Compliance & labour law · Updated October 2026
The Local Committee (LC) is the district-level body that hears sexual harassment complaints where there is no Internal Committee, or where the complaint is against the employer. The District Officer, notified by the appropriate government, constitutes it under Section 6 of the POSH Act; it is the government’s forum, not the company’s.
Three situations send a complaint to the LC. The workplace has fewer than ten workers, so no Internal Committee is required. The complaint is against the employer himself, and the Act defines the employer in a company as the person responsible for management, supervision and control, so a complaint against a mid-level manager still goes to the IC. Or the woman works somewhere an IC cannot exist, notably in a household as a domestic worker, which the Act treats as a workplace.
To reach unorganised workplaces, the District Officer (usually the district magistrate or collector) designates a Nodal Officer in every block, taluka or tehsil in rural and tribal areas, and every ward or municipality in urban areas. The Nodal Officer receives complaints and forwards them to the LC within seven days. These are government officers, different from the “nodal officer” an employer names when registering on the SHe-Box portal. The complaint must be in writing within three months of the incident (or the last one in a series), extendable by up to three months for recorded reasons.
| Member | Who |
|---|---|
| Chairperson | An eminent woman in social work, committed to the cause of women |
| One member | A woman working in the block, taluka, tehsil, ward or municipality |
| Two members | From NGOs committed to women’s causes or persons familiar with sexual harassment issues; at least one a woman, preferably one with legal background, and at least one nominee a woman from the SC, ST, OBC or a notified minority community |
| Ex officio | The district officer dealing with social welfare or women and child development |
Terms run up to three years. The LC follows the same inquiry route as an IC, including the 90-day limit, and its recommendation goes to the employer or the District Officer, who must act within 60 days. Following a Supreme Court order of December 2024, states have been told to notify District Officers, constitute LCs and appoint Nodal Officers, and the SHe-Box portal is meant to list them. The Court also asked District Officers to survey, with Labour Commissioners’ help, whether organisations have actually constituted ICs.
No, the duty starts at ten. Its employees still have the LC, and a small employer must cooperate with it. Many still adopt a written policy and a named contact for grievances.
Possibly, if the director is the employer within the Act’s definition. This is a point on which to take legal advice; do not decide it by assuming the IC can handle it.
Yes. Section 21 requires the LC, like the IC, to prepare one each calendar year; see POSH annual report for what it contains.
The POSH compliance guide walks through the employer-side steps in order.