Women can now 'officially' work in night shifts

NEW DELHI: Providing a boost to the mushrooming BPO segment in the country, the government has decided to amend the Factories Act, 1948, thus allowing women to work in late night shifts. This amendment comes as a breeze of fresh air for the BPO/ITES industry in the Indian region — as the BPO or the ITES units had to take approvals from the state government under the shops and establishment act or the factories act.






"Our nature of work doesn't allow us to have a time bound approach whether it is for women or it is for men. We welcome this move wholeheartedly. Now the BPO units won't have to run around for approvals and exemptions for allowing women to work in the late night shifts," informed VP of HR and training at Keane Worldzen Debasish Das.





With the cabinet deciding to amend the Factories Act, 1948, women can now work between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. shifts. Interestingly, women form the lifeline of the BPO and ITES industry where an estimated 45 percent to 50 percent women are employed.





Providing flexibility for employment of women during night hours, the amendment of the Factories Act is expected to encourage BPOs and other ITES units to employ more and more women. "There are a lot of BPOs that are looking for expansion. This will encourage them to consider women for night shifts," Das added.





"This amendment would greatly benefit women working in Special Economic Zones and the IT sector in general, even a lot of services companies are engaged in night working environment — so global delivery would become easier," informed an industry analyst.





End of fallacy





Caught between the government's red-tapism in giving approvals for women night shifts and the importance of women in this globally challenging BPO segment, industry players were distressed from taking approvals or exemptions from the respective state government bodies.





"I am really happy that it's going to be over now. Women are quite important for any BPO player. There are some small BPO and ITES companies that do not have any approval or exemption from the government. Simple, small players cannot afford to run around from Noida to Lucknow, just to take some approval. This move will end all this and the industry would be happy to see this," said an analyst on conditions of anonymity.