Speaker 1  00:03
Did you know that a man and a woman doing the exact same job can end the month with two very different salaries? And it's not because of a gender pay gap in the traditional sense. It's actually written into Sri Lanka's labour law. Let me explain. Over the last two years, we saw some progress. The government relaxed night work restrictions for women in the IT, BPM, and hospitality and food services sectors. This was done through an amendment to Regulation Six of the Shopping Office Employees Act Number 18 of 1954. These reforms were celebrated as wins for female labour force participation, which, by the way, was still stuck at a dismal 33.9 percent, compared to nearly 68.6 percent for men in the third quarter of 2025. But here's the catch: the reform was half baked. While women can now work at night in these sectors, the Shopping Office Employees Act still imposes a limitation on the maximum number of hours they can work. Regulation two, sub-regulation one says a woman cannot be employed for more than nine hours a day total. That includes her shift, her meal breaks, and any overtime. Let's look at how that plays out on the ground. Imagine two employees, a man and a woman, starting a shift at 6 p.m. By 3 a.m. the law says the woman must stop. She hit her nine-hour limit, but the man he can keep going. He can rack up the extra overtime hours and the bigger wage that comes with it. The law is effectively limiting a woman's ability to earn. These rules were originally designed to protect women from exploitation, but in 2026, they've become outdated, patriarchal barriers. They don't protect women; they just make it harder for them to stay in the workforce or compete in high-intensity roles. If we want a modern economy, we need to stop treating women like they need permission to work a full shift. The solution to this overtime issue is actually incredibly simple. The government doesn't need a massive new bureaucracy. It just needs to remove the nine-hour daily limit for women to level the playing field. Sri Lanka needs labour laws that are gender-neutral with safeguards that ensure safe and fair working conditions for both women and men. To dive deeper into Advocata Institute's analysis on these labour issues, check out our latest brief at www.advocata.org.


Transcribed by https://otter.ai