Haryana:

By way of a Notification dated March 14, 2024, the Government of Haryana has prescribed conditions for availing exemption under the Factories Act, 1948 (‘Factories Act’) for employment of women employees at factories during the night shift (between 7:00 PM and 6:00 AM). Such an exemption will be valid for a period of one year from the date of issuance of the Notification. These conditions include, inter alia, the following:

i.    compliance with the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (‘POSH Act’);

ii.   constituting an IC under the POSH Act at each administrative units or offices or workplaces separately, where the offices or administrative units of the workplace are located at different places or divisional or sub divisional level;

iii.  employing women workers in a batch of not less than ten;

iv.   deputing a woman supervisor or shift-in-charge for the women workers working during night shift;

v.    allowing women workers working in all shifts to have a monthly meeting through their representatives with the occupier as grievance day;

vi.   providing transportation facilities to women workers (with GPS for tracking and monitoring) from the residence to the workplace and vice versa;

vii.  ensuring pre-employment screening of the drivers (whether employed directly or outsourced); and

viii. complying with other provisions of Factories Act, in relation to hours of work, rest intervals, holidays, separate rest room for women etc., and with provisions of the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 and other applicable employment statutes.

Uttar Pradesh:

The Uttar Pradesh Government had issued a Notification dated May 27, 2022, exempting all factories of the State employing women between 07:00 PM to 06:00 AM from the restrictions imposed under the Factories Act. This exemption was subject to certain conditions, some of which have now been relaxed by way of a Notification dated February 19, 2024. These conditions include the following:

i.    during the night shift between 07:00 PM to 06:00 AM not less than four women workers were allowed to work in the premise, which has now been changed to three;

ii.   the employer was required to send a monthly report to the Inspector of factories of region concerned about the details of women workers engaged during night shift and an express report whenever there is some untoward incident to the Inspector of factories and local Police Station. The requirement to send an express report has now been limited to any incident of sexual harassment;

iii.  violation of any of the conditions mentioned in the Notification dated May 27, 2022, by the employer would lead to automatic cancellation of the deemed permission provided. Now a time period of seven days, from the date of receiving the notice, is provided to rectify any non-compliances; and

iv.   additionally, now the employers are required to install CCTV cameras in the factory premise and in the transportation used by the night shift workmen along with the GPS tracker.

Rajasthan:

The Government of Rajasthan by way of a Notification dated March 7, 2024, has provided a temporary exemption to shops and establishments from the provision of the Rajasthan Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958, which prohibits women employees from working in the night shift. This exemption is valid for a period of three years from the date of publication in the official gazette (i.e., from March 19, 2024). For establishments run by women, the exemption will be valid for a period of four years. This exemption is subject to, inter alia, the following conditions:

i.    the employer is allowed to employ the female employees at night only after obtaining her consent;

ii.   a pregnant woman employee will not be called to work at night three months before her expected delivery date and three months after giving birth to the child;

iii.  all women employees working during night will be issued appointment letters and photo ID cards;

iv.   employers will be responsible for the safety of the female employees working at night, and also provide safe transport arrangements for all such women employees, at night; and

v.    employers will ensure arrangements to prevent incidents of sexual harassment in the workplace.

Violation of the above conditions will result in automatic termination of the exemption provided to establishments, and applicable action will be taken against the employer.