Express press service
LUCKNOW: In order to provide a safe working atmosphere for women and to protect their labor rights, the government of Uttar Pradesh has taken an important decision to abolish the night shift for female workers in factories in the state.
The UP Department of Labor issued the GO to notify the decision late Friday evening. It specifies that female workers will not be required to stay at work beyond 7 p.m. at the workplace and will not be called to work before 6 a.m. without their written consent.
According to the sources, the decision would also be applicable in the private sector. The GO adds that before 6 a.m. and after 7 p.m. if the worker refuses to work, she will not be fired. Until now, no provision had been made for female labor working in state factories.
The UP government notified exemptions to female labor in all factories and factories in the state under the powers conferred by the Factories Act of 1948 in accordance with the work plan of female employees.
In addition, the GO also provides free transportation services by the employer for those who consent in writing to work at night.
According to the GO, the employer will be required to provide dinner for workers working between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. They should also be provided with sufficient protection during working hours and during journeys after completing the night shift.
The state government makes the employer responsible for ensuring toilets, toilets, changing rooms, drinking water facilities and lights near the workplace of the female workforce, as well as the provision allow at least four workers to work on the premises or in a particular department. between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.
In order to beautify the workplaces and make them safer for the workers, the GO specifies that the employer must notify the arrangement he proposes for the employment of the workers to the Factory Inspector (labour inspector) of the region concerned, for verification. The verification must be completed within a maximum period of seven days.
The employer is also required to send a monthly report electronically or otherwise to the Inspector of Factories in the relevant region on the details of female workers engaged during the night shift.
The employer was also required to report, in the event of an untoward incident, to the factory inspector and the local police station as soon as possible.
On the other hand, the labor inspector has also been given the responsibility of ensuring safe working conditions for female workers and carrying out inspections from time to time to ensure that there is no no non-compliance with the provisions in the workplace.
The responsibility for providing a safe working atmosphere for female workers will fall on the employer to prevent an incident of sexual harassment in the workplace. Further, the GO requires the employer to inculcate a robust complaints mechanism in the factory in accordance with the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women in the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redress) Act 2013 or any other related law.
The GO also expects the employer to make workers aware of their rights by posting the directive prominently.
