Women workers
Night work, maternity, equal pay.
Not yet verified against an official source
A&N Islands Shops and Establishments Regulation, 2004, as amended in 2025
- Who the Regulation applies to
- Shops and establishments employing 20 or more persons, or that employed that many on any day of the preceding twelve months. Below twenty it does not apply — though the OSH Code does, from tenSection 1A, inserted by the (Amendment) Regulation, 2025
- Night work
- No woman or young person may be required or permitted to work in any establishment between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m.Section 21, as substituted in 2025
- When a woman may work those hours
- With her consent, in an establishment where the employer provides adequate safety and security measures or provisions for holidays as prescribedFirst proviso to section 21
- What is prescribed
- Nineteen conditions, including written consent; no employment against the maternity provisions of the Code on Social Security, 2020; a limit of ten hours in a day; free transport to and from her residence; a separate dining facility; women-only boarding under women wardens; twelve consecutive hours of rest when moving between day and night shifts; at least two women per night shift as Special Welfare Assistants; CCTV and well-lit toilets, washrooms, drinking water and entry and exit; a crèche during night shifts; compliance with the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013; reporting any untoward incident to the Inspector and the police station; and the guidelines displayed prominentlyRule 8(e), A&N Islands Shops and Establishments Rules, 2005, as amended in 2026
- Hazardous processes
- No pregnant woman may work where she is likely to be exposed to carcinogenic or teratogenic substances; women must be trained on the hazards and means of escape and given protective equipment; and the Administration may notify the classes of establishment and the standard of safeguardsRule 8(f), A&N Islands Shops and Establishments Rules, 2005, as amended in 2026, and the second proviso to section 21
Central
- Night work under the OSH Code
- With the woman's consent, subject to the safety, holiday and working-hours conditions the government prescribesOccupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 s.43
- Maternity leave
- 26 weeks for the first two surviving children; 12 weeks otherwiseCode on Social Security, 2020