Employee Security

The BPO/ITES industry owing to it’s long working hours and night shifts has been vulnerable to incidents related to the security of their employees. The rape and murder of a call center employee in Bangalore has made both the government and the BPO industry sit up and address the grave issue of employee security.

The chinks in security usually manifest especially in the case of women employees. Commuting to and from work at odd and erratic hour’s makes women vulnerable to criminal acts and violence. The central government was thus forced to review the Factories Act which enabled women to work in night shifts in special economic zones such as textiles and the ITES/BPO sector. The Factories Act states that the employer is accountable for the safety of women working between 10 pm and 6 am in the BPO/IT among other sectors and is liable to ensure the safety of women at workplace and while commuting.

Flexible work timings for women should be allowed be “provided adequate safeguards in the factory as regards occupational safety and health, equal opportunity for women workers, adequate protection of their dignity, honour and safety and their transportation from the factory premises to the nearest point of their residence" are made.

The sudden boom in the IT and BPO industry in cities like Bangalore, Gurgaon, Noida has invariably led to an increase in crime rate where cases of robbery and assault on IT and BPO employees returning home late at night have been reported. As a result the BPO industry has beefed up security this year following instances of loopholes in security and data theft by its employees. According to police sources there has been an increase in vehicles being hired by various BPO firms to ferry its employees in addition to meticulous scanning of all recruited by the industry for transport.