The amendment bill amends Section 66(1) (c) of Factories Act, 1948 to ease provisions related to working of women in night shifts in the state.
Key facts
* The amendment of 67-year old Act also makes mandatory for factory managements to ensure security of women working in night shifts.
* Prior to amendment, the section 66(1) (c) of parent Act did not allowed women employees to work in the factories in night shift between from 7 PM and 6 AM.
* Apart from this, the amendment bill also enables workers to be eligible for paid leave after working for 90 days in a year instead of the current 240 days or more.
* Besides this, the amendment also does not make mandatory for workers to take the management’s permission for working overtime. In this regard, the amendment bill has increased the working limit to 115 hours from the current 75 in 3 months.
With this, Maharashtra has joined the list of 6 Indian states that already have allowed women to work in night shifts or are in the process of doing so. They are Rajasthan, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh.
