1. Short title and commencement:-
(1)
These rules may be
cited as the Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Rules
2013.
(2)
They shall come
into force at once.
2. Definitions :- (1) In these rules:
(a) “Act” means the Protection against
Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010 (IV of 2010); and
(b) “Ombudsperson”
means an Ombudsperson appointed under section 7 of the Act.
(2) The words and expressions used but not
defined in these rules shall have the same meanings as assigned to them in the
Act.
3. Competent Authority:- (1) Each organization shall, by order, nominate the
competent authority in terms of subsection (4) of section 3 of the Act.
(2) The
organization shall, within seven days of the nomination of the competent
authority, send a copy of the order to the Ombudsperson and circulate it to the
employees of the organization for information.
(3) An
organization shall not discriminate against any gender while nominating a competent
t authority.
4. Complaint:- (1) A complainant may, under subsection (1) OF
SECTION 8 of the Act, prefer a complaint either to the Inquiry Committee
through any of its member or the Ombudsperson.
(2) The
Inquiry Committee or the Ombudsperson shall, under confidential cover, inform
the employer of the complainant about the complaint received under subsection
(1).
(3) At any
stage of the proceedings but before the final decision on a complaint, the
complainant may, with the permission of the Inquiry Committee or the
Ombudsperson withdraw the complaint.
5. Contents of the complaint:- (1) A complaint shall contain a comprehensive
statement of the facts relating to the incident of harassment, all necessary
details, names of witnesses and any other material, details or evidence in
support of the complaint.
(2) All
documents, evidence or other supporting material in whatever form such as
audio, video or documentary, shall be annexed with the complaint.
(3) The
complaint shall verify that the information contained in the complaint is true
and correct to the best of knowledge and belief of the complaint.
(4) A
party may amend the complaint or written defense at any stage of the inquiry.
(5) The
complaint shall sign the complaint or affix the thumb impression on the complaint.
(6) The
accused shall sign the written defense or affix the thumb impression on the
written defense.
6. Inquiry Committee:- (1) Each organization shall constitute one or more
Inquiry Committees as specified in section 3 of the Act.
(2) The
case of occurrence of any vacancy in the membership of an Inquiry Committee,
the organization shall immediately appoint another person as member of the
Inquiry Committee in order to fill such vacancy.
7. Procedure of Inquiry Committee:- (1) The Inquiry Committee shall:
(a) hold
the Inquiry in fair and impartial and non-discriminatory manner after giving
opportunity of being heard to the parties;
(b) obtain
documents or other information relating to incident of reported harassment and
consider the same;
(c) not
make public any document or statement of any party to an inquiry and maintain
high standards of confidentiality as provided under clause (a) of subsection
(3) 4 of the Act; and
(d) make
suitable arrangements for safe custody of all documents, record or other
material relating to inquiry proceedings.
(2) All
documents, information, record, proceedings and findings of the Inquiry
Committee shall be confidential and no copies therof shall be provided to any
person not related to the case.
8. Recommendations:- (1) The Inquiry Committee may, after recording
reasons, either dismiss the complaint or recommend any of the penalties under
section 4 of the Act.
(2) The
Inquiry Committee shall provide a copy of its recommendations to both the
parties free of cost.
9. Imposition of penalty:- (1) If an Inquiry Committee recommends the
imposition of any penalty on the accused, the competent authority may, within
seven days of the receipt of recommendation of the Inquiry Committee, impose
the penalty or refer back the case to the Inquiry Committee for further enquiry
on specified aspects of the case.
(2) The
Ombudsperson shall, after the enquiry, record the decision and shall
inform both the parties and the
organization for implementation of the decision.
(3) The
competent authority shall send a copy of the final order to both the parties,
the Inquiry Committee and the Ombudsperson.
10. Procedure before the Ombudsperson:- (1) The show cause notice under subsection (2) of
section 8 of the Act shall contain all the allegations leveled against the
accused by the complainant and copy of the complaint shall be provided along
with the notice.
(2) Subject
to subsection (2) of section 8 of the Act, on receipt of written defense from
the accused, the Ombudsperson shall summon the parties for personal hearing
before taking any decision.
(3) The
parties shall appear before the Ombudsperson along with supporting material,
documents, information or other evidence available with the complainant or the
accused.
(4) The
Ombudsperson may summon any witness, re3cord or any other material in
possession of anybody or authority for the just decision of the case.
(5) the
Ombudsperson shall, on the basis of the available evidence, record this
decision along with reasons.
(6) In the absence of any express provision
regarding conduct of proceedings or inquiry, the Ombudsperson may conduct the
proceedings or inquiry in such manner as the Ombudsperson may consider
necessary and appropriate for purposes of arriving at just decision of an
appeal or a complaint.
(7) The
Ombudsperson shall decide a case under the Act as expeditiously as possible and
send a copy of his decision to the competent authority for implementation.
(8) Subject
to the decision of the Governor on the representation of any party, the competent
authority shall implement the decision of the Ombudsperson within thirty days
from the date of the receipt of the decision or within such further period as
the Ombudsperson may specify and shall within seven days of the implementation
of the decision inform the Ombudsperson, the accused and the complainant.
11. Remedial measures:- The Inquiry Committee or the Ombudsperson may
recommend to the employer any remedial measures in case the complainant or the
accused is in a state of trauma, depression or other psychological shock.
12. Advice and counselling:- (1) An employer may nominate an officer possessing
knowledge of law, psychology or sociology to provide necessary advice,
counseling and assistance to the complainant or the accused under clause (b) of
subsection (3) of section 4 of the Act.
(2) The counseling
officer may recommend such steps to the employer as may be necessary to avoid
harassment keeping in view the socio-cultural requirements of the area and the
organization.
Annexure-B
JURISDICTION OF THE OFFICE
OF OMBUDSPERSON
The Ombudsperson appointed under the Protection Against
Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010 has the jurisdiction to
deal with the cases of “Organizations” as defined in the Act of 2012 and the
Act extends to whole of the Punjab. The Protection Against Harassment Of Women
At The Workplace Act, 2010 was originally in the Federal ambit, however, the
subject on which this law was enacted was devolved to the provinces by virtue
of 18th Amendment in the Constitution of Pakistan, 1973.
ORGANIZATIONS
SITUATED IN PUNJAB:
The
Ombudsperson, Punjab has the jurisdiction to deal with the cases of all
organizations, i.e. a Federal or Provincial Government Ministry, Division or
department, a corporation or any autonomous or semiautonomous body, Educational
Institutes, Medical facilities established or controlled by the Federal or
Provincial Government or District Government or registered civil society
associations or privately managed, a commercial or an industrial establishment
or institution, a company, any other registered private sector organization or
institution, situated in whole of the Punjab.
Ø
Annexure-C
DUTIES OF COMPETENT
AUTHORITY, MANAGEMENT, ORGAINZATION AND EMPLOYER.
The Protection Against Harassment of Women at the
Workplace Act, 2010 and the Protection Against Harassment of Women at
the Workplace Rules, 2013 assign
certain duties and responsibilities for the Competent Authority, Management,
Orgainzation and Employer.
These are:-
DUTIES
OF COMPETENT AUTHORITY
1.
Section 4(5): The Competent Authority shall impose the penalty recommended by
the Inquiry Committee under sub-section (4) within one week of the receipt of
the recommendations of the Inquiry Committee.
2.
Rule 9(3): The
competent authority shall send a copy of the final order to both the parties,
the Inquiry Committee and the Ombudsperson.
3.
Rule 10(7): The
Ombudsperson shall decide a case under the Act as expeditiously as possible and
send a copy of his decision to the competent authority for implementation
Rule 10(8): Subject to the decision of the Governor on the
representation of any party, the competent authority shall implement the
decision of the Ombudsperson within thirty days from the date of the receipt of
the decision or within such further period as the Ombudsperson may specify and
shall within seven days of the implementation of the decision inform the
Ombudsperson, the accused and the complainant.
DUTIES
OF ORGANIZATION
1.
Section 3(1): Each organization shall constitute an Inquiry Committee within
thirty days of the enactment of this Act to enquire into complaints under this
Act.
Rule 6(1): Each organization shall
constitute one or more Inquiry Committees as specified in section 3 of the Act.
Rule 6(2): In case of occurrence of any
vacancy in the membership of an Inquiry Committee, the organization shall
immediately appoint another person as member of the Inquiry Committee in order
to fill such vacancy.
2.
Section 3(4): In case where no competent authority is designated the
organization shall within thirty days of the enactment of this Act designate a
competent authority.
Rule 3(1): Each organization shall, by
order, nominate the competent authority in terms of sub-section (4) of section
3 of the Act.
Rule 3(2): The organization shall,
within seven days of the nomination of the competent authority, send a copy of
the order to the Ombudsperson and circulate it to the employees of the
organization for information.
Rule 3(3): An organization shall not
discriminate against any gender while nominating a competent authority.
3.
Section 4(7): In case the complainant is in
trauma the organization will arrange for psycho-social counseling or medical
treatment and for additional medical leave.
4.
Section 4(8): The organization may also offer compensation to the complainant
in case of loss of salary or other damages.
5.
Clause (xiii) of Code of Conduct: The Code lays down the minimum standards of behavior regarding
protection of women from harassment at workplace etc. but will not affect any
better arrangement that an organization may have developed nor will it bar the
grant of protection that employees working in an institute may secure from
their employers through negotiation.
DUTIES
OF EMPLOYER
1.
Section 11(1): It shall be the responsibility of the employer to ensure
implementation of this Act, including but not limited to incorporate the Code
of Conduct for protection against harassment at the workplace as a part of
their management policy and to form Inquiry Committee referred to in section 3
and designate a competent authority referred to in section 4.
2.
Clause (x) of Code of Conduct: The employer shall do its best to
temporarily make adjustments so that the accused and the complainant do not
have to interact for official purposes during the investigation period. This
would include temporarily changing the office, in case both sit in one office,
or taking away any extra charge over and above their contract which may give
one party excessive powers over the other’s job conditions. The employer can
also decide to send the accused on leave, or suspend the accused in accordance
with the applicable procedures for dealing with the cases of misconduct, if
required;
3.
Rule 11: The
Inquiry Committee or the Ombudsperson may recommend to the employer any
remedial measures in case the complainant or the accused is in a state of
trauma, depression or other psychological shock.
4.
Rule 12(1): An
employer may nominate an officer possessing knowledge of law, psychology or
sociology to provide necessary advice, counselling and assistance to the
complainant or the accused under clause (b) of subsection (3) of section 4 of
the Act.
5.
Rule 12(2): The
counselling officer may recommend such steps to the employer as may be
necessary to avoid harassment keeping in view the socio-cultural requirements
of the area and the organization.
DUTIES
OF MANAGEMENT
1.
Section 8(5): The Ombudsperson shall record his decision and inform both parties
and the management of the concerned organization for implementation of the
orders.
2.
Section 11(2): The management shall display copies of
the Code in English as well as in language understood by the majority of
employees at conspicuous place in the organization and the work place within
six months of the commencement of this Act.
3.
Clause (i) of Code of Conduct: The Code provides a guideline for behavior
of all employees, including management, and the owners of an organization to
ensure a work environment free of harassment and intimidation;
No comments:
Post a Comment