Grievance and POSH committee
A confidential place for complaints of sexual harassment at work (POSH), misconduct and unfair treatment. Employees report with their name or, where the type allows, anonymously. The committee runs the inquiry through findings, action and appeal. Nobody outside the case reads it, not even HR.
PLANSEvery plan
Why it matters
In India, an employer with ten or more employees must have an Internal Committee for sexual harassment complaints. It must keep to fixed time limits and report the year's numbers. Run through email, a complaint is forwarded until people who should never see it know who complained. Dates slip and the annual figures are rebuilt by hand. In SmartMy Grievance a case reaches only its committee and every opening is logged. Notices carry only a case number, and the content is stored encrypted. Each step from acknowledgement to appeal has a due date with reminders, and the annual report is counted for you. Employees report from the web or the SmartMy HRMS app, by name or, where the type allows, anonymously.
The problem it solves
- A harassment complaint is emailed to HR and forwarded, and soon half the office knows who complained.
- The inquiry runs past 90 days because nobody tracks the dates.
- People who fear retaliation never report, because the only way in carries their name.
- At year end the committee rebuilds the annual figures from a folder of letters.
How it works
- Set up once: create the Internal Committee with its members and quorum, and set it on the type Sexual harassment at the workplace. Five more types come ready.
- An employee opens Confidential Complaints on the web, or Report confidentially in the SmartMy HRMS app. They choose the type and write what happened, when, where and against whom.
- Where the type allows it, they report anonymously and follow the case with a tracking code and a PIN. Reports can also come by email or a telephone hotline you set up.
- The case gets a number such as GRV/2026/0014. The committee acknowledges it, decides whether to take it up and sends the respondent the notice.
- The committee holds hearings, in person or by video, and writes to each party in a separate thread. It offers interim relief, such as leave or a transfer, and records its findings.
- When action is needed, the action authority sees only the finding, a summary and the recommendation, records the action, and the case closes. Either side may appeal within the window.
- At 30 and 90 days after closure the complainant is asked whether they face retaliation. A report of retaliation opens a new case linked to the first.
Everything it does
Who reads a case
- The committee of the case; a member who declares a conflict of interest stops seeing it
- The complainant, a respondent after the notice, and a witness: each only their own thread and the files shared with them
- A grievance officer: the number, type and dates; the content only for types that allow it
- The action authority: the finding, a summary and the recommendation, never the case
- The appeal committee, while an appeal is open
- Nobody else: not a manager, not the HR head, not the administrator who configures it
- One emergency access person per Entity can open a case with a written reason, which the committee sees
- Every opening of a case, a document or a hearing goes to an access log that cannot be changed; cases are never deleted
Types delivered
- Sexual harassment at the workplace (POSH): conciliation allowed with no money settlement, and the respondent gets the complaint. Reply within 10 days, inquiry 90, findings 10 after the inquiry, action 60, appeal window 90
- Whistle-blower report: anonymous allowed, the respondent gets nothing, the complainant's name is hidden, the committee may continue after a withdrawal
- General grievance: anonymous allowed, the officer reads the content, conciliation allowed, the respondent gets a summary, inquiry within 30 days
- Ragging, Student grievance and Child protection (POCSO): for schools and colleges with SmartMy Campus
- Time limits for a new type: filing window 90 days, acknowledge 3, decide admissibility 7; a step past its date shows as late
Filing and following
- The form: kind, what happened, when, where, against whom, witnesses, a safe contact and one evidence file up to 15 MB
- Anonymous: no login and no IP address kept; a tracking code and a PIN. 10 wrong PINs lock the report until the committee opens it again
- By email to the grievance address, and by a telephone hotline with the call recorded as evidence, where set up. The code and PIN go back to the sender only
- A late report is flagged when the incident is older than the filing window; the committee may still accept it
The inquiry
- Statuses: Submitted, Acknowledged, Conciliation, Inquiry, Action Pending, Closed, Appeal
- Take up, not admissible with a reason, or move to another type and its committee
- Notice to each respondent, with the complaint or a summary as the type says
- Hearings with invitations, a quorum check, minutes and signed minutes; video hearings open from 30 minutes before to 3 hours after the start
- Letters as PDF to one addressee: acknowledgement, notice, hearing notice, outcome, action decided
- Findings: proved, partly proved, not proved or false, with a summary and a recommendation
- Mandatory reporting timer from the type, with when, to whom and the reference
Relief, action and records
- Interim relief: transfer of the respondent, leave for the complainant with no loss of pay, no-contact direction, change of reporting line
- Final action: written warning, apology, counselling, withholding of increment or promotion, suspension, termination
- Carry Out on an HR relief writes a neutral note on the employee: the action, the date and the case number, never the content
- At closure, one outcome per respondent without content; HR managers can run a re-employment check on an employee or an applicant
- Statistics and Annual Report: received, closed, pending, pending over 90 days, proved and action taken per type and period, as a PDF. Counts below 3 hidden by default
- Case content is encrypted at rest once SmartMy switches it on for your server
Who uses it
EmployeeFiles a complaint with their name or anonymously, writes to the committee, joins hearings, withdraws, appeals or reports retaliation.
Internal Committee memberTakes up the case, notifies the respondent, holds hearings, offers relief, records findings and sends letters.
Grievance officerReceives new cases, acknowledges them, routes them to the right committee and watches the time limits.
Action authoritySees the finding and the recommendation only, and records the action taken, which closes the case.
HR managerRuns re-employment checks on employees and applicants. Reads no case.
Where you use it
- Web: Confidential Complaints for complainants, respondents, witnesses and external committee members, and the anonymous report and tracking pages without signing in
- Web: Grievance > Cases, Action Requests, Outcomes, Access Log, Emergency Access, Statistics and Annual Report, and Configuration
- Web: Employees > Re-employment Checks, and the Re-employment Check button on the employee (HR managers)
- The SmartMy HRMS app: Report confidentially, named or anonymous, also from the sign-in screen. My cases with threads, letters and Join for hearings (built and in testing, not in the app stores yet)
What you control
Settings
- Committee: quorum 3 to start with. Composition rules Presiding Officer is a Woman, At Least Half Women and External Member Required are off until you tick them
- Per type: who may file, Anonymous Filing, what the respondent gets, the eight time limits and the relief offered
- Per Entity: Grievance Officers, Grievance Emergency Access, Reports by Email, Hotline Default Kind, Keep the Caller's Number, Video Hearings Server
- Languages: Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam, each switched on in Settings
Approvals
- None through approval chains: the committee decides, and the action authority named on the type records the action
Notifications
- Grievance Update: to the parties of a case, in the app first, else WhatsApp or SMS. It says only that there is an update on the case number
- Grievance Update by Email: the same, by email, to every party with an email address
- Grievance Task: to the committee, officers and action authority when a case needs them, by push and in the app, with the number only
- Grievance Report Code by Email: the tracking code and PIN back to the sender of an emailed report
- All go out at once and cannot be switched off; anonymous reporters get none. Phone push is ready for the app, not in the stores yet; WhatsApp and SMS need a provider account
Works with
SmartMy CampusStudents and parents file, with the Ragging, Student grievance and Child protection (POCSO) types. Guardians of minors are informed. A proved case can go to student discipline without its content.
SmartMy Hostel and SmartMy FeastResidents file; a room change or an outlet or shift change can be carried out as relief.
Questions
Can HR read the complaints?
No. Only the committee of the case, the parties in their own threads, and the people the type names read it. The HR head, managers and the administrator who sets it up do not. HR managers see past outcomes in a re-employment check, never the case.Can employees report sexual harassment anonymously?
The delivered POSH type takes named complaints. Anonymous filing is on for Whistle-blower report, General grievance and Ragging. Your administrator can tick Anonymous Filing on any type.Does it give us the annual report figures?
Yes. Statistics and Annual Report counts cases received, closed, pending, pending over 90 days, proved and acted on, per type and period. It prints a PDF with no names and no content.What if a committee member knows the respondent?
They press I have a conflict. They stop seeing the case and the committee is told.Does a relief such as a transfer happen by itself?
No. Carry Out writes a neutral note on the employee record with the action, the date and the case number. HR then makes the transfer, leave or payroll change in the usual screens.Are the translated pages ready?
Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam pages are built. The texts have not yet been checked by a native speaker, so have them read before you rely on them.Related features
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See your own month run in it.
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