Maharashtra Unveils Draft Rules to Safeguard Women Working Night Shifts in Factories

By: WE staff | Monday, 28 July 2025

• Maharashtra prepares safety guidelines for night-shift women, in sync with central and state labour legislation
• Signed consent from women employees is compulsory for working on night shifts in
• The program seeks to foster safe and equitable work climates for women in industrial occupations

The Maharashtra government has come out with a draft of new safety guidelines to safeguard women employees working night shifts in factories as per labour codes laid down by the central and the state governments.

The draft rules mandate the factory to seek written approval from women workers prior to placing them on night shifts. Furthermore, factories have to offer transport facility for pick-up and drop, assign at least two women staff members to duty on night shifts, and adopt practical safety precautions to protect women workers.

Though the night shifts were opened to women already in 2015, this is the first time specific safety measures are being enforced officially by the government. The draft, released on July 24, is available for public comments and objections for the next 45 days.

Rule 102B amendments provide that factory premises, toilets, corridors, and exits should be well illuminated, and CCTV monitoring with a backup recording for 45 days is mandatory. The women should also be provided a 'Grievance Day'—an opportunity to meet with management with the help of representatives once in eight weeks.

Amendments to Rule 114A are concerned with women engaged in dangerous environments. Factories are required to supply protection equipment like respirators, nose masks, head caps, aprons, and overcoats. Pregnant and lactating women cannot be engaged in dangerous work that subjects them to carcinogenic or teratogenic chemicals. All women employees are required to be trained concerning the dangers of their workplace and chemicals handled.

Though these changes bolster women's protection, the government has also relaxed some overall worker protection requirements, eliciting scrutiny. Rule 73W revisions now increase the threshold for needing occupational health centres from 50 to 150 workers, diminishing the accessibility of healthcare for smaller factory units. Likewise, health centre facilities and medical officer services those were earlier obligatory for factories employing 51 to 500 employees will now be applicable only to those with 151 to 1,000 employees.

Furthermore, the government has done away with the obligatory provision for canteens, earlier obligatory in factories with over 250 employees, by abolishing Rule 79. This implies that no factory is now compulsory to have a canteen on the premises.