Form L - Consent of Women Worker to work in night shift
Rule 13: Conditions for employment of women in general as well as in night shifts
The following are the conditions for employment of women workers in general in any establishment, irrespective of the number of women workers employed therein, namely:
- The employer shall take all the measures and safeguards to prevent or deter the commission of acts of sexual harassment at the place of work by strictly implementing and enforcing all the provisions of the Sexual Harassment of Women at Work Place (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 (14 of 2013).
- In case of sexual harassment at the instance of a third party, either by an act or an omission, the employer shall take all necessary and reasonable steps to assist the affected women workers in terms of support and preventive action.
- Provide proper lighting and illumination inside the establishment, and also in the surroundings of the establishment and all places where a woman worker may need to move in the course of such shift.
- Every employer shall maintain a complaint box. Every employer shall also display the phone numbers of the local police station, control room, and the women helpline number prominently in the establishment.
- A sufficient number of women security guards shall be engaged in any establishment employing not less than ten women workers. Police verification of such women security guards shall be mandatory.
- Separate urinals and latrines shall be maintained for women workers, with a safety locking facility only from inside.
The following additional conditions shall be complied with for employment of women workers in night shifts, namely:
- Women workers shall be allowed to work between 9.30 p.m. and 7.00 a.m. in any establishment only after obtaining their consent in Form ‘L’.
- The number of women workers employed in the night shift shall not be less than three at any point in time.
- A safe and secure separate transportation facility shall be provided for all women workers working in the night shift, from the workplace to the doorstep of their residence and vice-versa. The employer shall have all the details of the drivers, guards, and all such workers engaged, whether directly or through any agency or contractor. Police verification of all such workers engaged for the safe and secure transportation of women workers shall be mandatory.
- In addition to the holidays mentioned in section 18 of the Act, every woman worker who works the night shift as per her shift schedule shall be eligible for one additional paid holiday for every two months in a year.
- There shall be not less than twelve consecutive hours of rest or gap between the last shift and night shift whenever a woman worker is changed from a day shift to a night shift, and also from a night shift to a day shift.
- No woman worker shall be allowed to work in a night shift during the period of twenty-four weeks before and after her childbirth, of which at least twelve weeks shall be before the expected childbirth, and for such further period, if any, as specified in a medical certificate stating that it is necessary for the health of the woman worker or her child. Provided that the said period may be relaxed at the request of a woman worker, on the basis of a medical certificate from a qualified medical practitioner stating that neither her health nor that of her child will be endangered.
- Every employer shall annually submit an undertaking to the Facilitator that they shall provide all the facilities mentioned in this rule and shall take due care and diligence regarding the safety, dignity and honour of women workers in general, and particularly of those on the night shift.