Removal of legal barriers for women in employment

Cabinet approval has been given to amend the Shop and Office Workers (Regulation of Service and Wages) Act No. 19 of 1954 to enable women in information technology-based jobs to work on international hours and work at night.

Accordingly, the existing legal restrictions on working at night will be amended for employees working in IT-based businesses, knowledge and business process outsourcing organizations, offices that conduct accounts, administrative and technical work of business organizations located abroad.

Thus, female workers who have completed the age of 18 years in the relevant fields can be employed before 6.00 am or after 6.00 pm.

In the existing legal situation, a woman over the age of 18 was allowed to work until 8:00 pm, and there was a limited space to work at night only in a limited range such as airports, hotels, restaurants, and clubs.

Labor and Foreign Employment Minister Manusha Nanayakkara says that this will remove the legal obstacles in the labor law to the employment of women workers at night, and it is expected that this will further increase the participation of women in the workforce in this country.

Opportunity for 16-20 year olds to work part-time while studying

According to the Ministry of Labor and Foreign Employment, steps are being taken to amend the labor laws to include provisions for young people between the ages of 16-20 to engage in part-time jobs subject to a maximum of twenty hours a week.

It was revealed in a discussion chaired by the minister that creating a sense of dignity in labor that respects all jobs equally, accustoming them not to discriminate any job on any basis and acclimating young people to the work environment at school age and not doing so is the cause of many problems that have arisen in the labor sector. has been

Accordingly, the ministries have focused on making these amendments with the aim of creating an investment-friendly workforce, acquainting them with the international labor market conditions at school age, and instilling the pride of independence in the youth in education.

According to that amendment, young people in the relevant age range will be allowed to work frequently, subject to a maximum of four hours a day, five days a week or twenty hours a week, subject to a maximum of twenty hours a week.

Apart from the seventy-two dangerous job categories currently identified, opportunities are provided to engage in part-time jobs related to restaurants, supermarkets, and cleaning, and it is mandatory for the relevant employers to provide formal training to these young people.

It is the responsibility of the employer not to offer permanent employment opportunities under any circumstances and to provide adequate wages, security and dignity.

Likewise, corresponding to this, E.P.F. and ETFs The Ministry of Labor and Foreign Employment further said that the legal conditions related to payments are also being revised.

What you need to know about monkeypox, which scared the world

The Health Promotion Bureau has made a special awareness regarding monkeypox.

The full note is given below.

"At the same time that Monkeypox, an infectious disease that was found only in the Central and West African region until recently, began to spread by invading different countries of the world, we worked to bring you the basic facts about it.

With the spread of this disease to about 75 countries very quickly, and with more than 16,000 cases reported along with five confirmed deaths, the World Health Organization declared this as a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern".

Although no cases have been reported from our country, we believe that it will be important to update your knowledge once again when monkeypox has entered several countries around Sri Lanka.

The virus can enter the body of a healthy person through close contact with an infected person. It is said that blisters and wounds caused by the disease, other body fluids, infected respiratory droplets and things such as bed sheets recently used by the infected person may also contain the virus.

But this is not a sexually transmitted disease.

Symptoms include fever, swelling of the lymph nodes, pain in the flesh, and blisters that occur with severe body fatigue.

Symptoms may take 5-21 days after exposure to an infected person.

Blisters usually appear 1-3 days after the onset of fever and are mainly seen on the face, hands and soles.

There are also cases where painful blisters/sores occur in the mucous membranes around the mouth, genitals and eyes. At first, these rashes appear as spots, then turn into blisters, lumps and blisters or pus blisters. When these rashes heal, a crust is formed on the surface of the skin and after they completely fall off, it can be concluded that the infection has been cured.

These symptoms can also be seen in common viral infections such as chicken pox / hand-foot-mouth disease, so it is very important to seek medical advice immediately and to stay away from others when symptoms occur.

Although monkeypox is usually self-limiting in 2-4 weeks, immunocompromised people and young children are at risk of developing complications.

Currently, the death rate of this epidemic is calculated as 3-6%. It also shows that the rate of transmission of this disease is very low compared to the rate of transmission of viral diseases such as smallpox/measles.

In the face of the current crisis situation, we have to overcome this epidemic challenge somehow. We hope that you, the citizens, will work to provide maximum support by following the public health guidelines that we provide."

Change in fuel release for buses

Steps have been taken to provide sufficient fuel for private passenger buses according to the distance they travel.

Ceylon Transport Board Deputy General Manager Pandula Swarnahansa has stated this.

Earlier, only 40 liters of fuel was given to private passenger buses.

Education Minister tells about the date of release of A-level examination results

Education Minister Susil Premajayantha says that the examination department is working to release the 2021 A-level examination results before the end of August.

The minister mentioned this while addressing the assembly today (August 9).

He said that due to last month's unrest in the country, it was not possible to complete the practical examinations for A-Levels.

Mr. Premajayantha further said that the practical tests will be completed by next week and after that the A-Level results will be released.

A condition to suspend the bonuses of the electricity workers

The Public Utilities Commission has taken steps to impose a condition not to give bonuses to the employees of the Ceylon Electricity Board until the financial situation improves.

Its chairman Janaka Ratnayake said this at a special press conference held today (August 9).

He announced that employees will be given bonuses in December despite billions in losses.

Hence this condition was imposed, he said.

A special notice from Sri Lanka Customs to air passengers

The Sri Lankan Customs issued a notification to inform all air passengers to refrain from carrying prohibited goods, import restricted goods, temporarily suspended import goods or goods brought in commercial quantities in their luggage at the airport or through cargo transport agencies.

Due to the foreign exchange problem in the country, the import of various non-essential and luxury goods into Sri Lanka has been temporarily restricted in the past.

Although it has been restricted in this way, it has been observed that in the past, there has been an increase in the luggage brought by air passengers and the luggage sent through various agencies that import goods.

Sri Lanka Customs also said that it has been observed that some air passengers are bringing goods in commercial quantities in violation of the regulations contained in the Customs Ordinance and the Import and Export (Control) Act.

According to the provisions of the Customs Ordinance and the Import and Export (Control) Act, the goods brought illegally will be confiscated and the passengers will be fined, it has been further stated in the announcement issued by the Director General of Customs.