Quick answer: Yes, in practice. The POSH Act never uses the words “online”, “virtual” or “work from home”, but its definition of workplace is open ended and covers any place an employee visits in the course of employment. High Courts have upheld action over WhatsApp and Facebook messages and have treated a digital platform as a common workplace for colleagues posted in different states.
What does the POSH Act say a “workplace” is?
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is Act No. 14 of 2013. It was enacted on 22 April 2013 and came into force on 9 December 2013. Section 2(o) says a “workplace” includes six kinds of places:
- government departments, organisations and units, and bodies set up, owned, controlled or substantially financed by the government, a local authority, a government company, a corporation or a co-operative society (s.2(o)(i));
- private sector organisations, enterprises, trusts, NGOs and service providers (s.2(o)(ii));
- hospitals and nursing homes (s.2(o)(iii));
- sports institutes, stadiums and competition venues (s.2(o)(iv));
- “any place visited by the employee arising out of or during the course of employment including transportation by the employer for undertaking such journey” (s.2(o)(v));
- a dwelling place or a house (s.2(o)(vi)).
Two features matter. The word is “includes”, not “means”, so the list is not closed, and clause (v) ties the workplace to the course of employment rather than to a building. In the Act’s text on India Code, the words “online”, “virtual”, “digital”, “electronic”, “remote” and “internet” do not appear in it. Coverage of remote work comes from how these clauses are read.
Does work from home count as a workplace under POSH?
The Act does not say so in terms. Clause (v) points the way, though. It covers any place an employee is at because of work, and a committee can reasonably read it to cover a home from which she logs in to do her employer’s work. No court in the sources below has ruled on that point directly. Clause (vi) also lists “a dwelling place or a house”, although the Act links that clause to domestic workers (see s.2(a)(ii) and s.2(g)(iv)). An employer can state in its POSH policy that remote and hybrid work, and the tools used for it, fall within the policy. That removes the argument before it starts.
Section 3(1) is the core rule: “No woman shall be subjected to sexual harassment at any workplace.” Section 3(2) adds that, when connected with an act of sexual harassment, promises or threats about her employment, interference with her work, or “creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment for her” may amount to sexual harassment.
Can WhatsApp chats or video calls be sexual harassment?
Yes. Section 2(n) defines sexual harassment as unwelcome acts or behaviour, “whether directly or by implication”, including “a demand or request for sexual favours”, “making sexually coloured remarks”, “showing pornography” and “any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature”. None needs physical presence.
A Delhi High Court case shows how this plays out. In W.P.(C) 586/2021, decided by a single judge on 17 July 2025 (reported as 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 847), four complaints against an assistant professor at a Delhi University college concerned messages sent over Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Three complainants were students and one was a former student. The college’s Internal Complaints Committee, which acted under the POSH Act and the UGC Regulations of 2015, held that because he had shared his phone number with students, the WhatsApp interactions fell within the definition of workplace. It also held that a Facebook friend request he sent was “an extension of the work relationship” because he was not a personal friend of the complainant. The professor argued that chats on social media were not a workplace under s.2(o). The High Court did not frame a separate issue on the workplace point. It declined to interfere with the Committee’s findings, answered all eight issues it framed against him and dismissed his writ petition, so the findings and his compulsory retirement stood.
What if the colleague is in another city or state?
Distance did not take the conduct outside the workplace in the one High Court order we found on the point. In S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 150/2021, the Rajasthan High Court at Jaipur (single judge, order of 11 January 2021) dealt with a bank officer charged for messages sent to a woman colleague posted in another state. He argued that they did not share a workplace and that the messages were sent after working hours. The Court held that for bank employees who had worked in the same branch and later moved to branches in different states, the workplace “has to be treated completely as one work place on a digital platform”. It added that for a senior officer, working hours cannot be read as 10.30 AM to 4.30 PM alone, and that messages sent after hours to a subordinate would prima facie amount to misconduct. The writ petition was dismissed.
That case arose under the bank’s own discipline regulations, not an Internal Committee inquiry, but its reasoning is useful to any committee.
What about video calls? We did not find a High Court or Supreme Court judgment that deals specifically with harassment on a video call, so we cite none. The reasoning above still applies. A video meeting is held because of employment, the participants are colleagues, and sexually coloured remarks, unwelcome comments on appearance or showing explicit material on a shared screen can fall within s.2(n).
What should employers do about remote and online work?
Section 19 lists the employer’s duties. Several apply directly to remote teams:
| Provision | Duty or time limit | What it means for remote work |
|---|---|---|
| s.19(a) | Provide a safe working environment, including safety from persons coming into contact at the workplace | Cover chat groups, email, video meetings and client calls in the policy |
| s.19(c) | Organise workshops and awareness programmes at regular intervals | Include examples of online conduct in training |
| s.19(i) | Treat sexual harassment as misconduct under the service rules | Make sure the rules do not say “on the premises” only |
| s.9(1) | Complaint within 3 months of the incident or last incident, extendable by up to 3 months for recorded reasons | A series of messages counts from the last one |
| s.11(4) | Inquiry within 90 days | Hearings can be planned around remote parties |
| s.13(1) | Report within 10 days of completing the inquiry | Screenshots and chat exports form part of the record |
| s.13(4) | Employer acts within 60 days | Same timeline whether the conduct was online or in person |
| s.18(2) | Appeal within 90 days | Unchanged for online complaints |
In the Delhi case, the Court accepted the Committee’s decision to condone delay partly because the incidents continued after the professor was confronted, so they “cannot be seen in isolation”. For chats, that matters: a pattern of messages can bear on time limits as well as on proof, so encourage employees to keep the full thread, not only one screenshot.
Frequently asked questions
No. The Act does not use the words online, virtual, digital or remote. Coverage comes from s.2(o), which says a workplace “includes” any place visited by the employee arising out of or during the course of employment. The list is open, not closed.
It can. Section 2(n) covers sexually coloured remarks, requests for sexual favours, showing pornography and any unwelcome verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature. Whether one message is enough depends on its content and context, which the Internal Committee examines.
They can be. In S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 150/2021, the Rajasthan High Court rejected the argument that after-hours messages to a subordinate colleague fell outside the rules, holding they would prima facie amount to misconduct.
The Rajasthan High Court held in 2021 that bank employees who once worked in the same branch and later moved to different states are treated as one workplace on a digital platform. Distance alone does not take the conduct outside the employer’s reach.
The same as any other complaint: within 3 months of the incident, or of the last incident in a series, under s.9(1). The Committee may extend this by up to 3 months for reasons recorded in writing.
It is good practice. The Act does not require specific wording, but stating that remote, hybrid and online work and tools such as chat apps and video calls are covered removes doubt and supports the employer’s s.19(a) duty to provide a safe working environment.
How can Manas help your remote or hybrid team?
If your team works from home or mostly on chat and video, check that your policy, training and Internal Committee are set up for it. Start with our free POSH compliance check, read how we support committees on the POSH compliance page, or browse the POSH FAQ for employers. Dr. Priya Dubey Sharma, Founder & Consulting Psychologist, can serve as the External Member on your Internal Committee.
Sources
- The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (India Code)
- LiveLaw: Delhi High Court upholds ICC verdict, W.P.(C) 586/2021, 2025 LiveLaw (Del) 847
- Rajasthan High Court, S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 150/2021, order of 11 January 2021 (LiveLaw copy)
Plain-language guides to POSH compliance for Indian employers, based on the Act, the Rules and court rulings. POSH compliance at Manas Center is led by Dr. Priya Dubey Sharma, Founder & Consulting Psychologist, as External Member.
