2. Does Indirect Harassment Fall Under the POSH Act?
3. Common Workplace Situations Where Indirect Harassment Appears
4. Indirect vs Direct Harassment: Key Difference
5. Intent vs Impact: What Matters in Workplace Harassment
6. What Employees and the Internal Committee (IC) Can Do
7. How to Identify Indirect Harassment (Quick Test)
8. Quick Clarity: When Should You Raise a Concern?
9. FAQs on Indirect Harassment
The POSH Act, 2013 indicates that any sexually-coloured action by a person that can have a negative impact is considered as sexual harassment. It is not necessary for the victim to be present when the harassing behaviour occurs.
Indirect Harassment
Now there arises another question. What about the respondent’s team members who had to listen to the manager’s abusive and offensive language? Were they subjected to harassment? If the manager’s behaviour has offended his team members, it definitely is harassment. According to the concept of indirect harassment, it is not necessary that the complainant must be the target of harassment. Anyone who witnessed harassing behaviour can also file a complaint as they were subjected to indirect harassment.
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Does Indirect Harassment Fall Under the POSH Act?
Indirect harassment is not specifically defined under the POSH Act, 2013. However, the Act takes a broad view of workplace harassment and focuses on the nature and impact of the conduct.
A situation may fall within the POSH framework when the conduct is sexual in nature, unwelcome, and affects the dignity, safety, or work environment of employees. This means that behaviour does not need to be directed at a specific individual to be relevant under POSH.
For example, sharing sexually suggestive content in a workplace group or making repeated inappropriate remarks in team settings may affect employees who are exposed to such conduct, even if no one is directly targeted.
At the same time, not all indirect harassment becomes a POSH violation. If the conduct is inappropriate but not sexual in nature, it may still require action under workplace conduct policies. POSH applies specifically to sexual harassment.
Common Workplace Situations Where Indirect Harassment Appears
Indirect harassment occurs when the act was not aimed at the employee but creates a toxic atmosphere, or if simply put, a secondary victim is offended by an unwelcome conduct. This can manifest in several ways. A person is subjected to indirect harassment if he/she:
- Overhears an offensive joke or remark
- Accidentally sees an email that is sexual in nature
- Comes across offensive pictures displayed on a colleague’s desk or saved as a screensaver
- Is part of a WhatsApp group, the participants of which share offensive images and messages
- A co-worker gossips about them in their absence or
- Witnesses someone being sexually harassed
Indirect harassment is identified not by who is targeted, but by how the workplace environment is affected.
Indirect vs Direct Harassment: Key Difference
Direct harassment occurs when inappropriate conduct is aimed at a specific individual. Indirect harassment occurs in a shared workplace environment without one defined target.
For instance, a comment made directly to an employee about their personal life would be direct harassment. Sharing suggestive content in a team group without addressing anyone specifically may amount to indirect harassment if it affects those exposed to it.
Intent vs Impact: What Matters in Workplace Harassment
A common question in workplace harassment is whether a person’s intent determines whether their behaviour is inappropriate.
Intent refers to what a person meant by their conduct. For example, a remark may be made as a joke or content may be shared casually without any intention to offend. However, under the POSH Act, 2013, intent is not the deciding factor.
The law focuses on whether the conduct was unwelcome and whether it had the effect of creating an intimidating, offensive, or hostile work environment. This means that behaviour can still be considered inappropriate even if there was no intention to harass.
This approach ensures that workplace standards are based on how conduct is experienced, not just how it was intended.
At the same time, intent is not entirely irrelevant. It may be considered while determining the appropriate response for example, whether the conduct was a one-time lapse or part of repeated behaviour.
In practice, concerns are assessed based on:
- Whether the conduct was unwelcome
- The nature of the behaviour
- The context in which it occurred
- Its frequency or repetition
- Its impact on those exposed to it
A simple way to understand this is: if the conduct was unwelcome and affected the work environment, it may require attention, regardless of intent.
What Employees and the Internal Committee (IC) Can Do
Indirect harassment is also referred to as non-direct harassment and is as serious as direct harassment.
Employees do not need to tolerate conduct simply because it is not directed at them. If behaviour feels inappropriate in a workplace setting, they can object, disengage, or report the concern through appropriate channels.
Where the conduct is sexual in nature and unwelcome, employees may approach HR, a manager, or the Internal Committee under POSH.
It is important to note that the psychological impact of indirect harassment can also be severe and hence should be handled by the IC with the same importance given to a complaint of direct harassment. Investigation of the complaint will follow the same procedure as any other sexual harassment complaint. The topic of indirect harassment should be covered in regular POSH training as well.
Organizations and the Internal Committee should assess such concerns based on whether the conduct was sexual in nature, unwelcome, and whether it affected the workplace environment.
The response should be proportionate. Minor concerns may be addressed through sensitization or policy reminders. More serious or repeated conduct may require formal inquiry under the POSH framework.
How to Identify Indirect Harassment (Quick Test)
A situation may be considered indirect harassment if:
- No specific individual is directly targeted
- The conduct is sexual or inappropriate in nature
- It occurs in a shared workplace setting
- It affects how comfortable or appropriate the work environment feels
Quick Clarity: When Should You Raise a Concern?
A concern may be raised when behaviour feels inappropriate for a professional setting, involves sexual or suggestive content, is repeated in shared environments, or creates discomfort even without a direct target.
When in dilemma, IC can use the thumb rule of employees’ perception of safety. If any act has sexual overtones and has the potential to threaten the employees’ sense of safety within the workplace, it must be considered as sexual harassment and addressed at the earliest.
FAQs on Indirect Harassment
Conclusion
Indirect harassment may not always be directed at a specific individual, but it can still affect the workplace environment.
Recognizing such behaviour helps organizations and employees respond appropriately and maintain a professional, respectful, and safe workplace.
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