The Karnataka Assembly on Wednesday passed a Bill that would allow women to work night shifts at factories.
Apart from that, employees who put in 12 hours a day for four consecutive days can take off for three days in a week, according to Law & Parliamentary Affairs Minister JC Madhuswamy.
He was piloting the Factories (Karnataka Amendment) Bill, which was passed without any debate. The Bill will now go to the Legislative Council.
"There were limitations on work hours for women. There was a lot of pressure on the government from everywhere, including the software industry to relax this. Even the High Court has given a direction that equal opportunity must be provided to all under Article 14 of the Constitution," Madhuswamy told the Assembly.
In 2020, the government allowed women to work in night shifts at hotels, restaurants, cafes, theatres and other such shops and establishments.
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The Bill also allows the government to increase daily work hours from nine to 12, not exceeding 48 hours a week. This will "create more economic activities and employment opportunities," according to the Bill.
"We are increasing working hours to the tune of 12 hours per day. Those who work for 12 hours a day consecutively for four days, not exceeding 48 hours, can take a gap of three days," Madhuswamy explained.
According to the Bill, women can work between 7 pm and 6 am subject to a long list of safety measures employers are required to put in place. "It shall be the duty of the employer or other responsible persons at the work places to prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment," the Bill stipulates.
The Bill requires employers to provide transport facilities to women workers from residence and back during night shift. Each transport vehicle should be equipped with CCTV and GPS.
Employers have to make sure there are "appropriate working conditions" for women and "no woman employee should have reasonable grounds to believe that she is disadvantaged in connection with her employment," the Bill states.
Women workers must be employed in a batch of not less than ten, according to the Bill, which also states that factories should have proper lighting and CCTV coverage whose footage should be stored for not less than 45 days.
The Bill also allows the government to fix work hours for overtime duty during which employees have to be paid wages "at the rate of twice the rate of ordinary."