BENGALURU: The State Labour Department, which has come under fire for its failure to ensure that companies take steps to protect women employees, says a government order prevents it from inspecting any company in the absence of a specific complaint.
The department was unable to conduct periodic inspections on IT companies as they are exempted from the Industrial Employment Act, 1946, with regard to certain aspects pertaining to service rules, terms of services, payment of salaries, said Dr D S Vishwanath, Commissioner, Department of Labour Welfare.
However, the exemption does not cover the issue of women’s safety, he said. “It is like a double-edged sword. If we conduct inspections, companies say that we are harassing them. If we don’t, people say that we are at fault,” the official said. Providing transport to women employees is part of the safety measures the companies have to take.
The department is now initiating action against the call centre whose employee was gang-raped in a tempo traveller that she had boarded to reach home on Saturday.
“Stringent action will be taken against the company for not providing transport to its women employees. The company has clearly committed a mistake in this regard. Since there were orders stating that companies could not be inspected, we chose to stay mum and act as and when there was a complaint,” he said. On Tuesday, City Police Commissioner N S Megharikh stated that it is the responsibility of the Labour Department to ensure that companies take steps to ensure safety of their women employees.
Practical Problems:
Vishwanath said there are practical problems in inspecting IT companies. “There are thousands of IT companies and many more are mushrooming every day. Considering our staff strength, it is impossible to inspect all of them. Even if we were to conduct inspections every day, we would not be able to cover even 10 per cent of the number of companies. Now, the Union government is contemplating whether the rules can be amended so that inspections can take place periodically,” he added.
Vishwanath said that since the orders stated that the Labour Department can inspect and take action on the basis of a complaint, that is what is being done now. “What is important is the action that is taken against an erring entity and that is what we are doing at present. Our team is working on it so that the company can be prosecuted,” he added.