prasad1
Active member
Enterprising lawyers and gender equality experts have spotted a business opportunity in the new law against sexual harassment of women at work. With the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act, 2013 raising major concerns with respect to corporate liability and a potential threat to reputation on non-compliance, organizations are turning to the pros.
This new breed of consultants helps companies with gender sensitization training, removal of unconscious biases among employees, and getting a clear understanding of the law—for a stiff fee, of course. "In-house legal teams and HR may not have the necessary training and understanding to handle cases. Also, these require a lot of time and effort," said Devika Singh, who founded Cohere which specializes in issues like sexual harassment and workplace discrimination. Cohere's client list includes leading banks, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, insurance companies and multinationals.
While some forms of sexual harassment are obvious—a demand for sexual favours, for instance—others are more difficult to define. "An innocent action of one person might be seen as harassment by another. We need to educate employees and that can only be done by a consultant who is well aware of the laws of the land," said Deepa Nair, VP-HR (Asia & Middle East), Aurionpro Solutions, which has 1,000-odd employees.
Law on sexual harassment at work fosters new business - The Times of India
This new breed of consultants helps companies with gender sensitization training, removal of unconscious biases among employees, and getting a clear understanding of the law—for a stiff fee, of course. "In-house legal teams and HR may not have the necessary training and understanding to handle cases. Also, these require a lot of time and effort," said Devika Singh, who founded Cohere which specializes in issues like sexual harassment and workplace discrimination. Cohere's client list includes leading banks, pharmaceutical companies, manufacturers, insurance companies and multinationals.
While some forms of sexual harassment are obvious—a demand for sexual favours, for instance—others are more difficult to define. "An innocent action of one person might be seen as harassment by another. We need to educate employees and that can only be done by a consultant who is well aware of the laws of the land," said Deepa Nair, VP-HR (Asia & Middle East), Aurionpro Solutions, which has 1,000-odd employees.
Law on sexual harassment at work fosters new business - The Times of India
