#MeToo: Irdai annual reports have sexual harassment disclosure discrepancy

The insurance regulator has not counted all employee complaints in its annual report disclosures

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) does not consider all complaints when it comes to disclosure of sexual harassment complaints.

Business Standard wrote to Irdai for data on sexual harassment complaints through an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. Of the three financial regulators that we reach out to, Irdai was the promptest in providing the data, without any need for subsequent appeals. However, there were certain mismatches between the annual report figures, and those provided in the RTI reply. (See Chart -1 Complaints at IRDAI)

“The discrepancies referred by you about the information provided under RTI and the annual reports are due to the time lag between the complaint filed with ICC (internal complaints committee), recommendations of the ICC sent to the HR department, final action taken, and the publication of the information in annual report according to timelines given by the department concerned,” said Irdai in an emailed statement.

The statement, however, added that Irdai treated disclosure of sexual harassment by temporary workers separately from permanent employees, although it addressed complaints by both.

“One complaint was received from an outsourced employee who was on a contract basis. Although processed and disposed of in the year 2015-16, the same was not mentioned in the annual report, as it was not a case of a regular employee,” it said.

Both are supposed to be treated equally, according to the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act. The law includes all workers under its definition of employees. It includes those employed in regular or temporary basis, and even those working on a daily basis. The employee can be employed directly or through an agent or contractor, but would still be covered under the Act. This is even if the person is working without the knowledge of the principal employer. It also applies whether the work is done for remuneration or otherwise. Volunteer work also comes under the ambit of the Act. It includes probationers, trainees and apprentices, too.  

Amit Tandon, founder and managing director of Institutional Investor Advisory Services India (IIAS) said that disclosures should apply to both temporary and permanent employees. Only if such disclosures were followed could it be brought to light if certain classes of employees were being subject to harassment he said.

“A complaint is a complaint, it doesn’t matter whether the woman is temporarily or permanently (employed),” he said.

He added that it could be easily fixed. All they had to do was start disclosing the data. They were already addressing complaints in their internal committees.

Meanwhile, the insurance industry, which Irdai regulates, has seen an increase in the absolute number of complaints — at least thirty-three in the financial year ended March 2018 (FY18). This is based on annual filings by three listed insurance companies, for whom continuous data were available. They include HDFC Life Insurance Company, SBI Life Insurance Company and General Insurance Corporation of India. The numbers have improved over FY16. (See Chart 2-Insurance Industry Trend)

An August 2018 International Labour Organisation paper on women’s participation in the workforce mentioned the effects of sexual harassment.

“Sexual and other forms of harassment against women can hinder their entry, stay and progress in the labour market. They may discourage women to go to work or to undertake training and may also deter them from entering non-traditional and better-paying jobs, thereby perpetuating pay inequality for women,” it said.

The percentage of women participating in the labour force is 27 per cent. The global figure for this is 48.5 per cent, show World Bank data.

Better disclosures might be the first step towards creating a more enabling work environment.

(See Chart 3)



This is the concluding part of a three-part series looking at disclosure of sexual harassment complaints at financial regulators. The first part, which looked at Sebi can be read here, and the second part about RBI here.