Female employees safety in the call center

Female employees safety in the call center

In metropolitan cities, the call centers are a good way to learn and earn together hence this industry is in vogue amongst youth. But increasing cases of sexual assaults and mental harassment in the BPO industry especially on girls is a pressing issue. So today's topic is on Female employees' safety in the call center.

Female employees safety in the call center

The call center industry runs round the clock. Hence to work in the call center a candidate should be flexible enough to work in any shift i.e day or night. But in India, for girls working in late-night and night shift have been a problem especially in a call center.

Apart from physical abuse, there are several other challenges experienced by the female employee working in the call centers

Let's discuss the topic of Female employees' safety in the call center in detail also examine what the government is planning to curb such issues in the future and what initiatives have been taken to control sexual abuse in organizations.

Challenges facing females working in the Call center:

According to the study of NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Service Companies), at present, the ratio of female contribution to the Call center industry is 1/3 rd of total manpower. Despite such huge contributions still, women have to face challenges in the daily life of call centers. Some of them are penned below.

• Safe transportation remains a major challenge for the female employee. Despite governments' advisory to introduce internal hotline and security guard services in the cab by the employer, still, the female employee does not feel 100% safe while commuting at night.

• News of physical abuse of female employees working in call centers continues to trend in headlines. One such case arose in the past in 2018 where a BPO manager held for sexually harassing a female employee in Gurgaon is still under probe.

• Lack of confidence to raise the issue to the organization related to their safety, security, and other personal issues. One such initiative was recently taken by ZOMATO's founder and CEO Deepanedra Goyal by providing "period leaves" for 10 days in a year to its female employees to create a woman-oriented work culture.

Challenges facing female working in BPO

Another side of the coin:

But this is not the case with every female or the entire industry can not be blamed this Working in the call center industry for more than a decade now I have been witnessed so many women who have achieved a lot in this industry by their dedication, hard work, and the support of colleagues and seniors without any compromise.

In my opinion, an industry can not be defined as good or bad for particular sex rather being a female you should be vocal and look upon the women's safety and security provided by the company prior to joining the organization.

Today the government has implemented new laws for the safety and security of the girls working in night shifts. In general, night shifts refer to the working hours between 8 PM-6 AM. 

As per the directory by the Indian government, now a Call Center or any organization if they wish to align a female employee for the night shift then must adhere to the statutory obligations and should ensure that the below arrangements in place for female employees.

• Company-sponsored cabs to provide home pick up and drop facility.
• A company's security guard must be deployed in every cab to take care of the en-route safety of female employees.
• Introduction of internal hotline calling numbers and SMS services for female employees.
• As per the instruction of Haryana Govt, women employees should be aligned in batches and having at least 10 to12 female employees or 2/3rd of the total population.
• A female supervisor must be there on the night shift.

Also Read: Benefits of working from home

In addition to these necessary compliances, looking into the infrastructure compliances, an organization shall provide the below facilities if wish to employ a female in the night shift.

• Proper lighting on the floor and washroom area.
• All safety measures for the girls in advance.
• Medical facilities and one ambulance service 24*7.
• CCTV installation should be there in every corner and entry gate of the building.
• Transport facility with CCTV installation.

A Final Note

A Final Note:

Though the Government and organizations have been taking several initiatives for the security of female employees, still I think there is a long way to go to create a women-oriented work culture in call centers.

Apart from these initiatives, women need to be vocal and should be proactive while reporting issues to management or other authorities related to physical abuse, graveyard shifts, or mental harassment by anyone. As a male employee, this is also our duty as well to create a positive and happy work culture for women so that they can feel safe day and night and crime can be minimized to zero.

But one dark question is if we require so many statutory obligations and compliances to just ensure that a female can work in night shift. Are female employees safe in a call center or working in night shift?

Leaving you on this note it's time to wind up the blog. Will post another blog soon.

Till then keep visiting sarkariprivatejobs2020.com for the latest call center and other jobs 

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