Commuting hazards of working women

Some years back a working woman in Bangalore was kidnapped, raped & killed when she was being picked by the officially arranged cab, early in the morning. All hell were let loose, the press went to town castigating the corporates for not caring enough for their women employees. In most of the offices, senior management met hastily and either spruced up the existing antiquated security measures available only on paper or introduced new ones. As is with all headlines, people's short memory kept fading slowly into oblivion as other spicy news items started filling in . But, the real danger for the working women who either leaves late for or from office still very much remain.

In today's Times of India, there was a report that  Gurgaon has advised women not to work beyond 8 P.M and has warned employers to obtain prior permission from Labour Dept  for any violations:http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/Dont-work-after-8pm-Gurgaon-tells-women/articleshow/12254740.cms

In Chennai, with most of the IT offices moved into ECR, it is expected of the organization to make the travel to and from office convenient for the staff to deliver the optimum output. While the normal pickup and drops are always happening regularly, it is those very juniors or seniors in the organization, who has to depend on intermittent services. Within this as most of the seniors have their own conveyance it is the relatively junior cadre, which gets affected due to delayed work, late evening calls or meetings. There are unreasonable conditions on the 'after regular services'. Either the services start by 8:30 PM or people get dropped at common spots which are far away from their residence or the last women to be dropped are alone at the mercy of the cab driver. In fact, the Delhi Police had also suggested that "For staffers permitted to work after 8pm, the employer would have to offer transportation for them to go home, he said.…  He directed employers to maintain a log book to record details of vehicles used to transport women employees, their time of departure, name of driver, etc."

In reality, are these being done? Let us have a look at the common practices and their perils:

 After office hours services normally are late to begin with and spaced wide apart. For example services start at 7:30 and the next scheduled only by at 9 or 9:30

Cab facilities in some organizations are available only after 9:30 or 10 or 10:30.

Security gaurds do not accompany the female employees in cabs, as required by the security norms.

The security norms earlier spelt out says that while dropping female employee home, the security & the cab should leave only after the employee is safely received into the house. This is seldom complied with.

In some organizations, the authorities have done a good job in messaging the cab number and driver details on the day before, in case of early pick up the next day.

While this is good only if it is allowed to continue, it runs into trouble when the female employee receives a call from a different cell phone number, with the driver claiming that the other cell is not working.

Often a different cab other than the one messaged comes to pick. Invariably, the employee walks into the waiting car without checking the details.

There were cases of driver taking a different route than the normal ones, keeping the lone female occupant in tenterhooks. Will all these happen if a security accompany the cab?

There are also unique cases wherein the female employees are deputed to a client's place and they work either late into the night or start the work early in the morning. Normally IT companies have different clients across Geo, but the staff is normally jittery when they work in projects of US or Australia abased clients, which could involve untimely and odd working hours.

In many cases, It is ironical that the clients when explained are not at all willing to subject the female employees to such hardships and risk but it is the local managers who often bend backwards ostensibly to please them.

Our women, be it your wife or daughter or sister have forayed into the modern world and decided to compete and work on par with others. But then, we also need to take enough precautions and prevention methodologies to make sure the safety of these folks. So, what are the precautions that are to be taken from all concerned?  Here are some actions required:

From the Organization:

• Wherever warrants a 24x7 Help Desk should coördinate the transport and security of all employees expected to work beyond the normal timings of 9 AM to 6 PM
• The Admin dept must message the cab and driver details sufficiently early to the employees
• Any change in the details already provided must be communicated to the employees
• An armed security guard must be provided in all the cabs deputed for this purpose.
• Head of Admin or an identified team must conduct surprise checks to ensure compliance of prescribed norms.
• Seek periodical feedback  and arrange for a monthly one-to-one sessions on security compliance.

From the employees:

• Make sure that you receive all details of the cab and driver sufficiently early. If not remind Admin.
• Do not use the cab unless the same is confirmed by the Admin team.
• If the Cab number &/or the driver details are different from the earlier details, refuse to use the cab and contact Help Desk immediately.
• Do not use the cab, until the Admin confirms by a message about the change.
• Do not use the cab, if a security is not provided and insist on a written confirmation from the Organization about the absence of security (occasionally). On reaching the office, send an Email to all concerned including the Chief of Security.
• Do not talk loud your personal matters over mobile phone when you are in the car.
• Do not involve in unnecessary chat with the cab driver or security.
• Do not allow the cab to stop intermittently at any unscheduled stops.
• Have a number stored as "In Case of Emergency " (can be done be an .ICE in your mobile)
• If required, send silently a message to 'ICE', seeking help.
• Advise your parents or relatives at home to act on such messages immediately.
• Carry a 'pepper spray ' always while travelling alone.
• Also, get to know about your colleagues likely to travel along with you in the cab.
• Any violation of security norms either by the cab driver or security put it on record through an eMail to the authorities concerned.

 From the parents/relatives of the employees:

• Have the cab number and driver details handy during the period of your relatives travel
• Do not allow the person to use the cab, if you feel the security norms are not adhered to
• Insist on your wards sending an SMS after reaching/leaving  the office & keep following until required. 

The above steps if taken in sincerity should put a lot of safety in the minds of the female employees when they commute alone in a cab to office. It is to be remembered that the organization requests the employees many a time to either stay back late or come early to attend to clients' needs from whom they earn an enormous amount in Dollars as service charges and if only a part of that amount is factored in for security, the employees could work in peace. Also, the days are not far, when anyone could seek information from any organization, under the Right To Information Act, about the security arrangements made for their employees. So, It is time for employers and employees to peacefully coexist and earn for themselves instead of getting into needless legal tangles and personal trauma.