A section of women working in the IT sector in Kerala has lamented that getting married and becoming pregnant could even put their jobs at risk.
Attending a public hearing organised by the Kerala Women’s Commission at Kozhikode on Monday, many women techies alleged that some firms even discourage women from taking maternity leaves.
Many employers also used to express concerns when women techies get married as they fear that it will affect the availability of the techie to work beyond the normal working hours. There is also a tendency among IT companies to deny promotions to married women.
Some employees pointed out that one worrying factor for the employers was the financial obligations involved while allowing maternity leave. Many companies did not want to bear that financial burden. There is an urgent need to address this issue, they said.
The women techies also alleged that some companies used to force pregnant employees to quit their jobs by imposing more work pressure on them instead of sacking them.
“There is a tendency among some companies to include pregnant women among the employees to be sacked citing poor performance. Many women who return after maternity leave used to face lack of due consideration from companies. There is also no menstrual leave for IT employees,” the women techies point out.
While many women stressed the need to make available service of counsellors at IT parks as many of them used to suffer unbearable mental pressure, many were even unaware of the internal complaints committees in companies.
Denial of overtime job salaries, security issues for women employees returning home after late working hours, unavailability of creches and after school care facilities were the other issues raised by the women.
Over 100 women techies took part in the public hearing that was attended by the Women’s Commission chairperson P Sathidevi. The commission will be submitting recommendations to the government to address the grievances raised by the women.
