Cabinet nod to amend law to allow night work for women

The Cabinet nod has been granted to amend Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of Employment and Remuneration) Act No.19 of 1954, to remove the archaic restrictive legal provisions on night work for women.

Labour and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara on Monday sought the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to take the necessary steps to amend the said act, considering the requests from various service sector industries that generate foreign exchange.

According to the current provisions of the act, women are only allowed to be employed after 6:00 p.m. in a limited number of employments. In particular, the service-export-related industries are struggling to employ females, due to the current restrictive nature.

“Many business institutions such as knowledge process outsourcing institutions, business process outsourcing institutions, back office and ICT-enabling services have emerged in the country around major cities. 

Therefore, it has been identified that the existing restrictive legal provisions on night work of women should be amended,” the Government Information Department said.  Sri Lanka’s female labour participation has been hovering around 30 percent, which has been partly due to the existing archaic laws.