Rs 50,000 fine for violation of sexual harassment law: Maneka Gandhi

New Delhi: An employer will be liable to pay a fine of Rs 50,000 for failing to implement the provisions of the law dealing with sexual harassment of women at workplace, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi told Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

"An employer will be liable to a fine of Rs 50,000 in case of violation of his duties under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act.

"In case of subsequent violations, the amount of fine will be double together with penalty in the form of cancellation of his licence, withdrawal or non-renewal of the registration required for carrying out his activity," Gandhi said in a written reply.

The Act casts a responsibility on every employer to create an environment, which is free from sexual harassment.

"Employers are required to organize workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals for sensitizing the employees about the provision of this legislation and display notices regarding the constitution of Internal Committee, penal consequences of sexual harassment etc," she said in her reply.

Gandhi on Tuesday had stated in Rajya Sabha that most government departments, 90 per cent of the private sector and above all, even Parliament do not have the mandatory Sexual Harassment Committees in place, this, despite over a quarter of India's workforce being women.

The Supreme Court guidelines clearly state that all workplaces should constitute a Complaint committee to deal with complaints of sexual harassment. Taking forward the Supreme Court guidelines, the law was enacted which came into force with effect from Dec 9, 2013.