Engaging Women in Night Shifts: Managing Compliances in India

The envisioned benefits accruing from the inclusion of women in night shifts, ranging from expanded workforce participation to heightened operational flexibility, are undeniable. However, these advantages stand to be weighed against a myriad of safety concerns for both employers and employees, spanning from the threat of sexual harassment to physical injury, which mandates a nuanced examination and understanding of compliance management system or compliance obligations/actionable at the grassroot level.

The Regulatory Compliance Landscape in India

The legal framework regarding safety of women working in night shifts is enshrined within various labour laws, including the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013, the Factories Act, 1948, supplemented by Shops and Establishments Acts enacted by individual States.

Within this framework, certain States, notably Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand, have outlined specific conditions under which women may be employed during night shifts, carving out exceptions to the overarching regulations of the Factories Act. Notably, in March 2024, Haryana took a proactive step by issuing a set of stringent guidelines for factories seeking exemption to engage women in night shifts (spanning from 7:00 pm to 6:00 am).

Some of the requirements laid down in Haryana with respect to safety and security measures for engaging women in night shifts:

• Draft and periodically update a written statement outlining their overarching commitment to preventing sexual harassment of female employees in the workplace;
• Prominently display at various locations within the workplace the directive pertaining to the establishment of an Internal Committee and the Policy on the prohibition of sexual harassment;
• Ensuring compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act of 2013 and its accompanying regulations;
• Provide adequate lighting and closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance, not confined solely to the precincts of the factory, but extending to surroundings/ peripheries thereof as well as to all places where the female workers may move out of necessity in the course of discharging occupational obligations;
• Ensure that women workers are employed in a batch comprising no fewer than ten women workers, coupled with the provision of providing transportation to facilitate conveyance from their residence and back;
• Provide security guards (including female security guards), alongside drivers of good training and accountability, equipped with efficient communication channels in each vehicle. Augmenting these provisions, incorporate other practical measures such as installation of CCTV surveillance and GPS systems in every vehicle, thereby fortifying the safety and security of women workers.
• In the event the drivers are engaged through outsourcing arrangements, the management is required to ensure to its satisfaction the thorough collection of bio-data and rigorous that pre-employment screenings for the drivers is carried out by the service provider;
• Adequate female security personnel should be stationed at both the entrance and exit point of the factory. Additionally, during night shifts, the supervisors or shift-in-charge or other supervisory staff deputed must be women;
• Obtain a declaration/consent from every female worker prior to assigning night shifts;
• Provide appropriate medical facilities by engaging a doctor / female nurse during night shift;
• Maintain a dedicated vehicle on standby to address emergent situations such as hospitalization, in cases of injury or incidents of harassment, especially when there are over 100 female employees present during a shift;
• Conduct workshops, orientation sessions, and awareness programs periodically to educate female employees about their rights to protection from sexual harassment in the workplace, as well as the provisions outlined in the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, and Redressal) Act, 2013, along with its accompanying regulations.

Persistent Challenges

In spite of administrative transformations, a few of the difficulties as mentioned below still endure in successfully coordinating women workers into night shifts inside factories:

1. Ensuring the safety and well-being of women working late hours remains paramount. Considerations such as transportation facilities, well-lit pathways, and surveillance measures are fundamental in this regard.
2. Night shifts can fundamentally influence physical and emotional well-being. Satisfactory arrangements for rest regions, ergonomic workstations, and medical care offices are fundamental for relieving wellbeing gambles.
3. Verifying adherence to regulatory requirements, including working hours, breaks, and overtime compensation, poses a considerable challenge, particularly in large-scale factory settings.

Tech-Driven Solutions for Women's Safety in Night Shifts

To ensure the safety and empowerment of women in night shifts, the following steps may be taken:

1. Biometric attendance systems for accurate tracking;
2. GPS-enabled transport solutions for secure commutes;
3. IoT safety devices for instant distress signaling,
4. AI-driven compliance monitoring for proactive interventions, etc.

Way Forward: A Compliance Management Tool/Software/Solution in Place

Komrisk, our ‘Compliance Management Tool/Software/Solution, with its smart and automated compliance management features offers an enterprise-level solution for regulatory compliance management. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, Komrisk enables enterprises to remain vigilant and automatically identify instances of non-compliance, defaults, and delays. It further serves as a comprehensive repository of compliance obligations, presenting the same in easily actionable formats alongside corresponding penalties for non-compliance. Moreover, Komrisk facilitates the uploading of tangible evidence of compliance, validating the completion of tasks with precision.

A hallmark of Komrisk is its flexible escalation mechanism, spanning up to ten levels, ensuring that compliance issues are addressed promptly and effectively. Further, it offers real-time dashboard reports, empowering senior management with insights to enhance operational efficiency, promote transparency, and monitor compliance status in real-time.

Through the incorporation of cutting-edge technology in our Compliance Management tool Komrisk, we keep you updated on the regulatory changes and in turn also improve compliance, transparency, and accountability.

Written by: Sarnindita Chatterjee Abhishek Roy

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