Women Night Shift Rules in India Under the New Labour Codes

For most of India’s history, women were legally kept off night shifts in factories and many shops. That changed step by step through state amendments, and now through the new labour codes. Today the law starts from the opposite place: women can work at night, if the employer keeps them safe and they agree.

This guide explains what that means in practice for HR: what the national law says, what states add, and the records that show you did it properly. It is general information, not legal advice. Your state’s current rules decide the detail, so check them with your legal team.

What changed with the labour codes

India’s four labour codes were brought into force from 21 November 2025. Together they replace 29 older central labour laws. The one that matters here is the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (the OSH Code).

Section 43 of the OSH Code says women are entitled to be employed in all establishments, for all types of work. For work before 6 am and after 7 pm, two things apply:

1. The woman’s consent.
2. The conditions set by the appropriate government, which is the Centre or the state depending on the establishment. These cover safety, holidays, working hours and anything else the government prescribes.

So the code sets the principle, and the rules carry the detail. Rules have been notified at different speeds in different states, which is why “it depends on your state” is still the honest answer.

What states add

Before the codes, most states had already opened night work to women through their Shops and Establishments Acts, with conditions. Two examples:

State	Night window	Conditions commonly listed
Karnataka	8 pm to 6 am	Written consent, free and secure transport between home and work (with GPS), security guards at the workplace and on vehicles where needed, a notice about transport at the entrance, rotation of night duty
Maharashtra	9:30 pm to 7 am	Consent, safe transport home, protection from sexual harassment, and other conditions in the rules

Conditions in other states follow a similar pattern. The exact wording changes, so read your own state’s notification rather than a summary, including this one.

The six things every policy needs

Whatever your state, the conditions come down to the same six duties.

1. Consent, in writing, and revocable

Ask for consent in writing before the first night shift, with the date. Make it easy to withdraw, and never make night work a condition of keeping the job unless the role was clearly a night role from the start.

2. Transport, door to door

The commute is where most of the risk is. Provide transport between home and the workplace, record the vehicle number and driver for each trip, and decide what happens when a woman is the first pick-up or the last drop. Many companies put a guard on those trips, or change the route so no woman is alone with the driver at either end.

If an employee prefers her own transport, get that in writing too, and still give her a way to tell you she got home.

3. Security at the workplace

Lit entrances and parking, a guard at night, working CCTV where it is lawful and proportionate, and a known place to wait for a cab. A dark car park at 2 am is part of the workplace.

4. Protection from harassment

The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013 (the POSH Act) applies around the clock, and its definition of “workplace” includes transport the employer provides for the journey. Your Internal Committee must work for night staff too, which means night staff need to know who is on it and how to reach them.

5. Someone awake who owns the night

A policy fails at 1 am if the only people who can act are asleep. Name a Safety Desk or night supervisor, with a phone that is answered, and a written escalation for when they do not answer. Our escalation matrix template gives you a ready version.

6. Records

Keep consent forms, the night roster, transport logs, security arrangements, incidents and their outcomes. If something goes wrong, records are how you show the conditions were met, not just written down.

The gap most policies miss: “she reached home”

Transport rules cover the vehicle. They rarely cover the last few minutes: the walk from the drop point to the door, the wait when the cab is late, the night the employee took her own ride. Most companies find out an employee did not get home only the next morning.

Closing that gap takes three things:

• A back-by time for the journey home, set when she leaves.
• A check that runs by itself: if she has not marked herself home by then and does not answer, the night desk is alerted, then the next person, until someone takes ownership.
• An SOS she can raise without unlocking the phone, that still works when mobile data drops.

Checklist for HR

• Read your state’s current night-work rules, not a summary.
• Written consent on file for every woman on night shifts.
• Transport for every night shift, with vehicle and driver recorded.
• A rule for the first pick-up and the last drop.
• Security and lighting at entrances, parking and waiting areas.
• The Internal Committee is known and reachable by night staff.
• A named night desk, and an escalation when they do not answer.
• A way to know each employee reached home.
• Records kept and reviewed every month.

How ORBII Teams helps

ORBII Teams closes the “reached home” gap without tracking anyone around the clock.

• The journey home is a trip. The employee starts it in the ORBII app with a back-by time. If she is late and does not answer, ORBII walks the escalation you set in the console, up to five levels, until someone presses Take ownership.
• Back safe, automatically. The night desk can be told when she arrives home.
• An SOS that works when it matters: by button, by saying “help”, “bachao” or “madad”, or with a silent shake. Without mobile data, it goes out as a text message.
• Colleagues nearby. With safety buddies, the nearest colleagues who are close enough to help are alerted when someone raises an SOS.
• Location only during the trip or an SOS, seen only by the account owner and the Safety Desk, with every look recorded. HR admins never see where anyone is, and the employer never sees health information.
• A record you can show: every trip, alert, response time and outcome stays in the travel history and the audit log.

Read the women employee safety page, or the night shift safety checklist for the full set of steps.

This article is general information about Indian law as of November 2026, not legal advice.