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The Telangana government has come out with an order, exempting all the Information Technology and IT-Enabled Services (ITES) from certain provisions of the AP Shops and Establishments Act, 1988, for a period of five years.
These sections relate to working hours; daily and weekly hours of work; special provision for young persons, women; and holidays.
According to the GO, the IT and ITES industry is now exempt from the sections 15, 16, 21, 23, and 31 of the 1988 Act with retrospective effect from May 30, 2018. The GO, issued on July 25, 2019, also renews the exemptions provided by a similar GO issued five years ago (May 30, 2013).
The managements are permitted to engage women employees during night shift provided adequate security and to and fro transport from their residences are arranged.
Every employee should be given a compensatory holiday in lieu of notified holidays.
“The companies shall obtain biodata of each driver and conduct pre-employment screening of the antecedents of all drivers employed on their own or through outsourcing. The companies should keep all data about the drivers,” it said.
It also asked the companies not to share the phone numbers or addresses of women employees with unauthorised persons. It directed the companies to prepare pick-up and drop routes in such a way so that no woman employee would be picked up first or dropped last.
It asked the companies to set up control rooms to monitor vehicle movements. The government threatened to revoke the exemptions to companies that violated the conditions.
The IT industry welcomed the exemptions provided by the government. “This will suit the requirements of the industry that works with foreign clients and offices. It will help the companies to operate 24 hours, and to accommodate women employees in different shifts,” The Hyderabad Software Exporters’ Association President Murali Bollu, said.
Industry concern
The IT industry, however, is concerned about the omission of sub-sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 in the Section 47.
These four sub-sections speak on the conditions for terminating the services of an employee, payment of service compensation for termination, retirement, resignation, and payment of relevant payout.
“The State government had exempted the IT industry from these sections during 2013-18. But it is omitted from the list of exemptions this time,” he said.
The industry feels that the omission could increase costs for companies.
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