SL to reform archaic labour laws to allow flexible working; hire-and-fire policy for startups

Bringing in sweeping reforms to the country’s archaic labour laws, the government is gearing to create a legal environment where more women could join the country’s labour force and allow employers introduce flexible working hours.

Sri Lanka’s more than half a century old labour laws block employing women in certain industries and allow flexible working hours.

But with the industries evolving, economies getting liberalised and technologies advancing, gender-specific jobs have been fading away and workers have more freedom to chose working hours and also from where they work.

Taking note of these shifting dynamics, the government recently said it would amend the Shop and Office Employees Act No.15 of 1954, and Wages Boards Ordinance, No.27 of 1941. “The existing labour laws prevent a person’s ability to choose his/her own working hours. This becomes important at a time, specially, when information technology facilitates working at alternate work places or at convenient times. As such, we will introduce amendments to the Shop and Office Employees Act considering the option of a 5-day week with flexible working hours”, the Finance Minister Mangala Samawaweera said presenting the budget. Meanwhile, Development Strategies and International Trade Minister Malik Samarawickrama told a post-budget forum that the government is already having discussions with relevant stakeholders to accomplish not just the flexible hours but also laws supporting ‘hire-and-fire policy’ for business startups.

“We are looking at all these things. There are business startups, which may not take off as someone would have expected. In that case, there should be laws which can handle that kind of scenarios”, Samarawickrama said.

Meanwhile Samaraweera said that flexible working hours would also be extended to the public sector employees as well. “We will further consider making the flexible working hours applicable to the public sector employees, as well. The Wages Boards Ordinance will also be reviewed to identify more sectors of the economy within the ambit of the legislation.” While a handful of companies already allow flexible working for their employees, the required legislative push will make more companies taking that path.

Flexible working makes much sense in Sri Lanka’s scenario as it could help to reduce the chaotic traffic congestion in Colombo and the suburbs that kills millions of productive man hours. This will also enable companies to reduce their overheads while employees will enjoy the benefit of work-life balance, which is absent in Sri Lankan working culture except for a very few establishments, mostly linked to foreign firms.