THE WORKPLACE CONSTRUCT AND SAFETY – REVISITING THE POSH ACT,2013 IN THE CONTEXT OF WORK FROM HOME

The right to work in a safe workplace is every woman's legal right. However, this fundamental right of a woman is violated when she is subject to any form of harassment at her workplace including sexual harassment, seriously impacting her physical and emotional wellbeing (WCD, GOI, 2015). Globally, Sexual harassment at the workplace is fully recognized as violative of fundamental rights of a woman, calling for legal interventions and enforcement actions. The Sexual harassment of women at workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is the first codified law in India enacted to provide the much needed legislative push to protect women from workplace sexual harassment. The understanding of what constitutes a ‘workplace' is an important aspect of the POSH Act, 2013 as the term ‘workplace' has been expressly defined under the Act and incidents of harassment arising out of and in the course of employment are within the purview of the POSH Act. In this backdrop, the present paper discusses in detail the concept of the workplace for the purpose of the Act by drawing upon extant literature and substantive provisions of law. The paper also revisits the concept of the workplace in view of the new ‘work from home' rule adopted by employers amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Towards the end, the paper builds the case for creating a safe working environment in the virtual workplace