New state labour laws to boost women's safety & ease of doing business in Uttar Pradesh

Moving ahead with the agenda of women's safety in Uttar Pradesh, the state administration has rolled out new labour rules. As per the order released on Saturday, no woman can be compelled to work before 6 AM and post 7 PM, without her written consent.

In addition to this, the government has also floated various rules for women working late at night at factories across the state. Companies and Organisations must create a committee to ensure that harassment against women does not take place. Additionally, the new norm also aims at ensuring ease of doing business in the state.

In the 13-point order, the UP government laid out several mandatory points that need to be followed by the such employers at all times. Apart from the strict timing restrain, the authorities have also made it a point that no woman employee can be fired for refusing to work in the night shift.

A woman worker can only be asked to work from the office if a minimum of three other women are present during the shift to accompany her. There should be bathrooms and changing rooms for women at the workplace and proper lighting around the organisation, ensuring safety. Moreover, women who choose to work late are entitled to food, water and transportation facilities by the employer.

Additionally, these new laws are also aimed at reducing hurdles for the organisation for attaining permission for women's night shift. Since the new norm will just require written consent from women employees. This will in turn ensure ease of doing business in the state.

The notification further stated that all the organisations across UP must set up a dedicated committee to ensure there is no harassment against women in the workplace. Factory inspectors should keep a check on the same and note unusual incidents or non-compliance with the new rules. The norms state that the onus of providing a secure work environment to female employees lies with the employer.

Notably, this notification of exemptions to the women's workforce has been shared across all the mills, factories and organisations in the state. To make sure that the female workers are aware of their rights, these guidelines should be put on display at factories and other workspaces. As per the order issued by the state government, punitive actions will be taken against anyone found flouting new norms.