Dear ALL,
I RECENTLY JOINED A SOFTWARE COMPANY.IN THIS ORGANIZATION FEMALES ARE NOT WORKING IN NIGHT SHIFT.
BUT I WANT TO RECRUIT SOME FEMALE STAFF FOR NIGHT SHIFT.
CAN ANY ONE SUGGEST ME ,IS THERE ANY ACT OR CONDITIONS REQUIRE TO APPOINT FEMALE STAFF FOR NIGHT SHIFT?
Thanks& Regards,
Samarpita Pramanik
From India, Vadodara
I RECENTLY JOINED A SOFTWARE COMPANY.IN THIS ORGANIZATION FEMALES ARE NOT WORKING IN NIGHT SHIFT.
BUT I WANT TO RECRUIT SOME FEMALE STAFF FOR NIGHT SHIFT.
CAN ANY ONE SUGGEST ME ,IS THERE ANY ACT OR CONDITIONS REQUIRE TO APPOINT FEMALE STAFF FOR NIGHT SHIFT?
Thanks& Regards,
Samarpita Pramanik
From India, Vadodara
In the present scenario there is every thing best fit to employ women in the night shift providing the fullest safety measures and all other benefits...
Here in kindly see the Gujarat High Court Order.. where women can be employed in the night shift..
Ahmedabad: In an important ruling, the Gujarat High Court on Friday held that women can be employed in night shifts, and the provision in Factories Act, 1948 which bars it is unconstitutional.
Section 66 (1)(b) of the Factories Act prohibits industrial units from employing women from 7 pm to 6am.
The division bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala said the section is in breach of fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Constitution, so it was invalid.
The constitutional validity of Sec 66 (1) (b) had been challenged by Balaji Wafers Company, on the ground that the section discriminated on the basis of gender.
Mahila Utkarsh Trust, an NGO based in Amreli district`s Damnagar town, had also challenged the provision as some of the women in the area were denied employment by ginning factories citing the Factory Act. The court had clubbed the two petitions.
The Madras High Court has earlier ruled Section 66 (1)(b) as constitutionally invalid while the Kerala High Court ruled that it was a valid provision.
Court today quoted both these judgements as well as the Supreme Court ruling that has said that women can be employed even at a place in night shifts where alcoholic beverages are served.
The court observed that women now work even at the grassroot level, as in police or other government duties.
"The section does not allow even a female entrepreneur who owns the factory to supervise her own staff during the night shift because the Act does not provide for it. In that case, she will be forced to employ a male supervisor for the night shift or she will have to shut down the night shifts in the factory," the court said today.
It is the state`s duty to ensure safety of female workers in a factory. Even modalities with the help of factory owners can be worked out but safety cannot alone be the grounds for not allowing women to work during the night.
"Factory owners should ensure safety and welfare of the women with adequate arrangements. Transportation facility for such workers should be provided to them," the court said.
Mahila Utkarsh Trust`s petition said as most male members had migrated to other places for work, women needed jobs. They had to do the household chores during the day, so they looked for jobs in the night shift.
Balaji Wafers contended that "employability" of women was higher in the food processing industry, as it involves cooking. "We have 380 women out of total strength of 550. Our demand to extend the working hours for women till 10pm was also rejected by state government. Therefore, we challenged the same in High Court," said Bhavesh Choksi, its lawyer.
PTI
(this can be seen by yourself in the india.com)
From India, Arcot
Here in kindly see the Gujarat High Court Order.. where women can be employed in the night shift..
Ahmedabad: In an important ruling, the Gujarat High Court on Friday held that women can be employed in night shifts, and the provision in Factories Act, 1948 which bars it is unconstitutional.
Section 66 (1)(b) of the Factories Act prohibits industrial units from employing women from 7 pm to 6am.
The division bench of Chief Justice Bhaskar Bhattacharya and Justice J B Pardiwala said the section is in breach of fundamental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 (right to equality) and 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Constitution, so it was invalid.
The constitutional validity of Sec 66 (1) (b) had been challenged by Balaji Wafers Company, on the ground that the section discriminated on the basis of gender.
Mahila Utkarsh Trust, an NGO based in Amreli district`s Damnagar town, had also challenged the provision as some of the women in the area were denied employment by ginning factories citing the Factory Act. The court had clubbed the two petitions.
The Madras High Court has earlier ruled Section 66 (1)(b) as constitutionally invalid while the Kerala High Court ruled that it was a valid provision.
Court today quoted both these judgements as well as the Supreme Court ruling that has said that women can be employed even at a place in night shifts where alcoholic beverages are served.
The court observed that women now work even at the grassroot level, as in police or other government duties.
"The section does not allow even a female entrepreneur who owns the factory to supervise her own staff during the night shift because the Act does not provide for it. In that case, she will be forced to employ a male supervisor for the night shift or she will have to shut down the night shifts in the factory," the court said today.
It is the state`s duty to ensure safety of female workers in a factory. Even modalities with the help of factory owners can be worked out but safety cannot alone be the grounds for not allowing women to work during the night.
"Factory owners should ensure safety and welfare of the women with adequate arrangements. Transportation facility for such workers should be provided to them," the court said.
Mahila Utkarsh Trust`s petition said as most male members had migrated to other places for work, women needed jobs. They had to do the household chores during the day, so they looked for jobs in the night shift.
Balaji Wafers contended that "employability" of women was higher in the food processing industry, as it involves cooking. "We have 380 women out of total strength of 550. Our demand to extend the working hours for women till 10pm was also rejected by state government. Therefore, we challenged the same in High Court," said Bhavesh Choksi, its lawyer.
PTI
(this can be seen by yourself in the india.com)
From India, Arcot
Dear Samarpita ji,
I suppose you are from Varodara. Answer by Gopinath is beyond any doubt in light of recent judgement of Gujarat High Court. You can apply Gujarat HC judgment since you are in its' jurisdiction.
Further, just to add, the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014 which was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 7, 2014 seeks to remove the restrictions from working of woman between 7.00 pm and 6.00 am. This is for your information.
From India, Mumbai
I suppose you are from Varodara. Answer by Gopinath is beyond any doubt in light of recent judgement of Gujarat High Court. You can apply Gujarat HC judgment since you are in its' jurisdiction.
Further, just to add, the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2014 which was introduced in Lok Sabha on August 7, 2014 seeks to remove the restrictions from working of woman between 7.00 pm and 6.00 am. This is for your information.
From India, Mumbai
The Factories Act amendment has nothing to do with IT companies but there are separate IT policies notified by state governments which permit engagement of women during night. Therefore, you may go through the IT Policy of your state and if the state government has given permission to engage women during night, you may proceed with recruitment strictly following the conditions of such engagement.
Regards,
Madhu.T.K
From India, Kannur
Regards,
Madhu.T.K
From India, Kannur
As IT/ITES Industry do not fall under factories act, you may arrange night shifts with female employees. But for sure you shall arrange transport facilities & security. Also you shall constitute a disciplinary committee too to address compliance mechanism
From India, Chennai
From India, Chennai
Hi Samarpita,
Mr. Liyonzon is absolutely right - IT/ITES organisations do not fall under factories act, so there is no legal complication for employing female staff members at night.
However, your primary concern should be on the safety and security of those employees. There were incidents before where the safety of female staffs were compromised. The transportation department of your organisation must have proper fleet management system in place like GPS tracking of the cabs engaged in pickup and drop of female employees. If possible, you may also think of deputing security guards in those cabs. Under any circumstances, the female employee should not be the last person to drop.
My suggestion to you will be to think twice before you take such actions, and implement proper safety procedure and logistics support to ensure safety and security.
From India, Patna
Mr. Liyonzon is absolutely right - IT/ITES organisations do not fall under factories act, so there is no legal complication for employing female staff members at night.
However, your primary concern should be on the safety and security of those employees. There were incidents before where the safety of female staffs were compromised. The transportation department of your organisation must have proper fleet management system in place like GPS tracking of the cabs engaged in pickup and drop of female employees. If possible, you may also think of deputing security guards in those cabs. Under any circumstances, the female employee should not be the last person to drop.
My suggestion to you will be to think twice before you take such actions, and implement proper safety procedure and logistics support to ensure safety and security.
From India, Patna
Legality or illegality of engagement of women during night is not due to the reason that IT companies do not come under Factories Act. It is true that IT companies do not fall under Factories Act but these companies fall under the respective State's Shops and Commercial Establishments Act which is, like Factories Act, an Act to ensure proper conditions of service and safety and health of employees in shops and other commercial establishments, wherein also the restriction of engaging women during night is available. At the same time, under the Shops Act there are certain exemptions given to industries in general with regard to coverage of certain provisions of the Act, like hospitals are exempted from the restriction of engaging women during night, hotels eating places and hospitals are exempted from the operation of the provision relating to mandatory closing of establishment for one day in every week etc.
In the case of IT companies, different state governments have given exemptions either by means of amendment in the Shops and Commercial establishments Act which regulates the service conditions of employees of IT Companies or by means of separate notifications or IT Policy. Therefore, you have to refer to the IT Policy along with Shops Act for better understanding of whether you can engage women during night.
Madhu.T.K
From India, Kannur
In the case of IT companies, different state governments have given exemptions either by means of amendment in the Shops and Commercial establishments Act which regulates the service conditions of employees of IT Companies or by means of separate notifications or IT Policy. Therefore, you have to refer to the IT Policy along with Shops Act for better understanding of whether you can engage women during night.
Madhu.T.K
From India, Kannur
Community Support and Knowledge-base on business, career and organisational prospects and issues - Register and Log In to CiteHR and post your query, download formats and be part of a fostered community of professionals.