Compliance
Is the POSH Act applicable to a clinic? Committee at 10 staff What the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013 asks of a clinic of any size.
A clinic is a workplace under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, whether it has two staff or twenty. What changes at ten workers is who hears a complaint. We read the Act as published in the Gazette of India on 23 April 2013 and set out the duties for a small OPD.
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- "Workplace" includes any private establishment carrying on "health services" and, separately, "hospitals or nursing homes" (s.2(o)(ii), (iii)). Section 3(1): "No woman shall be subjected to sexual harassment at any workplace."
- Section 4(1): "Every employer of a workplace shall, by an order in writing, constitute a Committee to be known as the 'Internal Complaints Committee'". Section 6(1) sends complaints from establishments "having less than ten workers", or against the employer himself, to the district Local Complaints Committee.
- Section 19 lists ten employer duties that apply at any size, including a safe working environment, a displayed notice of penal consequences, regular awareness programmes and treating sexual harassment as misconduct. Failure to constitute an Internal Committee or to act under sections 13, 14 and 22 is punishable with a fine up to ₹50,000 (s.26(1)).
The POSH Act applies to a clinic from the first employee. A clinic with ten or more workers must constitute an Internal Committee by a written order; a clinic with fewer than ten does not form one, and a complaint from its staff goes to the Local Committee that the District Officer constitutes for the district. The employer's other duties in section 19, from displaying the penal consequences to running awareness sessions, do not depend on the head count. That is the whole answer; the rest of this post is the detail a clinic owner needs to act on it.
Does the POSH Act apply to a small clinic?
Yes. Section 2(o) defines "workplace" to include "any private sector organisation or a private venture, undertaking, enterprise, institution, establishment, society, trust, non-governmental organisation, unit or service provider carrying on commercial, professional, vocational, educational, entertainmental, industrial, health services or financial activities" (clause (ii)), and names "hospitals or nursing homes" on their own (clause (iii)). Clause (v) adds "any place visited by the employee arising out of or during the course of employment", so a home visit or a camp is also the workplace. Section 3(1) is the prohibition itself: "No woman shall be subjected to sexual harassment at any workplace."
Section 2(n) says "sexual harassment" includes unwelcome "physical contact and advances", "a demand or request for sexual favours", "making sexually coloured remarks", "showing pornography" and "any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature". Section 3(2) adds the circumstances that may make conduct harassment, including an implied or explicit promise or threat about her employment and "interference with her work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment for her". The Act protects women; the complainant may be an employee, and the respondent may be anyone at the workplace, including a patient's relative or a visiting consultant.
Internal Committee at ten workers, Local Committee below that
| Clinic size | Body | What the Act says | Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ten or more workers | Internal Complaints Committee, constituted by the employer by an order in writing | "Every employer of a workplace shall, by an order in writing, constitute a Committee to be known as the 'Internal Complaints Committee'" | s.4(1) |
| Fewer than ten workers | Local Complaints Committee of the district | Receives complaints "from establishments where the Internal Complaints Committee has not been constituted due to having less than ten workers or if the complaint is against the employer himself" | s.6(1) |
| Any size, complaint against the owner-doctor | Local Complaints Committee | Same clause: "or if the complaint is against the employer himself" | s.6(1) |
The Act counts "workers", and clause 2(p) describes the unorganised sector as an enterprise where "the number of such workers is less than ten". Count everyone who works at the clinic: the receptionist, the attendant, the nurse, the cleaner, the salaried doctor. A single-doctor clinic with four staff is below ten, forms no committee, and should know where the district's Local Committee sits; the District Officer also designates a nodal officer in every ward or municipality to receive complaints and forward them within seven days (s.6(2)).
How to constitute an Internal Committee in a clinic of ten or more
- Issue a written order naming the members. Section 4(1) requires "an order in writing"; a notice on the board with the names and date is the order.
- Name a Presiding Officer "who shall be a woman employed at a senior level at workplace from amongst the employees" (s.4(2)(a)). If no senior woman is available, the proviso lets you nominate one from another workplace of the same employer or from another organisation.
- Name "not less than two Members from amongst employees preferably committed to the cause of women or who have had experience in social work or have legal knowledge" (s.4(2)(b)).
- Name one external member "from amongst non-governmental organisations or associations committed to the cause of women or a person familiar with the issues relating to sexual harassment" (s.4(2)(c)). The employer pays this member's fees as prescribed (s.4(4)).
- Check that "at least one-half of the total Members so nominated shall be women" (s.4(2), proviso).
- Fix the term: members hold office "for such period, not exceeding three years, from the date of their nomination as may be specified by the employer" (s.4(3)). Diarise the renewal.
- Display the order and the penal consequences of sexual harassment at a conspicuous place (s.19(b)).
A clinic of ten to fifteen that has no senior woman employee is the common case. The proviso to section 4(2)(a) is written for it: nominate a presiding officer from another organisation. A doctor who owns two clinics can nominate a senior woman from the other one.
What every clinic owner must do, whatever the head count
Section 19 begins "Every employer shall" and lists ten duties. For a clinic they read as follows.
| Clause | Duty | What it means at an OPD |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | "provide a safe working environment at the workplace which shall include safety from the persons coming into contact at the workplace" | Patients and attendants are "persons coming into contact"; the front desk is not left alone with a hostile visitor |
| (b) | "display at any conspicuous place in the workplace, the penal consequences of sexual harassments; and the order constituting, the Internal Committee" | A notice in the staff area; the committee order only where one exists |
| (c) | "organise workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitising the employees with the provisions of the Act and orientation programmes for the members of the Internal Committee" | A short session at induction and once a year, with a signed attendance sheet |
| (d), (e), (f) | Provide facilities to the committee, help secure the attendance of the respondent and witnesses, and give the committee the information it needs | Applies to the Local Committee too |
| (g), (h) | Help the woman file a police complaint if she chooses, and initiate action against the perpetrator, including a non-employee at the workplace | A patient's relative who harasses a nurse is covered by (h) |
| (i) | "treat sexual harassment as a misconduct under the service rules and initiate action for such misconduct" | Write it into the appointment letter's misconduct clause |
| (j) | "monitor the timely submission of reports by the Internal Committee" | The annual report under s.21 |
What happens when a complaint is made
Section 9(1) lets an aggrieved woman complain in writing "within a period of three months from the date of incident and in case of a series of incidents, within a period of three months from the date of last incident"; the committee may extend that by up to three months for reasons recorded in writing, and must help her put an oral complaint into writing. The inquiry, conciliation and interim-relief provisions in sections 10 to 15 then run before the Internal or Local Committee. A clinic's job during the inquiry is in section 19(d) to (f): give the committee a room, the records and the witnesses.
The annual report and the penalty
Section 21(1): the Internal Committee or the Local Committee "shall in each calendar year prepare, in such form and at such time as may be prescribed, an annual report and submit the same to the employer and the District Officer". Section 22 then requires the employer to "include in its report the number of cases filed, if any, and their disposal under this Act in the annual report of his organisation or where no such report is required to be prepared, intimate such number of cases, if any, to the District Officer". A proprietary clinic prepares no annual report, so the duty is the intimation to the District Officer.
Section 26(1) makes an employer who fails to constitute an Internal Committee under section 4(1), fails to take action under sections 13, 14 and 22, or contravenes the Act or rules, "punishable with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees". Section 26(2) doubles the punishment on a repeat conviction and allows "cancellation of his licence or withdrawal, or non-renewal, or approval, or cancellation of the registration ... required for carrying on his business or activity". For a clinic that registration is the one under the state's Clinical Establishments Act or Shops Act.
Questions
Does a clinic with five employees need an Internal Committee?
No. Section 6(1) routes complaints from establishments "having less than ten workers" to the district Local Complaints Committee. The clinic still has the section 19 duties: a safe workplace, the displayed notice, awareness sessions and treating harassment as misconduct.
Can the doctor-owner be the presiding officer?
The presiding officer must be "a woman employed at a senior level at workplace from amongst the employees" (s.4(2)(a)). A woman doctor who owns the clinic is the employer, not an employee, and a complaint against the employer goes to the Local Committee in any case (s.6(1)). Nominate a senior woman employee, or one from another workplace under the proviso.
Is there a time limit for a complaint?
Three months from the incident, or from the last of a series of incidents, extendable by up to three months for reasons recorded in writing (s.9(1)).
What is the penalty for not forming the committee?
A fine that may extend to ₹50,000 (s.26(1)); on a second conviction, double the punishment and possible cancellation of the licence or registration needed to run the business (s.26(2)).
Sources
- Ministry of Law and Justice, The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (No. 14 of 2013), Gazette of India Extraordinary, Part II, Section 1, 23 Apr 2013: ss.2(n), 2(o), 2(p), 3, 4, 6, 9, 19, 21, 22, 26 (Gazette scan hosted by IIM Shillong) (accessed 30 Oct 2026)
- India Code, The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013, Act No. 14 of 2013 (accessed 30 Oct 2026)
This is operational guidance for clinics, not legal or tax advice. Confirm with your state authority, council or CA.
Drafted with AI assistance; every fact checked against the sources listed; reviewed by the Vitels team.