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.