Sexual Harassment Law at Workplace in Nepal 2082/83 (2026)

Internally to the Manager within 15 days; or directly to the CDO (Complaint Hearing Authority) within 90 days of the incident under Section 7 — exhausting the internal route is not required.

Up to 6 months imprisonment and/or up to NPR 50,000 fine on the perpetrator, with compensation to the victim and double sentence for repeat offences (Section 12).

The Sexual Harassment at Workplace (Prevention) Act 2071 (2014), authenticated 21 November 2014, governs prevention, complaint, hearing, penalty and monitoring of workplace sexual harassment in Nepal. It sits alongside the National Penal Code 2074, which separately criminalises broader sexual offences. So workplace harassment that crosses into rape or serious sexual assault is pursued under the Penal Code, while the 2071 Act handles the workplace-specific framework with its own time limits and penalties.

Section 4(1) defines acts committed by abusing position, power or authority — through pressure, influence, enticement or discouragement — including unwanted touching with sexual intent, displaying or using obscene material, displaying sexual intent through writing or gestures, offering sexual activity, and teasing with sexual intent. The definition is gender-neutral — it covers any person, not only female employees — and Section 4(2) excludes educational, research, medical and lifesaving activity from the definition.

The Manager is the person responsible for the workplace and is typically the head of the office, factory or institution, or the person designated by that head. The Act assigns duties to the Manager personally — putting service-condition provisions for prevention, awareness, reformative measures, psychological counselling for victims, and a grievance box (Section 5). Where the Manager is the alleged perpetrator, the framework provides for handling complaints against the Manager separately, with appropriate safeguards.

Under Section 5, the Manager must (a) provide service-condition provisions for prevention; (b) make employees and customers aware of the rules; (c) take reformative measures; (d) provide psychological counselling to victims; and (e) maintain a grievance box. The Manager must also inform a complainant of the time limits and procedure when a complaint is received. Failure to comply with these duties — or with subsequent CDO directions — attracts a fine of up to NPR 25,000 under Section 12.

No. Section 7 allows a direct complaint to the CDO within 90 days of the incident without first exhausting the internal route. Where a complainant has gone internally to the Manager and is dissatisfied with the outcome (or the Manager has failed to finalise within 15 days), the external complaint is allowed within 70 days of the expiry or decision. So the complainant has both routes and can choose between them, with the direct CDO route being a significant feature of the Nepali framework.

Under Section 6, the Manager investigates the complaint immediately and may order conciliation, an apology, a reprimand, a compensation order, or departmental action against the perpetrator, within 15 days of the complaint. The Manager is expected to do this with the complainant's confidentiality protected and without retaliation. Where the Manager imposes a sanction such as compensation or departmental action, the perpetrator may still face external action through the CDO if the complainant chooses to proceed.

The CDO — Chief District Officer of the concerned district — is the Complaint Hearing Authority under Section 14, responsible for hearing direct complaints under Section 7 and complaints escalated from the internal route. The CDO follows the Summary Procedures Act 2028 framework under Section 15, with in-camera proceedings at the victim's request. Where the complaint is against the CDO personally, jurisdiction lies with the Principal Secretary of the Province, ensuring a separate authority handles such cases.

Under Section 13, the CDO can order the perpetrator to pay reasonable compensation for the physical or mental damage caused, plus actual expenses incurred by the complainant in pursuing the complaint or defending against any false retaliation. The compensation is determined on the facts of the case — severity of conduct, pain, and economic position of the parties — rather than by a fixed schedule. The order is enforced by the relevant authority on the perpetrator.

Section 12(2) and (3) provide for a fine of up to NPR 25,000 on a Manager who fails to comply with the Section 5 duties or with CDO directions or monitoring directions. This applies to the Manager personally, not (only) to the workplace as an entity, which is why the duties under the 2071 Act are sometimes referred to as personal duties on the designated Manager. A Manager facing such a fine can appeal under the appellate route under Section 16.

No. Section 9 prohibits adverse employment action — dismissal, departmental action, adverse transfer or blocking promotion — taken against an employee merely because a complaint was filed. The CDO can order revocation of any such retaliatory action, and security arrangements can be made for a complainant who is at risk. Where the Manager is the accused, the security agency is required to protect the complainant. Anti-retaliation is a central protection in the Act's design.

Yes. The Act uses "any person", "any employee" and "any customer" without restricting itself to female complainants, so male, female and other gender complainants are equally protected. Practically, most reported workplace-harassment cases in Nepal involve female complainants — but the Act's scope is not limited by gender. The educational, research, medical and lifesaving exclusion in Section 4(2) is a subject-matter limitation, not a gender one, and applies regardless of who the parties are.

Section 10 places monitoring functions on the National Women Commission (NWC), which can inspect Manager compliance with the Act, review handling of complaints, and issue directions and recommendations. NWC is the principal independent monitor of the 2071 Act framework, separate from the CDO's complaint-hearing authority. Workplaces and Managers who fall short of the Section 5 duties can be flagged by NWC, and follow-up CDO directions can be triggered through that route.

Under Section 16, a party dissatisfied with the CDO's decision may appeal to the District Court within 35 days of the decision. The District Court handles the appeal under the Summary Procedures Act 2028 framework. This makes the District Court the appellate forum for workplace-harassment matters routed through the CDO. Because the 35-day window is short, an appeal needs to be prepared promptly, and the appellant should retain the CDO order and the underlying case file.

Yes. Section 2(c) defines workplace to include any government body, government-owned corporate body, statutory body, and any firm or corporate registered to conduct business or service in Nepal — covering both public and private workplaces. Government workplaces therefore have the same Manager duties and complaint routes as private workplaces, with departmental action available as a remedy alongside the Act's penalties. Civil-service codes of conduct also apply alongside the 2071 Act in such cases.

The 2071 Act is the workplace-specific statute with its own penalties; the National Penal Code 2074 separately criminalises broader sexual offences such as rape and serious sexual assault, with significantly heavier penalties (multiple years of imprisonment). Conduct that exceeds the 2071 Act's scope — for example a serious physical assault with sexual intent — can be pursued under the Penal Code alongside or instead of the 2071 Act. They are not mutually exclusive; the choice depends on the conduct's severity.

Yes. Section 8 expressly contemplates a joint petition for conciliation, in which no fine is levied; the matter is treated as resolved by mutual settlement. Conciliation is voluntary and can take place either internally with the Manager or externally before the CDO, depending on where the complaint sits. Conciliation does not extinguish criminal liability for conduct that also constitutes an offence under the Penal Code 2074 — that requires separate handling under the criminal law.

When setting up the workplace policy and Manager duties the Act expects, when a complaint is received internally and decisions must be made within the 15-day window, when a complainant prepares the direct CDO complaint within 90 days, and when an appeal to the District Court is on the table within 35 days. A lawyer keeps the procedure tight on both sides — for the employer's Manager and for the complainant — and ensures the right remedies are pursued within the statutory windows.