What counts as sexual harassment at work?
- It includes unwelcome physical contact and advances, a demand or request for sexual favours, sexually coloured remarks, showing pornography, and other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature s. 2(n).
- No woman shall be subjected to it at any workplace s. 3(1).
- The model standing orders treat it as misconduct order 24(5)(x), and an employee convicted of it is not entitled to bonus CW s. 29.
This comes from the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013, not the Labour Codes. Rules made under it may add detail, and this library does not hold them.
The model standing orders are for industrial establishments with three hundred or more workers (IR Code s. 28(1)), and your employer's certified standing orders may differ. Elsewhere, check your appointment letter, and see what applies at a smaller workplace.
The citations are to the service sector's model. These points read the same for manufacturing (order 23) and mining (order 24).
Last checked 1 Nov 2026 · written from the official text · not reviewed by a lawyer. This explains the law in general and does not decide your case.