PESHAWAR: More than 58 per cent workplaces in Peshawar were violating labour laws, which had detrimental effects on women workers, said Women Workers Alliance at a convention here on Wednesday.

According to a press release, the Alliance monitored various workplaces at public, private and industrial sectors and interviewed 200 women workers to find out that working women were the worst affected by the non-compliance of labour laws. The Alliance is being facilitated by United Rural Development Organisation (Urdo) with the technical assistance of Trust Democratic Education and Accountability (TDEA) under a project, Women Action for Better Workplaces, funded by The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

It said that violation of labour laws in public sector was assumed to be less than the other sectors, however, more than 58 per cent of public sector organisations either did not have protection against sexual harassment committee or it was not effective.

The code of conduct against sexual harassment was not displayed in more than 85 per cent of the public offices. “There are no washroom/toilet facilities in at least 45 per cent of the public organisations and 15 per cent of the private organisations while 85 per cent workplaces don’t have the daycare and breast feeding facilities,” said the release.

It must be declared compulsory for these organisations to provide the facility of separate washrooms, daycare and breastfeeding for the women workers.

The Alliance said that 83 per cent private sector organisations violated the Maternity Benefits Act and women were not paid maternity benefits in any form. It demanded effective implementation of the law and penalty for the employers, who were violating it.

Approximately 58 per cent of workplaces do not comply with the Anti-Sexual Harassment at Workplaces Act, 2010. It said that all those organisations should form committees on protection against sexual harassment at workplaces. “If such committees exist, they should be made functional,” it added.

The code of conduct on anti-sexual harassment should also be displayed at prominent places in those organizations, said the Alliance.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2018