because local recruitment is inconvenient.
13. Is a three-member committee enough?
Do not confuse hearing quorum with constitution. The committee must meet the full statutory membership requirements. The inquiry rules’ minimum attendance requirement does not authorise leaving required seats vacant permanently.
14. Can appointments last indefinitely?
No. The statutory term cannot exceed three years. Record the dates and arrange a lawful renewal or reconstitution before expiry. A policy that still lists a former employee does not keep that person validly available as a member.
15. Does coworking transfer responsibility to the landlord?
No automatic transfer occurs. The tenant employer must assess its own duties, while the provider may have separate responsibilities. Agree cooperation and record preservation in the commercial arrangement without assuming it replaces the statutory mechanism.
16. What should happen when a member resigns during a case?
Address the vacancy promptly and obtain guidance on the valid continuation of the process. Preserve all earlier records and avoid backdating an appointment. A vacancy should not be ignored simply because a new constitution would be administratively inconvenient.
17. Can management investigate first and send its findings to the committee?
Avoid substituting an ad hoc merits investigation for the statutory process. Preserve evidence and take appropriate protective steps, but keep jurisdiction and natural justice in view. The competent body should perform its legally assigned role.
18. Does online portal registration prove compliance?
It proves the particular submission or account action completed. It does not validate member eligibility, office coverage or an expired order. Check current directions and retain acknowledgements alongside the underlying constitution evidence.
19. Should complaint details be included in a branch compliance spreadsheet?
Use restricted case records for identities and evidence. A general compliance sheet can track constitution, training and reporting tasks without revealing sensitive narratives. Apply the Act’s confidentiality requirements when preparing any disclosure or report.
20. What should a branch-opening checklist include?
Include entity and location mapping, relevant employee categories, committee or Local Committee assessment, written appointments, accessible contact details and awareness arrangements. Assign a person to review changes so that the opening-day structure remains accurate as the branch develops.