‘Right to sit’ for shopstaff being enforced

Surprise inspection of shops

December 20, 2018 11:31 pm | Updated 11:31 pm IST - Thiruvananthapuram

Enforcement officials of the Labour and Skills Department conducted surprise inspections in many textile and jewellery shops in the State on Thursday to check if the establishments had taken necessary steps as directed by the new amendments to the1960 Kerala Shops and Establishments Act.

Officials were ensuring that the said amendments were being enforced strictly and that women workers were provided a safe and dignified working environment in shops, including the “right to sit”.

The checks were conducted as per the directive of Minister for Labour, T.P. Ramakrishnan, who had asked the Labour Department to strengthen the enforcement part, at a review meeting of District Labour Officers here last month. As many as 239 shops and establishments were inspected across the State on Thursday, out of which 124 had already ensured that the women employees had adequate facilities as directed by the Act.

Violations

Labour Commissioner A. Alexander, in a statement here, said that violation of the rules had been noticed in 115 institutions. Notices had been issued to those institutions which were guilty of violating rules and those which had not created facilities in proportion to the number of its employees.

They had been asked to make sure that sufficient changes were made within three days and to inform the Labour Department.

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