Rupa, an HR Manager, was winding up her work for the day, when she received an unexpected call from the Head-HR, Arka.  Arka asked Rupa to accompany him to a branch office the next day, as part of the Internal Complaints Committee (IC), as an allegation of sexual harassment against the Branch Head required an …

I am Draupadi, the heroine of the epic Mahabharata (all about dharma and karma), and wife of the Pandavas, who were 5 in number. Though I married only one of them, due to a misunderstanding of my mother-in-law – Kunti, all of them became my husbands. We shall not go into that right now, how …

Karan noticed his new hire Richa avail frequent leave. Was single-handedly managing career and kids, amplified by the absence of a husband traveling on work, taking a toll on her? He tried to broach the topic but she politely sidestepped it.  Soon, Richa didn’t turn up for work, requesting additional leave. Sensing a growing resentment …

Consultants who guide organizations to comply with the ‘Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013’ tend to hear similar questions from clients.  Clients often ask at the end of an assignment – ‘So, are we all set now? Is there anything else we need to do from our side?’  These …

Our team looked forward to weekly Monday meetings as it allowed us the opportunity to share useful updates with one another. I noticed that every time I began with my updates, Prasad, a recent lateral hire, would cut me off, to ask questions. Or midway through my sentence, he would second guess the outcome. Within …

Reading an amazing article by Dulini Fernando and Ajnesh Prasad on “How Managers, Co-workers, and HR Pressure Women to Stay Silent About Harassment” made me think of Kripa, the smart recruit, whose short stint in our team was marked with turbulence. Kripa was hired to provide Senior Management with daily operations numbers. To ensure that …

While climbing down the stairs at the office, a kind co-worker slapped a bug off my behind. He showed me the dead bug, and I profusely thanked him. Over the next couple of months, I stumbled upon stories of three other colleagues who had experienced an ‘altruistic’ co-worker crush a bug either off their shoulder, …

At the beginning of a training program on Anti-Sexual Harassment, the trainer enthusiastically asked us ‘What do you expect from this session?’ Our group, noisy till then, miraculously turned silent in response. Each one expecting the other to answer. Finally, a senior employee salvaged the situation by providing a politically correct answer and appeasing the …

At the end of a glitzy office party, a few of us colleagues who were good friends continued the party at one of our houses. Taking a break from the regular boss-bashing, we instead, tore apart a senior leader who we noticed had got close to a female worker at the party. For, all of …