The Cabinet has agreed to change the Shop and Office Act to allow women working in IT-related industries to work the night shift.
Manusha Nanayakkara, Minister of Labour and Foreign Employment, made the proposal in this regard.
As a result, the Shop and Office Act will be amended to allow women working in IT-related industries to work in foreign time zones.
The amendments will allow women over the age of 18 in IT-related industries to work before and after 06.00 a.m., which was previously prohibited under the Shop and Office Act.
Previously, women over the age of 18 were only permitted to work until 8:00 p.m. in certain industries, such as airport service and hotels.
The Labour Minister hopes to remove all regulations that prevent women from working at night and to further strengthen Sri Lanka’s female workforce.