The Government of Himachal Pradesh has notified the draft Himachal Pradesh Factories (Amendment) Rules, 2025 under Section 112 of the Factories Act, 1948, aiming to modernize labour regulations, promote gender equality, and align with national reforms on Ease of Doing Business.
The notification, dated 1st August 2025, proposes key amendments to the Himachal Pradesh Factories Rules, 1950, particularly removing existing prohibitions on women’s employment in hazardous processes and allowing for longer working hours under regulated conditions.
These draft rules are open for public objections or suggestions within 45 days of their publication in the official Rajpatra (e-Gazette).
🔍 Key Provisions of the Himachal Pradesh Factories (Amendment) Rules, 2025:
✅ 1. Gender-Neutral Workplace
The amendments remove restrictions on the employment of women in several hazardous or restricted operations by deleting the words “women and” or “women or” in various Schedules of the 1950 Rules.
Affected Schedules include:
- Schedule II: Electrolytic plating with chromium
- Schedule III: Manufacture and repair of electric accumulators (lead process)
- Schedule IV: Glass manufacturing
- Schedule VI: Lead and lead compound treatment
- Schedule VII: Petrol gas generation
- Schedule VIII: Sand/abrasive blasting
- Schedule XI: Liming and tanning of hides and skins
These changes aim to ensure equal employment opportunities for women in previously restricted factory operations.
🕒 2. Increased Working Hours
In Form No. 20, key changes are proposed regarding the maximum working hours:
- Women may now be employed up to 10 hours/day instead of the previous 9 hours.
- With written permission from the Chief Inspector, the maximum permissible working hours can go up to 12 hours/day.
- Rest intervals updated: No work period should exceed 6 hours without a break (increased from 5 hours).
- These changes align with the wider effort to offer flexibility in factory shift planning.
🌙 3. Night Shift Employment for Women
A notable insertion under Clause 10 of Form No. 20 permits:
“Women shall be employed in any factory for not more than 10 hours in any day or between the hours of 7 P.M. to 7 A.M.”
This provides a regulatory foundation for the earlier notification dated August 2, 2025, which formally allowed women to work night shifts in factories, subject to safety conditions.
🗳️ Public Consultation Open:
Those who are likely to be affected may submit objections or suggestions to:
Labour Commissioner-cum-Chief Inspector of Factories
First Floor, New Himrus Building, Shimla-1, Himachal Pradesh
🗓️ Deadline: September 14th 2025.
These amendments mark a progressive shift in state labour policy, encouraging gender inclusion, compliance simplification, and alignment with the Government of India’s EoDB priorities.