Workplace Harassment: Procedure and Punishments

After this come the major punishments. Among the major punishments is demotion, meaning if he is a manager, he becomes an assistant manager, if assistant manager, he becomes a clerk, if clerk, then a peon, if peon, then an assistant peon, one grade or two grades down, however many the inquiry committee recommends based on the severity of the offence, this is the major punishment, his demotion. A reduction to a lower stage in his pay scale or time scale for a certain period. After that comes forced retirement, compulsory retirement, meaning if his conduct is very severe, he will be compulsorily retired. After that comes removal from service, meaning he is removed from that service entirely. If a person holds the post of manager, he is removed from the post of manager, removed from that service. I'm emphasizing this repeatedly so this next punishment doesn't confuse you: being removed from a post means removed from that particular post, say an administrative post, and he could then move to a managerial post, a technical post, any such arrangement is possible.

Next is dismissal from service, meaning he is dismissed from that institution, thrown out, completely dismissed. Dismissal from service, and finally there is a fine, whatever amount is recommended. This fine can be imposed and applied on him, and it is given to the complainant.

Now this fine is of two kinds: one is a fine where the inquiry committee has concluded that the institution has also suffered harm from the accused's conduct, in which case the fine might be given to the complainant, or it might be given to the institution. And if the owner himself is the accused, the owner of the institution himself, then the entire fine will go to the complainant. If the owner himself is found to be the cause of this harassment, this workplace harassment, and he is the one accused and it is established against him, then the entire fine will go to the complainant. Now let me add: it is not necessary that only one punishment be given.

Among the minor punishments, there are four, and all four can be given, or one can be given, or two can be given. Among the major punishments, one can be given, two can be given, or all five can be given. This is up to the inquiry committee, depending on how it assesses the severity of the offence. It is not that dismissal from service, dismissal along with a fine, dismissal along with removal from service, any combination can happen, these matters, these punishments can all be given under this Act.

Now, once the competent authority has made its decision along with these punishments, it must be implemented within seven days of the decision being given. Because the lawmaker had considered all circumstances, and must have reviewed reports from countless institutions. Some women are mentally unwell, suffering from some psychological condition, and if the inquiry committee reaches this conclusion, that this lady is a psychiatric patient, then not only will the inquiry committee tell the institution to get her treated, it will also grant her additional medical leave. Additional medical leave means that if her annual leave is 30 days, she should be given leave beyond those thirty days so that her treatment can proceed properly. Now this could become a long debate, about who might be unwell and who might not, there are different stages, some suffer depression, some suffer psychiatric illness, all these matters often arise from a person's social background, from the household she belongs to, what the home environment there is like, is it suspicious-minded, full of contradictions, agitated, balanced, this all stems from there, or some women have had certain events in their lives that they can never fully move past mentally. If one person did something to them, they see every person the same way, in the same light.

These matters arise in the workplace, but I also want to say here that these complaints can be false as well as true, the decision must rest on evidence, the decision must rest on testimony. Now, once the competent authority gives its decision, and any party finds this decision difficult, is aggrieved by the decision, does not accept it, says this decision is not based on justice, then within thirty days, under Section 6, they can file an appeal with the Ombudsman's office. If the Ombudsman's office is vacant, if there is no one there, there is no need to worry. You can go to the District Court, as long as the Ombudsman's office is vacant, you go to the District Court, taking that same appeal, and the District Judge will examine it with the same authority that the Ombudsman would have, and as soon as an Ombudsman is appointed to that office, the District Judge will forward that complaint to the Ombudsman, and the Ombudsman will examine it. The Ombudsman may agree with the decision or may disagree with it. He may partially agree and partially disagree. To clarify what partial agreement and partial disagreement means: say three punishments were given, one of them may be removed. He was given a punishment, that punishment may be cancelled. He was given a major punishment, it may be reduced to a minor punishment. These are the kinds of adjustments made, and the Ombudsman also has the authority to declare the decision null and void and cancel it altogether, but here too there is a restriction, that his order must come with reasons.

Now, if you, the complainant, had your complaint upheld and a punishment was imposed, and the Ombudsman cancelled that punishment, the matter doesn't end there, you still have a further forum available. That forum exists in the form of representation. You can file a representation to the Governor against these decisions. The complainant filed a complaint, it was upheld, the Ombudsman cancelled it, you can take a representation to the Governor, or if the complainant's complaint was upheld and the Ombudsman also upheld it, the accused can take a representation to the Governor. And the Governor has all the same authority available to him as everyone else in this chain, but once the Governor's decision comes, that decision is final and closed.

This was a brief overview. Now, this same Act also addresses contempt: misuse of authority will not be allowed, a friendly environment will not be allowed to develop that undermines the process, good relations here will not be viewed favourably, and if the accused retaliates, this too is fully covered, that, sir, all this is happening because a decision is going against me, this evidence has been imposed on me against me, he is being aggressive about it, there are countless real situations like this covered in it.

So I have given you a solution, this procedure is not rocket science. You should have courage if this has happened to you, if this has happened to you, you should have the courage to act. I've told you everything about the punishments, the consequences.

I hope I have given you a complete lecture on this subject, and there is no further ambiguity in it. If anyone wants to ask me more about this, they can call me, between 3 and 7.