Dentsu employee rues lack of action on workplace harassment complaint

A complaint against an ongoing workplace harassment case was called out on Twitter by an employee of the India division of the Japanese advertising agency Dentsu International. According to the female employee, in spite of her complaint to the agency’s HR department against a serious incident which has taken place on November 10, there has been complete inaction on the agency’s part.
She has also claimed that she is also a victim of bullying, shaming, and verbal abuse, at the agency. The employee named Samvidha has added that, against her expectation, the advice of the HR department to her was to utilize earned leaves and go for a break or avail the ‘unpaid leave option’ in case she requires more time off.
She has tweeted after the incident: “It has been clearly stated by me that I deny to work in the same team as the person. However a process has not been started by them to shield me or to change my team. I am calling out for help!.”
She added: “The incident has taken place on 10th November and now is 17th November, still now no action has been initiated against the individual. Timelines of the supposedly internal investigation have not been shared by them either. This is continuing to affect my health as my BP is getting very low.”
She informed that a report has been filed by her internally on 14th November; however, no written acknowledgement has been received by her till 16th November.
She tweeted: “As a victim of shaming, verbal abuse, bullying, their non-existent written acknowledgement, moreover advice to use ‘earned leaves’ is an indicator of the fact that may be holding policy but the practice is lacking awareness, compassion and empathy. I am deserving of a psychologically safe work environment.”
Her tweet has been re-tweeted 47 times, with many senior journalists advising her to file with the internal committee of the company, a POSH complaint.
The POSH Act, which is The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal Act, 2013), has come into existence in 2013. It is meant to deal with sexual harassment complaints in the workplace.
Under the POSH Act, which is not gender-neutral, the person filing a complaint has to be a woman, and any workplace which has more than 10 employees should possess an internal committee (known as the Internal Complaints Committee formerly) dealing with sexual harassment complaints. Upon the filing of a complaint, an inquiry will be conducted by the Internal Committee (IC) which will proceed with their recommendations to the employer.