The Labour Department carried out surprise checks in commercial establishments across the State to ensure that employees are being provided with all the provisions as stipulated by the law.
In inspections conducted in 357 establishments, 121 were found to violate the law regarding provision of seats for all employees. A total of 237 establishments were found to be providing seats for the employees.
Act amended
The State government had recently amended the Kerala Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1960, as per which all shops and establishments in the State will have to mandatorily provide seating arrangements at workplaces for women workers, especially saleswomen.
Minister’s instructions
The checks were carried out following instructions from Labour Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan. Additional Labour Commissioner (Enforcement) Bichu Balan led the inspections.
At the district level, the raids were carried out by the District Labour Officers. In Thiruvananthapuram, only one out of the 13 establishments which were inspected had not provided seating for employees. Notices have been issued to the owners to take immediate steps to rectify this. Four shops out of 17 inspected in Kollam, three out of 16 in Pathanamthitta, eight out of 42 in Alappuzha, 24 out of 34 in Ernakulam, five out of 15 in Thrissur, 19 out of 38 in Malappuram, 19 out of 56 in Kozhikode, 7 out of 30 in Wayanad, 18 out of 21 in Kannur and 13 out of 31 in Kasaragod were found to not have provided seats for their employees. In Idukki, Kottayam and Palakkad districts, all shops that were inspected were found to be providing seats.
