Poor compliance with labour law can jeopardise women’s safety

Among the amendments proposed to the Factories Act by the Government is one on allowing women to work on shifts between 7 pm and 6 am, “with adequate safeguards for safety and provision of transportation till the doorstep of their residence.”

This amendment will open up work opportunities for women at a time when the female work participation rate is at a dismal 31 per cent, according to data provided by the India Labour and Employment Report 2014 from the Institute of Human Development. However, women’s organisations, trade unions and legal experts have expressed concern over the safety, security and health of women workers, especially at a time when crimes against women are escalating.

Rape, sexual harassment, kidnapping and trafficking of women rose from 9.2 per cent in 2009 to 11.2 per cent in 2013, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

These concerns are compounded by the fact that labour law compliance has a dismal record in our country. It was only after the snuffing out of a few young lives that Government asked companies to ensure that women on night shifts were escorted home. But no study has been done to assess the levels of compliance.

Also, Section 66 of the Factories Act banning night shifts for women (the section to be amended) was enacted after a convention adopted by the International Labour Organisation. This section is already being flouted by factories with help from a “corrupt labour bureaucracy”, says K Chandru, former judge of the Madras High Court.

Justice Chandru believes that “no safety and health directions will be ever implemented” , citing news reports last year about 45 women coolies being rescued from a spinning mill in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district where they were kept in a single room with one toilet.

Take the case of textile and garment units in Tamil Nadu. “Today, in four districts, there are about 40,000 women employees doing three shifts, including night shifts,” he said in an email interaction. He said several textile mills in backward areas of Tamil Nadu engage women workers. “They engage agents to fetch women from backward class families by promising a lumpsum at the end of a three-year contract period which the girls hope to use for their marriages. These women are kept inside the factory compound. Their parents meet them once a year. They are treated as apprentices and are given meagre payments with deductions made for lodging and boarding expenses,” he added. While women’s organisations, by and large, feel that allowing night shifts will lead to ‘equity’ for women in the job market, they feel the added burden of household responsibilities may impact their health.

“Has any study been done on the impact of late night shifts on women’s health and reproductive system before proposing such changes? Implementation by the labour law machinery in India is already quite poor. Apart from BPOs, there are units that already make women work all night,” says Indrani Mazumdar of the Centre of Women’s Development Studies, who has researched the condition of women workers in Special Economic Zones.

She also fears that if night shifts become part of ‘routine’ work or a ‘condition of service’, more women may opt out of the workforce.

However, Anuradha Kapur, Head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Delhi’s Max Super Speciality Hospital, feels there is no difference between working long hours at night and day and it should not affect women adversely.

But she cautions that adequate rest and proper nutrition is a must for women working long hours. Women who are pregnant and breast-feeding need a work environment that ensures low exposure to chemicals and pesticides, she adds.

Eventually, the ball is in the employers’ court. It is their interest to self-regulate and ensure a harmonious industrial climate for investments to flow in. “Legislation is important, but cannot be an end in itself. Industry has a great responsibility in ensuring the safety of women. There is a huge amount of talent among women and we need to give them the opportunity to grow. But industry must first have a safety framework in place,” says Chandrajit Banerjee, President, Confederation of Indian Industry.

(With inputs from Aesha Datta)

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