Employers may need written consent and transport for women on night duty under new labour code rules

New Delhi: Employers assigning night duty to women may have to take their consent in writing as well as provide transportation for pick-up and drop once the rules for Labour Codes are implemented.

The draft rules also have provisions for fixing minimum wages, defining work hours and definition of different types of workers. The Ministry of Labour and Employment on Wednesday has notified draft rules for Code, Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHW) Code, Code on Social Security and Industrial Relations Code, seeking suggestions from the public. 

The ministry has given 30 days from publishing the draft rules for providing feedback to stakeholders for the Industrial Relations Code, 2020. It has given public 45 days for providing feedback on the remaining three codes. The publishing of rules is necessary to make the new Codes fully operational.

According to the draft rules for OSHW Code, those assigning work for women between 7 PM and 6 AM should take consent of the female employee in writing.  No women shall be employed against the maternity benefit provisions laid down under the Social Security Code, 2020.

Adequate transportation facilities should be provided to women employees to pick-up and drop such employees at her residence. The draft rules also said the workplace, including passage towards conveniences or facilities concerning toilet, washrooms, drinking water, entry and exit of women employees should be well-lit.

Washroom and drinking facilities should also be near the workplace where such women employees are employed and suitable provisions of Closed-circuit television (CCTV) surveillance on the way to these facilities should be provided.

Safe, secure and healthy working conditions are provided so that no woman employee is disadvantaged in connection with her employment. Dedicated telephone numbers of the establishment should be displayed at conspicuous places both at the establishment as well as inside the vehicles, so that any women employee can utilize them, in case of any exigency or emergency.

According to the draft Code of Wages rules, the minimum rate of wages may be fixed on the basis of the standard working class family which includes a spouse and two children apart from the earning employee, an equivalent of three adult consumption units, a net intake of 2700 calories per day per consumption unit, 66 meters cloth per year per standard working class family and housing rent expenditure to constitute 10 per cent of food and clothing expenditure.

The 20 per cent minimum wages could also include fuel, electricity and other miscellaneous items of expenditure, 25 per cent on children education, medical requirement, recreation and expenditure on contingencies to constitute.