Women sector in BOP

1. Stress is a wide phenomenon as it seems to have
universal spread. Stress exists in human beings
,animals and even in metals . Stress is also related
with providing quality services to human beings
depend upon their stress levels. However, this study
is about women stress with special focus on the work
stress in BPO sector in India. Many people think
they understand stress. In reality, stress is complex
and often misunderstood .Our BPO industry has a
name for it: BOSS - Burn Out Stress Syndrome.,
which is seen very commonly among women
working in BPO sector. Technological and
regulatory changes in the BPO sector in India
created a sharp and fairly sudden increase in the
demand for female workers, Therefore stress among
women employees in BPO industry is a
contemporary issue to discuss and to hit upon on
elucidation of this problem.
II. Stress
As far as stress is concerned, there is no universal
definition of stress. Interestingly, most of the
mechanical devices/structures are tested for stress
levels in laboratories and manufacturing places for
their prolonged life and efficient working. Stress is
also related to animals and their efficiency of
producing milk or providing quality services to
human beings. However the present paper encloses
the human stress, the BPO industry in particular.
III. Introduction to the BPO Industry
Outsourcing began in the early eighties when
organizations started delegating their non-core
functions to an external organization that was
specialized in providing a particular service or
product. Business Process Outsourcing is an industry
which we all ‘Love to hate and hate to love’. Jobs in
BPOs is generally divided into two categories, back
office and front office. BPO jobs are fairly well-paid
in relative to other sector. At the turn of the
millennium, India can be rightly called the foster-
child of globalization. The liberalization in 1994
gave an unexpected boost to the ITES/BPO industry.
According to the Research firm Gartner the Indian
BPO industry will grow into a $1.2 billion market by
2011 and $1.8 billion by 2013. In India, the BPO
industry experienced 30-40% average annual growth
rates from 2000 to 2008 by (NASSCOM 2009). In
the present scenario many UK and US based
companies are looking at India, to outsource .The
global BPO industry will be worth $230 billion by
2012 and India stands to gain $50 billion of that
global pie. So one can say that currently BPO
industry is at explosion and number of employees
keeps on increasing.
IV. Status Of Women In The IT/ BPO Sector In
India
In the contemporary world, women no longer lag
behind in terms of career. It has been noticed that
BPO is one of the idustry , which has witnessed high
growth for women and helped them more. However,
even today women are expected to do multi tasking.
One can say that ‘Nature has given women too much
power, the law gives them too little’ as there is no
separate rules ( except in case of maternity phase
,that to some extent only ) in support of women to
fill the gap during their innate responsibilities.
Earlier The Factories Act, 1948 , under Section 66,
banned working of women in night shifts But later
on The High Court of Mumbai in its judgment dated
10th June 1999 passed an interim order allowing
deployment of women in Santa Cruz Electronic in
the nightshift. The Factories (Amendment) Bill, was
introduced by on August 2005, which envisage that
the employer ensures occupational safety and
adequate protections to the women employed. The
owner of the factory has to ensure, equal opportunity
for women workers, adequate protection to their
dignity, honor and safety and their transportation
from factory to the nearest point of their residence.
Reports says that BPO industry prefer women, due
to more pleasant voice and demeanor when
interacting
with customers. Thus, technological and regulatory
changes in the BPO sector in India created a fairly
sudden increase in the demand for female workers.
Recent Data
4.3.1 Women in BPO companies 50%
4.3.2 Female participation in the workforce 42%
4.3.3 Enrollment in higher education 40%
w w w . i j m b s . c o m International Journal of Management & Business Studies 65

2. IJMBS Vol. 1, Issue 3, September 2011 I S S N : 2 3 3 0 - 9 5 1 9 (O n l i n e ) | I S S N : 2 2 3 1 - 2 4 6 3 ( P r i n t )
d) Women in IT companies 25%
e) Women employees in private companies23% Women
and Employment in India at a Glance(Figure obtained
from official Government of India and private industry
sources.)
But the Dataquest survey reveals that in the career pyramid,
women are clustered in the bottom hierarchy. Even the few
women who have struggled to reach the status of managers,
have not been placed in the vital areas of work, but are found in
administration .
V. Stress- Generator Factors for Women Employees in the
BPO Industry
Employees of BPO work 24 hours in a day, seven days a week.
More often than not , Zealous BPO take on more work than
they can handle, forcing employees to work round the clock.
Specially in case of working women, situation is worst because
her responsibilities are divided in to two parts -Household
activities and the Office.
Fig. 1: Women Accountability
Though women have equal emerging opportunity to show there
excellence in this field but the following issues act as a Stress -
Generator:
A. A Wrong Prejudice about BPO Industry
Working in BPO ?
Our Indian BPO women employees generally face this question
fromsociety . Working in BPO for general society means working
in Call- centers ( where jobs are to make calls to the customers &
maintaining customers database), BPO also includes all in-house
activities which a company does not want to perform by
themselves. It includes maintenance of data base about employees,
administration, maintaining software, customer relationship
management etc. But due to late night and party type image of
BPO, society put this pressure on women and hardly accept this
non-conventionalwomen status.
B. Glass Ceiling and Attrition
The term ‘glass ceiling’ is used to describe a perceived barrier to
advancement in employment based on discrimination, especially
sex discrimination. It is defined as an upper limit to professional
advancement, especially as imposed upon women because women
are allowed limited roles in the workplace. The United Nations
have acknowledged that women often experience a ‘glass ceiling’
and there are no societies in which women enjoy the same
opportunities as men. In its report, it recommended affirmative
action, which is the consideration of an employee's gender in
hiring and promotion decisions, as a means to end this form of
discrimination.Women only
outnumbered men as public relations managers, financial
managers, and human resource managers but not in other field.
Fig. 2: WomenEmployeesVsManagementInvolvement
NASSCOM-Mercer study on women in BPO which is a six-week
study of 40 organizations, with special emphasis on gender
discrimination shows, that we are traveling beyond inclusively
towards empowerment. The report shows how gender inclusively has
its drawbacks for an enterprise. Adequate representation of women in
the workforce enhances creativity, productivity and the ability to
manage change.2007 statistics shows that more women being
recruited at the entry level, but fewer progressing towards the top
positions.There is a talent leakage in middle management levels
among women in their thirties. Marriage, family, children, relocation
and other personal reasons diminish women’s ability to reach the
top.Support systems are required for women at work. Current
measures such as crèches,flexi-time, refresher programs, orientation
on company policies only scratch the surface of the real problems.
However, there is requirement of increased awareness for the
contribution of women and the need to nurture their talent at the
workplace as leadership paradigms are changing in the 21st century.
C. Security Problems
The factual scenario of the transportation facility in BPO industry
is not unblemished. Acc. to a study in Pune city ,there are about
5,500 cabs engaged in local transportation on about 35,000 BPO
employees daily in the city. High profile companies like Wipro,
Converges, EDS, Infosys, EXL use these cabs which are not
owned by them but outsourced. Background check and references
are the weakest link . Officials of Nasscom, and HR executives
defend themselves by pointing out the measures they have taken to
tighten the security. But still incidents have been occurring
frequently which shows the loop-holes in the women security
while availing pick-drop facility which fails at late night hours .So,
women do not feel secure working in shifts and this is a hassle for
them.
D. Gender Discrimination by Employer
In some areas ,classification of jobs are as male typed or female typed.
Salary gaps between men and women is one difference in corporate
sector, which is generally overseen by the management. Some jobs in
BPO sector is mainly male dominated that intimidate women
employees. A woman has to put best efforts to prove herself worth for
the firm, otherwise ,Gender discrimination can be seen easily in this
sector. Somehow if a woman managed to capture an important
decision- making position ,she is not entitled for the independent
working. Employer do not completely trust on them for the
challenging jobs. They only want to make them responsible for
administrative or a pre-defined format of job without any

4. of changes and then this affects compensation packages and salary.
4.3.2 Social Constraints and Work-life Balance
Multigenerational living is still common, the usual pattern being that the daughter in-law comes to live with her
husband’s family, and is expected to be subservient to her mother-in-law. In this family model, women have little
autonomy with regards to their personal lives and aspirations. A young woman moves from being a daughter to being a
wife and never has a period of time when she is independent on her own. According to Amita Kabuki, Deloitte WIN
leader for U.S. India offices, “Despite gaining higher education, historically, Indian women have faced a stressful
situation owing to issues of family support for working women, raising children, and home responsibilities. Also due
to late working hours women face difficulties in managing balance between work and their personal lives. In recent
times, this has changed with families being more supportive and the concept of external child-care centers becoming
increasingly popular, in a growing consumer economy.
4.3.3 Women perspective
Women themselves support the concept of men as a leader which can not be broken by the women to make
a position in the male- dominating corporate world . Some jobs lend a more to gender imbalance
(engineering, IT, etc) than others (banking and finance, teaching, etc). However, every woman who
chooses her career in either type needs to rise above and firstly destroy this ‘mental glass ceilings’ she
perceives. But challenges are all self-made and to some extent, a creation of what has traditionally
happened.
G. An Invisible Barrier to Women’s Advancement
Stereotypes affect the experiences of women growth, because our culture equates stereotypically ‘masculine’
behaviors and traits with effective leadership, and women have to constantly prove that they can lead. These
perceptions are even more salient when women try to advance in traditionally male-dominated fields, such as IT
and engineering. Genderstereotypes also create different standards for evaluating women compared to their men
colleagues. For example, when Catalyst asked senior-level executives in Europe to independently rate the
effectiveness of women and men leaders on ten key leadership behaviors, respondents cast women as better at
stereotypically feminine ‘caretaking skills’ and asserted that men excel at more conventionally masculine ‘taking
charge’ skills such as influencing superiors and delegating responsibility. These perceptions inhibit women’s
advancement because ‘taking charge’ skills and stereotypically ‘masculine’ behaviors ,problem solving skills
often are seen as prerequisites for top-level positions. Genderstereotypes held by men are especially problematic
in occupations where women are outnumbered and men’s views predominate. This stereotype shows that women
have to workeven harderto get theirfollowers to buy into theirplans and instructions.
Thus following are the factors responsible for women stress:
• Glass- Ceiling
• 24 X 7 work Pressure
• Prolonged working shifts
• Work- Life balance
• Gender Biasness
• Social constraints
• Security Problem

6. CHAPTER
PERSONAL SECURITY OF CALL CENTER EMPLOYEES
CHAPTER CONTENTS
4.1 INTRODUCTION

7. 4.2 DEFINITION OF EMPLOYEE SAFETY & SECURITY
4.3 ISSUES REGARDING SAFETY & SECURITY OF EMPLOYEES
4.1 INTRODUCTION
The Indian ITES and BPO sector has seen a phenomenal growth in the recent past.
There has also been a rapid growth in the number of females being employed in these
sectors. Ever since India has achieved its independence, there have never been so
many opportunities galore for women in any sector of the Indian economy as much as
the ITES and BPO sector.
Meeting a longstanding demand for gender parity in the workforce, the Government of
India approved an amendment in the Factories Act to allow women employees to work
night shifts. The amendment, allowing women to work between 10 pm and 6 am, is
expected to benefit those working in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), textiles, garments,
handicrafts, leather and IT sector (especially call centers). Garment units already employ
60% of women workforce; and with growth in this industry the number this will go up
tremendously. Now India is at par, if opportunities availed, with her immediate
competitors for the use of women workforce as most Asian countries, including China,
Singapore, Malaysia, Korea and Taiwan, have huge women labour force.
111

8. The amendment suggests that night shift for women shall be allowed only if the
employer ensures safety, adequate safeguards in the factory as regards occupational
safety and health, equal opportunity for women workers, adequate protection of their
dignity, honour and transportation from the factory premises to the nearest point of their
residence. So far, the IT sector and SEZs were employing women for late-night work
hours but had no legal obligation to provide these safety measures.
In 1919, the ILO decided to completely prohibit night work for women in Public and
Private Industry. However, the Convention stated that the night work should be permitted
in case of, force majeure, when in any undertaking there occurs an interruption of work
which was impossible to foresee and which is not of a recurring nature or in case where
the work has to do with raw materials or materials in the course of treatment, which are
subject to rapid deterioration, when such night work is necessary to preserve such
materials from certain losses.
This convention made it clear that women could be allowed to work at night in the
greater national interest or in the economic interests of preventing loss of raw materials.
To encourage greater number of countries to ratify the ILO Convention concerning the
women non-employment in the nightshifts, the Convention was further made flexible as
women holding responsible position of management, who were not ordinarily engaged in
manual work, were exempted from provisions of ILO Convention. Subsequently women
in higher posts of a managerial or technical character were exempted from its provision
as also women employed in health and welfare services.
112

9. The Convention concerning night works for women employed in industry adopted in
1948 defined night hours in such a manner as to allow longer hours of work for women
and provided sufficient flexibility to industry to permit a double shift system of work.
The revised Convention of 1948 further permitted the ban on night work to be
suspended by the government in the national interest, i.e., in case of serious emergency
only after consultations with the employers and workers organizations concerned.
The General Conference of ILO30 in June 1990 had adopted a protocol known as Protocol
of 1990 under those provisions the competent authority in a country under its national
laws and regulations is authorized to rectify the duration of the nightshifts or to introduce
exemptions from ban on night works for women for certain branches of activity or
occupations. This required:
i. Agreement of said organizations in a specific branch of activity or
occupation;
ii. Agreement between the employers and workers representatives in one or more
specific establishments;
The Protocol adopted in 1990 to the night work (women) Convention (revised) stated
that above-mentioned variations or exemptions could not apply to women workers
during a period of at least 16 weeks, before or after child birth of which at least eight
weeks should be before the expected date of child birth. The prohibition of night work
by women shall apply to
30 www.ilo.org
113

10. additional periods if medical certificate is produced stating that this is necessary for the
health of mother or child. It further stipulates that a women worker should not be
dismissed or given notice of dismissal because of pregnancy or childbirth only.
The Conventions, which were adopted by ILO in 1990, stated that workers of both sexes
who perform a certain number of hours of nightshift are to be provided with sufficient
rest periods, health assessment, medical advice and safety measures. It will not be
applicable to those persons, who are employed in agriculture, stock raising, fishing,
maritime transport and inland navigation. In case of women workers, the Convention
requires that alternate works be made available before and after childbirth and if
necessary, during pregnancy and a prolonged period after childbirth.
4.2 DEFINITION OF EMPLOYEE SAFETY & SECURITY
Wikipedia31 defines Safety as “the state of being "safe" (from French sauf), the condition
of being protected against physical, social, spiritual, financial, political, emotional,
occupational, psychological, educational or other types or consequences of failure,
damage, error, accidents, harm or any other event which could be considered non-
desirable. This can take the form of being protected from the event or from exposure to
something that causes health or economical losses. It can include protection of people or
of possessions. Safety is generally interpreted as implying a real and significant impact
on risk of death, injury or damage to property.”
31 www.wikipedia.org
114

11. ILO through its Global Programme on Safety and Health at Work
(SAFEWORK)32 defines employee safety and security:
SAFEWORK promotes an integrated multi-disciplinary approach which takes into
account the physical, mental and social well-being of men and women workers.
Conceiving the working conditions and the working environment as a whole, the
prevention and control of work-related factors and their multiple and cumulative
effects are taken into account including psycho-social and organizational aspects.
The main objective of the Programme is to increase the capacity of Member States to
protect workers' health, to prevent and reduce occupational accidents, injuries,
occupational and work-related diseases, through the improvement of their working
conditions and working environment. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) mentions that employers are responsible for providing a safe and healthful
workplace for their employees. OSHA’s role is to assure the safety and health of working
men and women by setting and enforcing standards; providing training, outreach and
education; establishing partnerships; and encouraging continual improvement in
workplace safety and health.
32 www.ilo.org/safework/lang--en/index.htm
115

12. 4.3 ISSUES REGARDING PERSONAL SAFETY & SECURITY OF
CALL CENTER EMPLOYEES
Women around the world have moved into industry and the service sector in increasing
numbers. In the past 15 years, they have become almost 50% of the workforce in many
countries. While women are entering occupations previously closed to them, the labour
force is still highly segregated on the basis of gender. A significant proportion of women
are found in certain types of occupations in the services sector, in the informal sector and
particularly in agriculture. In industry, they predominate in micro-electronics, food
production, textile and footwear, chemical and pharmaceutical industries and handicraft
workshops. In the service sector they are mainly engaged in teaching, office work,
hospitals, banks, commerce, hotels, and domestic work.
In India, labour laws come in the concurrent list of Indian Constitution. Both Indian
Parliament and State Legislatures have the right to make laws. Therefore, we have in
relation to labour laws, The Factories Act, 1948 and various State Shops and
Establishments Acts. The Factories Act 1948, under Section 66, banned working of
women in night shifts by stating that no women shall be required or allowed to work in
any factory except between the hours of 6 AM and 7 PM.
The Central Government keeping in view the suggestions of Supreme Court of India,
judgments of various High Courts, proposals of Women’s Organizations, Trade Unions
and National Commission on Labour, recommendations of Standing Committee on
Labour and Welfare and he present economic scenario, satisfied the ILO Protocol of
1990 and amended
116

13. the Factories Act 1948 including Section 66 there so that women could work in night
shifts in factories between 7 PM and 6 AM in India.
For the purpose of amending the Factories Act, 1948 so as to allow women to work in
the nightshifts, the Factories (Amendment) Bill, 2005 was introduced by Union
Government in Lok Sabha on 10th August 2005, which envisages that the employer
ensures occupational safety and adequate protections to the women employed. The
owner of the factory has to ensure occupational health, equal opportunity for women
workers, adequate protection to their dignity, honour and safety and their transportation
from factory to the nearest point of their residence.
Recently there was news on Hindu Newsline., on 30th January 2008 the Supreme Court
dismissed the plea of Mr Som Mittal (former head of Hewlett Packard Global Soft Ltd),
seeking quashing of an FIR lodged by police accusing his company of allegedly
violating a 2002 order of the Karnataka Government that prohibited night shift for
women. He now faces prosecution for allegedly failing to provide adequate security and
transport to one of the firm’s employees who was raped and killed by the driver of the
pick-up car in December 2005.
In a statement issued through Nasscom, Mr Mittal - who took charge as the software
association’s new President in January this year - said, “I have not yet seen the
judgment of the Supreme Court on the case regarding the unfortunate murder of an
employee of HP Global Soft in 2005 and,
117

14. therefore, cannot comment on it. We have full faith in the Indian judicial system,
which is acknowledged to be fair and independent.”
Meanwhile, Nasscom said it was making all efforts to continuously review and further
strengthen the processes that ensure the safety of all employees in the industry. “While
the number of unfortunate incidents involving IT-BPO employees have been
proportionately far less than those affecting other citizens, for us, even a single incident
is one too many,” Nasscom said.
According to Mr Raman Roy, Chairman and Managing Director of Quatrro, “Employee
safety has been paramount for us. Quatrro vehicles have GPS installed in them and we
monitor their movement at all points of time. We also test our drivers to ensure they are
not drunk and if any driver is found in an inebriated condition, we will not hesitate to
cancel the entire contract.”
The Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) had
undertaken a study titled “Night Shift for Women: A Research Study” 33which was
sponsored by National Commission for Women (NCW) recently. This research work has
brought to the foreground the following facts as mentioned in the statistical table below.
The following table shows the percentage of women employee’s response to the
problems facing them during their night shift working.
33 http://ncw.nic.in
118

15. Table 4.1
Women's Perception of their Job Profiles
Source: Published report of National Commission for Women’s sponsored
ASSOCHAM research study on “Night Shift for Women – Growth and Opportunities”
119

16. Women’s perception
Responses from women employees (see above table) shows that 28.9% respondents
feel insecure in the night shift work, the rest 71.1% do not feel insecure during night
shift work. It is observed that despite the high rate of crime in metropolitan cities
insecurity felt is quite low among night shift women employees. Bangalore and
Ludhiana are found to be in highly insecure zones, showing 44% and 45% insecurity
perception respectively.
Out of the employees surveyed 13% of the respondents face difficulties during
commuting whereas 87% are satisfied about the arrangements made by their employers.
Problems of 13% are qualitative in nature in the way that employers may sometimes
accommodate passengers of two cabs in one, attitude of drivers is rude or that drivers
drink and drive during nightshift, etc. that provide an uncomfortable environment for
women. Where transportation is totally free and employees belong to unskilled strata like
textile and leather industries, women labor force face more problems. BPO employees are
satisfied in Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad, in Bangalore situation is fearful
because of recent rape and murder case of Pratibha. Commuting problems are being faced
more by women of Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune i.e. 18%, 17% and 17%, respectively.
Delhi, Hyderabad and Ludhiana employees face less commuting problems i.e. 14%, 13%
and 10%, respectively. Chennai and Bangalore are facing the least commuting problems
(8%). Social Problems – The survey observed that 13.5% nightshift working women face
social problems. They are unable to devote time to evening parties and small get-
togethers in their neighborhoods and among relations. The company that children also
need in the evenings is not met. Women felt that it becomes really hard to spend quality
time with
120

17. children and to attend their school functions and meetings. Unfortunately women
working in night shift are blamed for breaking up the institution called family system and
for poor childcare accorded even though they may be working harder than men. It was
further concluded in the survey that women working night shifts continually for
prolonged periods suffered various ailments as shown in the table below:
Table 4.2
Physical problems faced by women workers during nightshifts
Source: Published report of National Commission for Women’s sponsored
ASSOCHAM research study on “Night Shift for Women – Growth and Opportunities”
121

18. The above chart shows the various physical ailments that a female worker faces while she
is employed on night working on a regular basis. Almost 50 % of the respondents
mentioned that they suffer from menstrual problems. For any women the regularity of her
menstrual cycle is the indicator of good health. This leads to reproduction problems as
well as all other physical ailment as listed above. This is due to irregular sleeping habits
due to night shifts combined with the stress levels due to their job profiles.
During the survey doctors felt that night shift employees face physiological, emotional
and biological problems, based on disturbed rhythmic pattern of sleeping and waking.
While hormones and chemicals are produced when a person is awake, body organs rest
and are at their lowest during sleep. They feel that a change in the working schedule
affects all this balance and leads to sleep deprivation disturbing the rhythm of the body
and negatively affecting the concentration, job performance, social interactions and
general health. So to overcome these problems women must get at least 7-8 hours
undisturbed sleep by simulating night-like conditions using heavy drapes to block the
sunlight. It is also suggested that women in night shift should try to restrict the use of
caffeine, alcohol, cigarettes and chocolates. Yoga and meditation will prove beneficial for
them. Doctors agree that if they can do that, most of their health problems would be over.
In fact, they may end up saving a couple of more working hours for themselves and their
families. It is suggested that proper rest and alternate employment in daytime should be
given to women during illness and menstruation period and a period of at least three
months before and two months after the child birth. This time period should be
122

19. extended in case a medical certificate is produced to the effect that it is necessary for the
health of the mother or child.

20. In conclusion, it was observed that night shift working of the women, across the sectors
surveyed, seriously hampered the social life of women. Night shift jobs consumes the day
time at home, devoting at least 5 to 6 hours to sleep in the daytime create lot of problems
for performing social obligations up to the expectations of family and society. Women
tend to feel lethargic and lifeless during the day. It is very important for the peace of the
family that a woman should get her proper sleep. For the married women when children
are extremely demanding, it's not possible to sleep during the daytime. In any case, naps
during the day can never make up for a full night's sleep. Because of the time differences,
the natural order of things gets reversed and that plays havoc with mind.
However, survey has found favorable conditions of work for women in night shift work,
in terms of security, monetary compensation and provision of fringe benefits. During the
survey employees felt that sacrifices toward social life should be compensated by more
additional benefits with the effective implementation of mandatory benefits. Working
women felt that Instead of holiday swap or compensatory day offs mandatory benefits
such as premium pay and holiday pay should be given. With respect to work hours,
survey results revealed that although work schedules adopted by employers deviate from
the usual shifts, employees are satisfied because their job desires this. It is found that a
considerable percentage of the
124

21. workers render more than 8 hours of work in the night shift, and sometimes are required
to work on holidays also.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken up itself the task of holding a
roundtable discussion on this issue by involving police, women activists and senior
officers from the Ministry of Information Technology. On 17th January, 2006, a round
table discussion titled “Interaction and consultation on the issue of protection to the
women employees of the call centers.” was held at Delhi.
The Commission evolved a set of guidelines and sent then to the Call Centre Association
of India and BPOs for adherence. These include measures to ensure safety of women
employees while commuting, additional checks, good in-house practices and other
gender friendly measures. The guidelines are as follows:
4.3.4 MEASURES TO ENSURE SAFETY IN TRANSPORT
a) Call centers should ensure that a security guard escorts a woman in the office
transport.
b) Call Centre management should ensure that women employees are not the first to
be picked up from their homes and the last to be dropped back home by the
drivers.
c) All call centre owners must provide the police a complete record of the
antecedents of drivers as most of them depend on taxi operators for day-to-
day transport arrangements.
125

22. f) Police verification of drivers should be done on the lines of
verification for domestic servants.
g) Provision of radio talkie should be a pre condition while outsourcing taxis.
h) A black box should be installed in vehicles hired for call centre
employees.
i) The BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) sector ought to install a Global
Positioning System (GPS) for tracking the position of its vehicles.
j) A breath analyzer test for taxi drivers is imperative.
k) It should be compulsory for all taxi drivers to carry identity cards issued by
the company and wear a uniform.
l) Drivers of call centers should show up at the area police station from time to
time for verification.
m) The logistics team should conduct surprise checks of the taxis at random
locations on the route of the office transport to monitor if the taxi drivers are
adhering to their brief.
n) A pool of drivers having established credentials should be created to provide
reliable substitutes in case the need arises.
o) Installation of speed governors in office cars and taxis is essential to check rash
and negligent driving.
p) Call centre owners should check permission of the police before deciding
upon a location for setting up a call centre.
q) If all call centers are concentrated in one area, police patrolling and vigilance
can be strengthened.
126

23. 4.3.4 GOOD PRACTICES TO BE FOLLOWED IN-HOUSE
a) A thorough induction process that spells out to the employees the work hours,
transport arrangements and familiarity with organization rules.
b) It would be worthwhile if the employees are given a laminated card that lists
numbers of the transport help desk along with those of senior persons who can be
approached in case of an emergency. Some call centers have claimed that they
provide such a laminated card along with the identity to each employee.
c) Self defense training programmes for women employees should be organized
by the call centers from time to time.
d) Monetary incentives should be given every month to drivers who have done a
good job.
4.3.5 GENDER FRIENDLY MEASURES
Call centers need to ensure third party representation in committees set up to deal with
cases of sexual harassment in compliance with the Supreme Court guidelines in the
Vishakha case. As per the Supreme Court order, it is necessary and expedient for
employers as well as other responsible persons and institutions to observe certain
guidelines to ensure prevention of sexual harassment of women. The guidelines suggest
creation of a complaint mechanism for redressing complaints of sexual harassment.
According to the guidelines, the complaints committee should be headed by a woman and
half of its members should be women. To prevent the possibility of any undue pressure or
influence from senior levels, such a Complaints Committee
127

24. should involve a third party, either an NGO or anybody who is familiar with the issue of
sexual harassment.
Call centers should not depend entirely on police patrolling. As a business organisation,
they ought to take adequate measures to guarantee the safety of women as mandated by
the amendment to the Factories Act. The amendment to the Act which allows women to
work between 10 pm and 6 am in Information Technology (IT) among other sectors
clearly puts the onus of ensuring safety of women employees on the employer.
The Times News Network article on “Call alert: Security concerns cut down flow of
women staff into BPOs” published on 20 Nov, 2007 reported that the security concerns
in call centers and other BPOs across India is making female employees re-consider their
decision to be part of this fast growth, high-pay profession. A recent study by Dataquest-
IDC employee satisfaction survey of the Indian BPO firms points to slow but steady
decrease in the number of women working in the BPO segment. The percentage of
female employees has steadily come down to 32% in 2007 from 34% in 2006 and 36% in
2005.
While a 2% decline in the number of female employees has not affected companies’
current activities, it sure is a concern for BPO industry which is already facing problems
of high attrition. One out of every three employee working in BPOs is a woman and
going by the study, it indicates that this number is likely to further go down in coming
years. “This is a serious issue for BPOs as they want more women to join since women
tend to stick longer with company, if the environment is comfortable,” says Shailendra
Gupta Sr.
128

25. Manager - User Research IDC (India) Limited. “Unless BPOs get their security in
place, have better HR systems, the number of women joining is likely to continue to
reduce.”
Employee attrition level in most companies averages at 20%; while in some companies
it is as high as 24%, according to IDC. More and more employees are now looking at
alternative options in banking, finance and retail segments.
According to Shantanu Bannerjee, director, HR, Xansa, women now have more options
in the services industry. “Besides BPO, there is opportunity in retail, insurance, BFSI,”
he says. “Starting with the telecomm industry, all this has added to their basket of
options in the recent years.” While some BPOs have a policy to attract women with a
fixed target of hiring a particular percentage into the workforce, it is an issue of job fit
for the others.
The Hindu article on 8th November 2007 on “Hotline Services to be launched for BPO
Staff” reported that for the safety of its employees, the business process outsourcing
(BPO) industry has decided to set up 24x7 hotline wireless networks and create security
patrol units to keep a check on movement of cabs. It has also decided to create and share
a centrally fixed wireless radio frequency hotline between the BPO transport team and
local police. This was decided at a meeting called by the Business Process Industry
Association of India (BPIAI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) to review the
security measures being taken by the industry in view of the murder of a female BPO
executive by a cab driver in Pune.
129

26. The “BPIAI 24x7 Hotline Wireless Network” and security patrol units will come up in
other cities also, including Bangalore, Pune, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kolkata, Chennai,
Mumbai, Hyderabad and Mysore within a month.
Similarly, all BPIAI security patrol vehicles will work closely with the local police to
check rash driving. Senior management of leading BPO units, including Genpact, WNS,
Dell, Quatrro and Teletech, took part in the meeting.
It was unanimously agreed to take long-term measures such as mandatory pre-
employment screening of all cab drivers by police and transporters, sharing of
blacklisted drivers’ list among the BPO units, procedure to check on the female
employee picked first and dropped last and security patrolling cabs to escort such
female employees. To check rash and drunken driving, the BPO management has
suggested imposing stringent penalty on cab operators and promoting use of breath
analyzer to penalize guilty drivers.
The companies have also decided to share “best practices” available in terms of
employee security guidelines that exist within the association and modify them if needed.
BPO managements have decided to adopt some “orthopedic measures” such as yoga
classes to de-stress drivers.
130