No women at night in Haryana BPOs

NEW DELHI: Here���s a case ofkilling a $5.2-billion golden goose with a stick made in 1958. Haryanagovernment has sent notices to Gurgaon-based call centres asking them not toallow women employees on night shifts. As women comprise an estimated 40% of theworkforce.Gurgaon call centres may have tough days ahead if thelabour department has its way. Grappling with an old law, which is being used to���harass��� call centres, the affected BPOs are asking why thisoutdated law is being invoked now and are wondering if this is plain harassmentunder the garb of bureaucratic compliance. The labour departmentbabus get their clout from Section 9 of the 1958 Act, under which government hasbeen empowered to fix opening and closing hours of ������allclasses of establishments������ and which states that������different opening and closing hours may be fixed for differentclasses of establishments and for different area.������ Itwas the same labour department which, through its notification issued in June2000, granted exemptions to ������the establishments of informationtechnology and software in the state of Haryana, from the operation of theprovisions of sections 9 and 10 of the said Act.������However, labour department officials say that since a call centre isan...... ITES company and not an ITcompany, these exemptions don���t apply to them. The instrumentbeing used to enforce ���discipline��� is a little-known section of thePunjab Shops and Commercial Establishment Act of 1958, which forbids women fromworking night shifts. Notices have been sent by the Haryana labour department toBPOs, including Convergys and Saffron Global, threatening ������strictaction������ against them. The very nature of the outsourcing businessrequires most work to be transacted at night. BPO experts sayGurgaon generates around 70% of India���s off-shoring revenues. Nasscompredicts the sector would employ 1.2 million by 2008. The archaic provisionthat���s being invoked to threaten all this is Section 30 of the 1958 Act.According to it, ������No woman shall be required or allowed to workwhether as an employee or otherwise in any establishment duringnight.������ Until now, call centres have sought exemptionfrom this clause from the labour commissioner. But, G S Thakur, labourofficer-cumconciliation officer of the circle under which BPOs like Convergysand Saffron Global fall, said: ������These call centres were foundviolating employment conditions and hence they have not been granted any furtherexemption. We���ll take strict action.������ Anydestabilisation of BPO business in Gurgaon, with about 150 call centres, wouldhurt Haryana the most.