49273-001: Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report · 2018-02-02 · For the purpose of the project and report, ... ICT/BPO, as this is the ... Management & Commerce 9950 7900

Technical Assistance Consultant’s Report

This consultant’s report does not necessarily reflect the views of ADB or the Government concerned, and ADB and the Government cannot be held liable for its contents. (For project preparatory technical assistance: All the views expressed herein may not be incorporated into the proposed project’s design.

Project Number: 49273 April 2017

Sri Lanka: Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Line of Credit Project (Financed by the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction)

Prepared by

Pricewaterhousecoopers – Sri Lanka

Colombo, Sri Lanka

For Ministry of Finance’s Department of Development Finance

Final

ICT/BPM in Sri Lanka

HR GAP Analysis Report

April 2017

Final

ICT/BPM in Sri Lanka DC02 April 2017

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Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................... 2

2. Analysis & Findings ............................................................................................................... 3

2.1. Demand – Supply Gap of Talent ................................................................................................................ 3

2.2. Key Gaps ..................................................................................................................................................... 5

2.2.1. Legal/Regulatory Barriers ................................................................................................................ 5

2.2.2. Economic Barriers ............................................................................................................................ 7

2.2.3. Socio-Cultural Barriers..................................................................................................................... 7

2.2.4. Corporate Programs and Policies .................................................................................................... 8

3. Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................12

A.1. Appendix – Capacity Building Programs ................................................................................................. 14

A.2. Appendix – Laws Governing Women at Workplace ............................................................................... 19

A.3. Appendix – Impact of initiatives for returning mothers in India ......................................................... 24

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1. Executive Summary

SLASSCOM, the ICT/BPM industry body, in its Vision 20221, expects the industry to increase the employment

from 80,000 at current level to 200,000 over the next 5 years. ICT/BPM industry in Sri Lanka needs to tap into

more women as a key part of their workforce to address the resource gap given their lower participation rate of

around 30%. The increased participation of women employees in the industry can enhance not only quantity

but also quality of resource inputs. Based on our primary research, most corporate executives acknowledge that

women are relatively more sincere & dedicated in their work, possess better soft skills (language &

communication) and hence would enhance competitiveness of the industry.

Many students drop out of the education system after completing the O-levels (generally at 16 years) to join the

apparel industry or migrating as housekeeping staff to foreign countries, such as the Middle East. Therefore,

supply of graduates with ICT/BPM degrees is limited to only 10,0002 per year.

More important issue to be immediately addressed is the limited participation and retention of female workers

in the ICT/BPM industry. Although 60% of ICT/BPM graduates are women, the percentage of women goes

down to around 30% at entry level in the ICT/BPM industry, and to 13-25% at middle management level. Many

female graduates with ICT/BPM degrees prefer to go into research, academics and public services after

graduation. Also, many female workers in ICT/BPM industry quit after marriage. A broad range of barriers

were identified during our research.

On the demand side, some regulations discourage firms to employ women workers. For example, a policy on

women working at night requires a firm to take permission from government agencies. Another policy restricts

women from working at night for more than 10 days a month, which creates resource scheduling issues for the

firms. These regulations require additional time and administrative costs for the firms, thereby limit the

demand for women workers. In addition, fiscal incentives for firms to increase women employment are

insufficient.

On the supply side, most women are discouraged to start and continue on their career in the ICT/BPM industry

due to socio-cultural barriers, such as patriarchal society, gender stereotypes, perceptions about working in the

ICT/BPM industry for the long run, myths regarding a male dominated environment, lack of adequate

awareness of women role models in the sector, negative work-life balance and stress of working in night shifts,

reduced their interest to choose a career in the sector.

To overcome these socio-cultural barriers, existing measures are not adequate. The existing career counsellor

framework is not effective since most career counsellors are not well informed and cannot provide constructive

advice to students on working in the IT sector. Although individual corporations and industry associations have

launched many programs to attract undergraduate students, such as coding competition and industry talks,

these programs are gender neutral and do not meet specific needs of female students. Furthermore, there is no

specific government program to support women coming back from maternity leave. As observed in other

countries, firms should be encouraged to adopt some measures to support working mothers, such as work from

home/flexi-hours arrangement and offering day care/crèche facilities, with the support of the government.

Based on the identified gaps, key intervention strategies will be developed, which involves strategy formulation

& implementation plan.

Clarification / Disclaimer: For the purpose of the project and report, we are using the industry nomenclature of ICT/BPM instead of

ICT/BPO, as this is the commonly used term to refer to the sector in Sri Lanka. It comprises of Information

Technology, BPO, KPO services firms operating out of Sri Lanka.

1 SLASSCOM Strategy Document, 2016 2 Breakup of 10,000 ICT/BPM students is as follows: 4,000 from Government Universities, 6000 open/distance/part-time course students, data from private colleges is not available since they were reluctant to share the numbers. But during discussions it was understood that turnout of ICT/BPM relevant students were low from private colleges.

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2. Analysis & Findings

2.1. Demand – Supply Gap of Talent

SLASSCOM's Vision 2022 sets the following goals to transform ICT/BPM industry: (i) generate $5 billion

revenue, (ii) enable 200,000 direct jobs, and (iii) generate 1000+ startups. The below graphic explains the

Demand-Supply GAP of ICT/BPM graduates required to achieve SLASSCOM Vision 2022.

As a general issue in labour market, many students do not go to university. The table below shows that there is

nearly a 50% drop between the number of students taking O-Level exams and those qualifying to enter

university. The average drop from O-Level to university level is approximately 150,000 in the past 3 years. A

significant number drop post O-levels occurs as they are lured into joining either the apparel industry or

migrating as housekeeping staff to foreign countries specially the Middle East. As a long-term solution to

bridging the resource gap, interventions at this stage is essential.

Students dropping off after O-Level

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Students sat for O-Level (generally at 16 years) 443,298 451,039 308,054 298,549 314,635

Students sat for A-Level (generally at 18 years) 239,775 233,634 241,629 247,376 255,191

Students qualifying to enter University 141,411 144,745 140,993 149,489 155,447 Source: Department of Statistics, Sri Lanka (http://www.statistics.gov.lk/Pocket%20Book/chap13.pdf)

Assuming the numbers of computer science & IT graduates from Government colleges is 10,000 in 2016 up from

9,700 in 2015

Data for number of students pursuing computer science & IT from private colleges was not available. But during

stakeholder discussions it was understood that the number of such graduates (IT relevant graduates from private

colleges) was significantly lower than from the Government sector.

Thus the estimated GAP of 14,000 shown in the diagram is excluding private sector graduates. Even after inclusion

of private sector number the GAP will still be significant since private sector contribution to IT relevant graduates

is significantly low. Given this gap, people passing out from other streams will also have to be looked at to meet the

projected demand.

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There is no gender disparity in higher education (see below table). However, labour force participation by

females in Sri Lanka is lagging behind their male counterparts, remaining stagnant at approximately 30% for

many years (see below chart).

Table: Student Enrolment by Gender - Undergraduate Programs as per UGC intake

Courses Offered 2013 2014 2015 Female Male Female Male Female Male

Arts 19800 5800 22000 6000 23500 6000 Management & Commerce 9950 7900 12000 9000 13000 9000 Science 5900 5300 9500 6200 7800 8200 Engineering & Architecture 1000 6100 3900 9000 4000 9000 Medicine & Dental 3800 3000 4000 3000 4000 3000 Law 1000 200 3000 2900 2500 3000 Paramedical Studies 1000 200 4000 1000 4200 1000 Vet & Agriculture 2300 1800 2500 1800 3000 1500 Comp Science& IT 1700 1800 1950 2000 2000 2000 Indigenous Medicine 1000 200 1000 100 1000 200

Source: University Statistics 2015, 2014, University Grants Commission Sri Lanka Note: Women represent 60% of the UGC intake consistently since the past 3 years. There has been a gradual uptake of

women in Computer Science & IT courses. Total graduates from Government colleges (UGC intake, external, open & distance learning) led to 9700 Computer science & IT graduates in 2015 & 11,300 engineering graduates in 2015.

Chart: Labor Force participation rate of women in Sri Lanka

Source: Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka

The issue of gender disparity is found more severe in ICT/BPM sector. The primary and secondary research

suggests that although 60% of ICT/BPM graduates are women,3 the percentage of women at the junior/entry

levels in the ICT/BPM industry is approximately 32%.4 Most female students with ICT/BPM degree prefer

going to careers in academics or civil services to ICT/BPM sector. This is a significant loss of trained resources.

Furthermore, many female employees in ICT/BPM separate after marriage given that Sri Lanka is a

predominantly patriarchal society. The percentage of women at the middle management level in the ICT/BPM

industry is 13-25%5. Therefore, some measures should be taken to encourage women’s participation after

graduation and retention after marriage.

3 University Grants commission statistics, stakeholder discussions with private universities 4 Based on the online survey conducted 5 Based on the online survey, stakeholder discussions. An online survey was conducted to assess the gender participation across hierarchies of an organization, female attrition across organizational hierarchies so as to understand the gender diversity ecosystem in firms. The number of respondents were 57; comprising firms from ICT, BPO & KPO services.

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The next section analyses backgrounds behind this gender disparities in ICT/BPM industry and identifies key

gaps to be addressed.

2.2. Key Gaps

Increasing gender diversity in the Sri Lankan ICT/BPM industry is a challenge both from the supply and

demand side. On the demand side, although firms have a consensus view that women are relatively more

sincere & dedicated in their work, possess better soft skills (language & communication) and hence would

enhance competitiveness of the industry, some of them find it unnecessary to attract and retain increasing

number of women employees due to a large supply of male employees, additional time and costs associated

with legal and regulatory requirements for employing women workers, and lack of fiscal inventive to hire

women workers. On the supply side, women are not willing to pursue their career in the ICT/BPM sector mainly

due to socio-economic barriers. Also, Government and corporate programs for encouraging women’s

participation in the sector are in adequate to break through the socio-economic barriers.

2.2.1. Legal/Regulatory Barriers

1. Working late hour policy for women

As per the Employment of Women, Young Persons, and Children Act and The Shop and Office Employees

(Regulation of Employment and Remuneration) Act, 1954, employment of a woman at night shall be subject to

the following conditions:

a) No woman shall be compelled to work at night against her will

b) That written sanction of the commissioner of Labour should be obtained by every employer, prior to the

employment by him of women to work after 10 p.m. at night

According to the diagram if an organization has 100 employees in all, then, Out of 10 employees in senior management only 2 are women

Out of 34 employees in mid-management only 9 are women

Out of 56 employees in junior level only 16 are women This Indicates greater need to push for uniform gender diversity across organizational hierarchies

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c) No woman who has been employed during the hours of 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. shall be employed after 10

p.m. on any day

d) Every woman who works in night shifts will receive 1.5 times her normal pay

e) There shall be appointed female wardens to see to the welfare of woman workers who work at night

f) Every woman worker working at night shall be provided with restrooms and refreshments by the

employer

g) No woman shall be employed for more than ten days on night work, during any one month

Given that the ICT/BPM industry needs to work long hours / night shifts given the nature of work, the

provisions of the act leads to challenges on multiple fronts. Thus barriers arising out of the act are:

1. Getting permissions from the relevant authorities to allow women to work during the night is a time

consuming activity

2. Women cannot be staffed on night shift more than 10 days of the month leads to long-term work plan

scheduling issues/resource deployment leading to preference of males

These legislative provisions were enacted mainly in the period immediately before or after the end of British

rule in Sri Lanka in 1948 and at that time was intended to protect women from exploitation and the effects of

unequal bargaining power. However, more than half a century later, although women are more empowered and

working conditions have improved, these protectionist legislative provisions have remained unchanged.

While these regulations exist in Sri Lanka, the firms claim that women working late has been made possible

through administrative relaxation of the law, which however adds to time & administrative costs. They also cite

that this is not a long term sustainable process and need revisions to the law to ease the above mentioned

burdens arising due to the current working climate.

There have been initiatives to get the law edited earlier too by NLAC (National Labour Advisory Committee - a

working panel of industry, labor unions and the government), which had submitted a report asking for relevant

changes in the law but that hasn't happened so far.

2. Maternity Leave and Benefits

The maternity leave and benefits in Sri Lanka are in parity with the peer group. While the legal provisions for

maternity leaves in Sri Lanka seem to be in the right measure, corporations are encouraged to support women

more than regulatory requirements to attract talents (see discussion in 2.2.4).

Entitlement Sri Lanka India Philippines

Maternity Leave Any mother, regardless

of being employed in the

State Sector or in the

Private Sector, is

entitled for 84 days as

Maternity Leave from

the day of delivery.

These 84 days are

calculated excluding

Saturdays and Sundays

State sector employees

can avail additional

84 days of leave at

half-pay and further

On August 11, Rajya

Sabha passed

amendments to the

Maternity Benefit Act,

1961, increasing the

period of maternity leave

from 12 weeks (84

days) to 26 weeks

(182 days), which is

over six months. The

amended law also

mandates a company

to have a crèche if

they have more than

The maternity leave

period has been

increased to 100

(from 78) days

with pay in 2016. It

can be extended by

30 days without pay.

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84 days as leave

without pay

50 women employees

Some organizations have

started giving 9 months

of maternity leave

Any other leave No additional benefits No additional benefits A woman employee is

entitled to a special

leave benefit of two

(2) months with full

pay following surgery

caused by

gynecological

disorders

2.2.2. Economic Barriers

The economic barriers observed were mostly the absence of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives which could

enable/encourage higher women participation in the sector. The following action plan could be proposed and

will be looked at greater detail/discussed with the relevant stakeholders during the next phase.

Formulating fiscal incentives, such as capital investment subsidy for firms setting up day care facilities for

women employees; and

Setting up Recruitment Assistance for firms who are seeking to re-employ women who quit the workforce

2.2.3. Socio-Cultural Barriers

1. Patriarchal Society and Family First

Despite far-reaching social and political developments in Sri Lanka over the last century, Sri Lankan women

continue to occupy a subordinate status. While women are not subjected to extreme forms of oppression, many

adverse structures and forces, such as the patriarchal social structure, woman’s role in the family, traditional values, rituals and myths, the division of labor and unequal pay, and women’s lack of participation in politics contribute to the continuing subordination of Sri Lankan women.

The key reasons for women moving off the employment map in services sector include:

Relocation post marriage. The ICT/BPM industry is primarily located in Colombo. Continuing to work

becomes a challenge for women who get married and need to relocate to regions other than Colombo to

be with their spouse/family;

Societal pressure to leave a job post marriage to stay at home. Given Sri Lanka being a strong

patriarchal society, there is a huge pressure on women to take care of the house and family post

marriage. This leads them to leave work and focus on their personal side; and

Need to manage work-life balance post maternity

2. Perception of ICT/BPM sector

Traditionally, most graduates prefer civil services, teaching, medicine and accounting. These are the sectors

which are recognized by the parents/family/society where one should make a career, as they provide stability,

benefits and work-life balance - giving time to manage family responsibilities as well. Given the strong influence

that the society plays in youngsters making a career choice, people are not that keen to pick a career other than

in these sectors. This is also reflected in the choices that students make at O/A levels.

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In addition to the above, the following reasons were also talked about as the cause for women not picking up

ICT/BPM as a career choice or moving out of the industry after a few years:

Perception that one will need to work long hours and therefore the work-life balance will take a hit

Lack of knowledge on career paths in the industry as there is no mechanism / forum to explain them

and not enough role models to demonstrate

Families do not recognize the brand names and understand the kind of work being done. This is

augmented by the belief that teaching and civil services are a safer bet as careers for women.

Working in night shifts is looked down upon by families as the belief is that it does not help females

manage their personal responsibilities as well. As discussed in earlier section too, the law also has the

same patronizing tone as well.

To overcome this perception issue, the school career counsellor framework needs to be developed. Some

stakeholders pointed out that:

SLASSCOM has run a few training programs for the career counsellors as part of their IT Week

outreach. Other organizations/associations/forums are also working in this area, but there is no

coordination between them.

Majority of the career counsellors are from non-IT background. Therefore, they do not have much

knowledge about ICT/BPM as a career and what will help students work towards it. They are also not in

connect with the ever changing industry.

3. Lack of Female role models

While the reasons can be socio-cultural, economic, etc. women need to see a good number of role models to

help them guide and motivate them to look for a long term career. There are a few women who have done very

well in their careers within the ICT/BPM industry, but they haven't got a platform to tell their story and inspire

others to make a long term successful career in the industry. Recently, there have been some initiatives like

Women Entrepreneurs Disrupting the Business conducted by SLASSCOM, but more of such initiatives are

required else. The visible stories of successful women could make other women inspired enough to create a

career path for themselves beyond a certain stage in life. The absence of programs / initiatives to showcase role

models is spread across - education, government policies, industry body activities and corporate

goals/programs/policies. Only a handful of organizations have a women’s forum and that too only to interact

with women leadership visiting on business.

2.2.4. Corporate Programs and Policies

During our primary research which included stakeholder meets with firms in ICT/BPM industry, all the

organizations agreed that the increased female employees makes more business sense because (i) they are more

sincere and dedicated to their work; (ii) their strengths in communication, language & soft skill and preference

to quality assurance and business analysis are complementary to the strength of male workers in software

development.

1. Assessment for women-centric capacity building programs

Given the importance of gender mainstreaming in the sector, some companies, industry organizations and

educational institutes launched several initiatives to boost women participation in the sector. Below is a

summary of the various capacity building programs conducted by industry associations.

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Program Specifically for

Type of Program

Conducted by

Program Name

Industry Talks SLASSCOM Women entrepreneurs disrupting business,

Workshops SLASSCOM Start-up Sri Lanka Boot Camp, Agile Testing demystified

ICTA Industry capacity Building Domestic workshops to provide additional training to workforce which is not provided by training institutes Voucher Scheme (subsidy on certifications) for entry level workforce, program run till 2014

FITIS Tech forums on Big data, disruptive technologies Training programs for top & middle management in the ICT/BPM sector

Conferences SLASSCOM SLASSCOM Conclave 06, Colombo Test Automation Conference

FITIS “Women in IT Forum” as part of the annual INFOTEL ICT exhibition

Initiatives SLASSCOM Future Careers, Mobile Monday

ICTA The Women and ICT Frontier Initiative (WIFI), also known as “WIFI Suhuruliya”, is aimed at enhancing Women entrepreneurs ICT capabilities

FITIS Business model innovation training to boost entrepreneurship & improve the performance of existing firms through knowledge sharing ICIT certification which enhances the capacity of the individual to apply for ICT/BPM jobs

SLEDB Enabling women led businesses in IT/BPM and tourism sectors to access local and global markets, under the ITC IORA project.

CSSL CSSL certification to improve the industry readiness of university graduates for the ICT/BPM sector. Young IT professionals aimed to understand to provide a platform for Young IT professionals to network & share their ideas leading to greater knowledge transfer & collaboration which lays the foundation of a strong ICT base.

Universities Talks SLASSCOM The art of fearless programming

Workshops SLASSCOM SLASSCOM Directlink

Competition ICTA Weekend Hackathons, help to code programs, disruption based events, entrepreneurship awards, code camps

Initiatives SLASSCOM Career fairs at Jaffna, Kandy, Galle

ICTA Career Guidance & fairs at Batticaloa, Sigiriya and Vavuniya

CSSL “Females Can”: The Sri Lankan women in the ICT chapter has been established to encourage females to consider ICT as a career choice and to encourage them to pursue professional goals

High School Competition SLASSCOM Kids can code at school level

FITIS Young Scientist Award

National & International School Software competition, here many participants come and involves knowledge sharing & capacity building. IT mastermind a school program aimed to hone the IT schools at an early stage

Initiatives ICTA Career Guidance Note: The details of the various (above-mentioned) capacity building programs in the ICT sector is provided in Appendix

A.1.

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However, the following deficiencies are observed in the previous and existing capacity building programs:

These are short term programs(few hours to 1 / 2 day) with no measure of participant engagement

They lack coordination between various agencies with some programs being repeated by many of them

There are very few programs at the school level, especially when this is a critical milestone for students to

choose a career in the ICT/BPM industry.

Majority of the programs are focused on a very small set of institutions or locations, thus not being able to

influence a wider catchment population. For example, “Women Entrepreneurs Disrupting Business” is a

good start, but this initiative had a limited audience capacity. Thus to reach out to a larger target audience

(ICT/BPM graduates, parents, teachers, ICT/BPM employees etc.) there is a need to conduct similar events

frequently across universities & districts.

2. Lack of support program for retaining working mothers

While the maternity leave and benefits in Sri Lanka are in parity with the peer group (refer to 2.2.1.), there are

areas to be improved for supporting mothers beyond the regulatory minimum requirements. Corporations are

encouraged to provide additional facility through adoption of women friendly policies like maternity leave,

child care leave, crèche facility and flexi-time work to provide support to women employees.

A common view across the industry to take initiative and go beyond just the law to make sure the returning

mothers are cared for. While a few companies have taken steps in this regards, it is yet to become an industry

norm. For example, work flexibility/work-from-home is not a prevalent practice amongst majority of the firms.

Only a very limited number of firms provide a day-care / crèche facility to help take care of the children. An

example of an organization in Sri Lanka (Standard Chartered Bank) that has done that is shared below. The

impact of these measures on reducing the attrition of returning mothers in India has been mentioned in

Appendix A3 based on an article.

Source: Factor's Affecting Women's Labour Force Participation in Sri Lanka (International Labour Organization; ISBN:

9789221285175; 9789221285205)

Childcare facilities at Standard Chartered Bank (SCB)

In 2008 Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) in Sri Lanka started a crèche for the children of its employees in a rented building under the supervision of a female employee with Montessori qualifications. Received initially with some caution, all available vacancies were utilized speedily, and currently has a long waiting list. The demand continued to rise, especially as 48.5% of the workforce at SCB was female, and 5 out of 8 officers in the Management Committee were mothers with young children, and facility was expanded as the “Kid-care” center, and now caters to 50 children from 06 months to 12 years of age.

The SCB meets two thirds of the operational costs with the balance borne by the parents. The management considered the investment to be justified by the returns in terms of more female employees at all levels continuing to work after childbirth.

Qualified and trained staff ensures that children are given quality Early Childhood Education during the regular crèche calendar, and special events are organized during the holiday months with outings and excursions. After school at Kid-care means that children who attend regular school come home to Kid-care to refresh themselves, have a nutritious meal and attend to their studies under the supervision of qualified teachers, complete homework, ensuring that the parents enjoy quality time with their children and can maintain a healthy work-life balance when they return home.

The SCB has also extended maternity leave to 100 days from the maximum of 84 working days. Combined with flexible work arrangements for some jobs (although there is no official policy as yet), employees have clearly found the crèche has effectively addressed the child care concerns faced by them.

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The government can also proactively support such a corporate activity supporting working mothers through

policies or programs. However, there is no specific industry or government program to target women who want

to come back from maternity leave / nursing.

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3. Conclusion

It is very clear from the demand supply gap (basis SLASSCOM's Vision 2022) that increasing gender diversity

will be crucial to fulfilling the resource gap for the industry to meet its targets. Based on the study, the key gaps

identified and the possible agencies that need to be approached to work on them are summarized in the table

below. Based on these gaps identified in this phase, a strategy for increasing women participation in ICT/BPM

industry will be formulated and its implementation plan will be developed in the next phase.

Areas Ways to address GAPs Agency to be involved

Legal/Regulatory Revised Government policy on

women working late night

Revised Government policy on

differential treatment for women

working in night, (the clause which

states 1.5 times pay for women

working at night)

SLASSCOM/ICTA and EDB to

follow up on work done by the

National Labour Advisory

Committee and lobby with the

Government for policy changes

Economic Introduction of incentives like lower

interest rates for availing housing/car

loan for women employees in the ICT

sector

Formulating fiscal incentives like

capital investment subsidy for firms

setting up day care facilities for

women employees

Subsidize companies to develop work

from home arrangement for women

employees

SLASSCOM/ICTA and EDB to

communicate with the

Government for policy changes

Setting up Recruitment Assistance for

firms who are seeking to re-employ

women who quit the workforce

SLASSCOM/ICTA can provide

this support as part of their

corporate support exercise

Socio-Cultural Review and revise the existing career

counselling framework

Conduct trainings for women – such

as career counselling, career fairs,

career guidance & mentoring

workshops - to eliminate the following

issues: (i) lack of awareness/myths

about the ICT/BPM industry and the

career paths; (ii) patriarchal society,

stereotypes on women’s role in the society; (iii) male dominated work

environment; (iv) Perception about

working in night shifts; (vi) lack of

women role models

This needs to be a coordinated by

Department of Education at high

school level and Department of

Higher Education at university

level as a joint effort between

multiple agencies - EDB,

SLASSCOM/ICTA/FITIS/CSSL,

Ministry of Education, Ministry

of Higher Education, and

Ministry of Skill Development

and Vocational Training,

Ministry of Women and Child

Affairs

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Corporate

Programs and

Policies

Incorporation of Gender diversity as

an agenda for SLASSCOM/ICTA and

other industry organizations

Publishing annual reports on the

current status of Gender diversity

Increase the participation from a

broad range of potential female

employees especially students

While SLASSCOM/ICTA needs to

drive this, there needs to be a

push from EDB/Government for

industry organizations to pick

this as an initiative. It might help

for EDB to work with the various

government agencies to initiate

incentives for corporate to walk

the path.

Organization wide promotion of

women friendly policies to be adopted

and practiced like working from

home, flexible working hours and

day-care, best practices etc.

Invest in providing technology to

work from home

Needs to be done in two phases

o EDB to influence

SLASSCOM/ICTA basis the

potential and the need

o Corporate policies to be

influenced by SLASSCOM

EDB also to explore possibility

with other government agencies

supporting such initiatives, such

as the Ministry of Women and

Child Affairs, Labour Department

etc.

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A.1. Appendix – Capacity Building Programs

SLASSCOM

SLASSCOM conducts various engagements to enhance capacity in the sector. The following events/workshops

were conducted in 2016 are shared below:

EVENTS6

SLASSCOM Conclave 06: This session was a platform to create awareness amongst the ICT community

about the trends and current advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) & other disruptive areas

like sentiment analytics, machine learning and various other advanced technological topics

Start-up Sri Lanka Boot Camp: This workshop was designed to welcome start-ups and give them an

opportunity to demonstrate their product and receive feedback and guidance on improvements, potential

changes. Thus it was a nurturing engagement for Start-ups in the ICT space

Colombo Test Automation Conference: It brought together engineers from industry and academia to

discuss trends in test automation and quality engineering practices.

Agile Testing demystified: It is a learning platform for university graduates, members & non-members. The

session brings together a panel of experts to present an in-depth perspective of agile testing. It is a technical

capacity building program for interested candidates who would want a career in agile testing.

Women entrepreneurs disrupting business: This was an event organized by SLASSCOM to bring the

successful women entrepreneurs in the ICT sector in Sri Lanka, where they could share their experience and

encourage more women entrepreneurs in the sector

The art of fearless programming: The session was for university graduates who were new to the world of

programming. The event aimed at how to develop robust codes, challenges software engineers face in agile

development etc. Since Sri Lanka is poised to move into high value added services like software development &

programming in the field of mobile, analytics, cloud, AI, sessions like these prove to be beneficial for university

graduates who are interested in honing their IT skills.

INITIATIVES7

Future Careers: The Future Careers initiative has two fold objectives. Firstly, the SLASSCOM Future Careers

initiative is aimed at expanding the talent pool available to the industry as part of this Capacity building

program. Secondly, SLASSCOM Future Careers initiative is focused on connecting Sri Lankan youth to the

exciting job opportunities in the knowledge services industry for them to become truly global citizens.

Mobile Monday: The Mobile Monday network consists of passionate mobile technology enthusiasts fostering

innovation, cooperation and cross border business development. It encourages innovation within the mobile

sector, facilitates networking between small and large companies, helps local companies effectively participate

in international initiatives through the import and export of visions, concepts, technologies, know-how and best

practices etc.

SLASSCOM Directlink: The SLASSCOM directlink program objective is to collaborate in enhancing the

talent pool available to the IT and BPM industry through knowledge sharing, curriculum development support

and various other activities. SLASSCOM directlink provides a platform for the industry and academia to engage

in a sustained manner.

6https://slasscom.lk/events - Information taken from the site 7https://slasscom.lk/initiatives - Information from the site

https://slasscom.lk/events

https://slasscom.lk/initiatives

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ICTA

ICTA also actively pursues capacity building programs amongst the ICT/BPM community. Given below are the

details of the programs/initiatives of ICTA to enhance capacity:

Enabling Environment Create better environment for the IT industry to grow with new business

and facilitating private and public forums: Creating an environment for the growth of the ICT/BPM

Industry in Sri Lanka. This project will include activities related to the Career Guidance Support Strategy, Tech

Start-up Support Strategy and the Public Private Partnerships Strategy8

Industry Capacity Building: Building business and technical skills of current and future IT Workforce. This

project will include activities related to the Industry Knowledge Enhancement Strategy, Tech Start-up Support

Strategy and the IT SME Strategy9

Domestic Learning Seminars and Workshops: This is aimed at upgrading skills of existing workforce on

new developments in the industry in line with global demand. Particular areas will be selected for these

workshops to solve the problem caused due to the training deficiencies which is not met by local providers.

Training Voucher Scheme (run till 2014): Subsidies were given for individual certifications (such as

Microsoft). This was done for the entry-level workforce.

Attracting new talent

o Career Guidance Programs (since 2014 onwards)

Since 2014, ICTA conducted programs in Batticaloa, Sigiriya and Vavuniya where other stakeholders

have not conducted workshops. Previous years ICTA has conducted fairs in other districts including

Jaffna

Since 2014 other stakeholder conducted career guidance programmes include:

- SLASSCOM conducted some programs in Kandy, Jaffna, Galle and the Open University.

- Last 2 years FITIS conducted INFOTEL where at least 4,000 students attended

Capacity Building Programs for Tech Startups

o Spiralation and Disrupt

These were aimed at aspiring entrepreneurs. At least 500 people were in attendance. Happened in July

2016. This is an ICTA initiatives.

o Startup Weekend Hackathons

These were held thrice in 2016, in; Colombo, Jaffna and Kilinochchi. They were sponsored by volunteers,

mostly from the private sector and the Northern Chamber of Information Technology (NCIT).

o Global Student Entrepreneurship Award

This competition is held usually in February. It promotes entrepreneurs to get into IT. It was sponsored by

volunteers, with the help of Edulink. The winner last year became a global finalist.

o ICTA is also a member of the global start up eco-system report. This is aimed at creating an enabling

environment for start-ups as Sri Lanka is benchmarked against 40 other cities.

Help to Code: 10This contains many competitions (coding/hacking/entrepreneurship events etc.) which boost

learning & helps in knowledge sharing & overall capacity enhancement of the participants.

ICT/BPM Career guidance seminar and counselling session: A career guidance program which

highlights the career opportunities in the Information Technology (IT) and Business Process Management

(BPM) sector. The program was aimed at students who are studying at grade 9 and above.11

8https://www.icta.lk/current-projects/ - Information from the site 9https://www.icta.lk/current-projects/ - Information from the site 10https://www.icta.lk/news/startup-support-initiatives-by-icta/ 11https://www.icta.lk/news/it-bpm-career-guidance-seminar-and-counseling-session/

https://www.icta.lk/current-projects/

https://www.icta.lk/current-projects/

https://www.icta.lk/news/startup-support-initiatives-by-icta/

https://www.icta.lk/news/it-bpm-career-guidance-seminar-and-counseling-session/

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Women and ICT Frontier Initiative (WIFI): The programme intended to work at grassroots levels to

support Women development officers of the Ministry of Women and Child Affairs, Women entrepreneurs and

Female headed households, to have an economic and social role in the current rebuilding activities of Sri Lanka.

Some of the planned Capacity Building Initiatives for 2017: In order to fulfil the skill gap, ICTA aims

to undertake a project to support internship programs, by providing incentives to companies. It is targeted at

students who have completed TVEC training.

o ICTA plans to host Code Camps to improve the quality of coding of the future and existing workforce.

o ICTA will continue to hold domestic seminars and industry workshops to upscale skills.

Through hosting such seminars and workshops, ICTA aims to upskill the existing workforce in order to retain

them. In order to ensure new workforce meets the employment demand requirements (graduates from

institutes are eligible to be employed), ICTA is also collaborating with FITIS to develop an appropriate

curriculum.

Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS)

FITIS is an institute under the oversight of Ministry of Telecommunication & Digital Infrastructure like

SLASSCOM. It overlooks all the technical & HR based capacity building programs in the ICT/BPM sector. They

have conducted many such engagements.12 Following are the details of the annual initiatives from FITIS in

2015:

Young computer scientist competition: The Federation of Information Technology Industry Sri Lanka (FITIS)

Software Chapter (SLASI), the national organization representing the Software Industry in Sri Lanka has been organizing

the Young Computer Scientist (YCS) Award for the last 12 years. The competition aims to expose the computing talents of

school children at early stages and encourage them to develop their talents and earn recognition for their innovations.13

Tech forum on Big Data 2015: The objective of the event is to promote and disseminate useful knowledge in

software technology to all stakeholders of the industry enabling them to enhance their contribution to the

growth and development of the Sri Lankan national economy while creating value for industry stakeholders.14

Training Programs: FITIS organized a series of training programmes based on the knowledge and expertise needs

of the ICT sector. Most of the Training Programs conducted during the year were targeted to the CEO’s, Directors, Software Developers, Software Architects, Project Managers etc. FITIS successfully concluded the following Training

Programs during the year 2013 with the funding assistance of ICTA. Topics varied from Big Data, Hadoop, to Patents &

innovation etc.15

Tech Eve is a Forum for ICT Industry middle managers and executives to gather knowledge, best practices and

network with industry peers. This is an initiative of FITIS Software Chapter and FITIS has been conducting

many “Tech-Eves” for over 5 years on various topics relating to the ICT Industry in Sri Lanka.16

International Competency in IT (ICIT): ICIT is an internationally acceptable program which on successful

completion would lead to recognized qualification in IT up to a degree level. It is a collaborative Programme

between the Academia and Industry. It also addresses the Employability factors such as Soft Skill literacy, team working

communication skills etc.17

INFOTEL 2016 Exhibition “Connecting Citizens”: INFOTEL is an annual flagship event of FITIS which

is considered as the largest technology exhibition held in Sri Lanka. The 15th edition of the exhibition in 2016,

included a "Women in IT Forum”, where inspiring women in IT shared their stories, advice and insights with

students about to enter the IT workforce.

12http://fitis.lk/introduction/- Information from the site 13http://fitis.lk/young-computer-scientist-competition/- Information from the site 14http://fitis.lk/tech-forum/- Information from the site 15http://fitis.lk/training-programs/- Information from the site 16http://fitis.lk/tech-eve/- Information from the site 17http://fitis.lk/international-competency-in-information-technology-icit/- Information from the site

http://fitis.lk/introduction/

http://fitis.lk/young-computer-scientist-competition/

http://fitis.lk/tech-forum/

http://fitis.lk/training-programs/

http://fitis.lk/tech-eve/

http://fitis.lk/international-competency-in-information-technology-icit/

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Business Model Innovation Training: This program (conducted on August 25, 2016) was specifically

suited for entrepreneurs who needed guidance in redefining/improving their business models. Given to

entrepreneurs, professionals, engineers, bankers, managers, university graduates, academicians, inventors

etc.18

Sri Lanka Export Development Board (SLEDB)

ITC IORA Project: The SLEDB in collaboration with the International Trade Centre's Project IORA is

working with women led businesses in IT/BPM and tourism sectors to enable them to access local and global

markets. A workshop was held to identify issues faced by women-led businesses in the selected sectors, ways of

addressing those issues and creating a database of C-level women employees. The project also will facilitate a

networking event to bring women leaders in the selected sector together.

The Computer Society of Sri Lanka (CSSL)

CSSL is an organization similar to FITIS and is under the oversight of Ministry of Telecommunications &

Digital Infrastructure. The overall mission of the association is to promote Sri Lankan ICT and develop ICT

skills amongst the graduates/employees of the ICT fraternity.19

National School Software Competition (NSSC) organized by the CSSL and Ministry of Education was

conducted at the UCSC with the help of UCSC staff and students. 20 school students from various parts of the

country took part this competition to showcase their programming talents.20

International School Software Competition (ISSC): This is a global Asia-Pacific based events which

involves sharing of valuable experience & mentoring. This time it was organized by CSSL in Sri Lanka where

teams from Taiwan & India had participated. The Sri Lankan team was given extensive training for this event.

This is a big platform to skill up young minds from the early phases of their life and expose them to the

advanced world of technology.21

IT Mastermind: It is an island wise quiz competition organized by CSSL. The primary aim of this engagement

is to develop & hone the IT skills of school students & encourage them to pursue a career in ICT.22

CSSL Certification: It is an international level certification programme offered by CSSL in collaboration with

Australian Computer Society. The aim of the program is to enhance the industry readiness of the ICT

employees.23

“Females Can”: The Sri Lankan women in the ICT chapter has been established to encourage females to

consider ICT as a career choice and to encourage them to pursue professional goals.24

Young IT professionals: The purpose of this initiative is to provide a platform for Young IT professionals to

network & share their ideas leading to greater knowledge transfer & collaboration which lays the foundation of

a strong ICT base.

18http://fitis.lk/business-model-innovation-training/- Information from the site 19 CSSL Annual report 2015 20 CSSL Annual report 2015 21 CSSL Annual report 2015 22 CSSL Annual report 2015 23 CSSL Annual report 2015 24 CSSL Annual report 2015

http://fitis.lk/business-model-innovation-training/

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ICT/BPM Capacity Building Programs by Donor Agencies

The World Bank

Innovation for Impact: A partnership initiative of World Bank, Microsoft and Sarvodaya Fusion in Sri

Lanka. It connects CSO (civil society organizations) promoting women's empowerment with ICT tools. It was

two day workshop to promote ICT and improve organizational operations. This would increase chances for

employment and entrepreneurship for women at the grassroots.25

Skills development project: It is an ongoing project of the World Bank which aims to build the capacity of

the Sri Lankan graduates to increase their participating in economic activities. A small component of this

projects emphasizes on IT based capacity building.

UNDP

HackaDev 2015: It is a hacking competition. It is an engaging event where university graduates participate

and display their programming skills, submit ideas. This is good platform for knowledge transfer and capacity

enhancement of all the participant.26

25http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/04/09/unlocking-potential-women-technology-ict-development 26http://www.lk.undp.org/content/srilanka/en/home/ourwork/youth-and-innovation/hack-a-Dev.html

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2015/04/09/unlocking-potential-women-technology-ict-development

http://www.lk.undp.org/content/srilanka/en/home/ourwork/youth-and-innovation/hack-a-Dev.html

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A.2. Appendix – Laws Governing Women at Workplace

The overall scope of the legal environment related to employment is covered by the Factories Ordinance of 1950

and subsequent Amendments, Maternity Benefits Ordinance of 1941, Shop and Office Employees Act of 1954,

Young Persons and Children Act of 1956 and different laws relating to women in Sri Lanka

1. The Laws that apply to working women in Sri Lanka are:

Women’s safety and health in the workplace –

I. Factories Ordinance of 1950 and subsequent Amendments -

Women’s rights during the period of maternity

I. Maternity Benefits Ordinance of 1941

II. Shop and Office Employees Act of 1954,

Law protecting the rights of women in the workplace

I. Employment of Women,

II. Young Persons and Children Act of 1956 and subsequent amendments.

Sri Lankan Constitution assures the equality of men and women and being a member of ILO Sri Lanka

is obliged to assure an environment for decent work whereas ILO’s Decent Work Agenda states that Productive Employment and Decent Work are key elements to achieving a fair globalization and the

reduction of poverty.

2. Working Hours:

In accordance with the Shop and Office Employees Act, normal working hours are 8 hours per day and 45 hours

per week. AS of for the Factories Ordinance states that the normal working hours must not exceed 09 hours per

day, exclusive of intervals allowed for meals and rest. The normal working hours limit does not apply to any

person who holds an executive or managerial position in a public institution and who is in receipt of a

consolidated salary the initial of the scale of which is not less than Rest. 6, 720 per annum. If a worker works

beyond the stipulated working hours, he/she is entitled to an overtime pay that is 150% (1.5 of X) of the rate of

his ordinary pay. The overtime hours in a week cannot exceed 12 hours.2728

3. Maternity Leave:

The duration of maternity leave is 12 weeks (84 days) excluding weekly holidays, Poya days and statutory

holidays. Out of these 12 weeks, 02 weeks maternity leave is before confinement (including the day of her

confinement) and 10 weeks following the day of confinement. In accordance with the Maternity Benefits

Ordinance, 12 weeks, inclusive of all non-working days, maternity leave is allowed. For the third and

subsequent confinement, duration of maternity leave is 42 days excluding weekly holidays, Poya days and

statutory holidays. Under the Maternity Benefits Ordinance, 6 weeks, inclusive of all non-working days,

maternity leave is allowed. Maternity leave is granted to a female worker upon providing a notice to her

employer mentioning that her date of delivery is within a month or 14 days (in case of shop and office worker).

After confinement, she must inform the employer, within a week, about her date of delivery for the purpose of

ascertaining the number of days she is permitted to absent herself from the employment. She should also,

specify the number of children she has. There is no provision in law regarding extension of maternity leave in

case of complications or sickness due to confinement or in case of multiple births.29

4. Safety Measures for Women at Night Work:

Safety measures ensured by law for night work by women - Section 2A of the Employment of Women, Young

Persons and Children Act.

Safety measures ensured by law for night work by women

27Shop and Office Employees Act of 1954 28Factories Ordinance of 1950 29Maternity Benefits Ordinance, 1939

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Section 2A of the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act states that:

Primarily and most importantly a woman cannot be compelled to work at night against her will.

The employer must obtain prior approval of the Commissioner of labour for the employment of women

after 10 p.m.

The law also provides that no woman who has worked a shift of during the hours 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. can be

employed after 10 p.m. on any day.

The wages for a woman who does night work must be one and a half times the normal payment received by

her.

Women wardens must be appointed to oversee the welfare of women workers who work at night.

All night shift women workers must be provided restrooms and refreshments by the employer.

No more than 10 night work shifts that can be allocated to a woman worker during a period of one month.

The provisions mentioned above do not apply to women holding managerial or technical positions, women

employed in health and welfare services (which are not manual in nature) and women of the same family

engaged a family business.

According to the Section 67 Factories Ordinance

The number of hours worked not including the intervals for meals and rest and the period of employment

cannot exceed nine hours in any day or forty eight hours in a week.

While all of the Occupational Health and Safety provisions contained in the Factories Ordinance apply for both

men and women, Section 25 specifically states that:

A woman or young person shall not clean any part of a prime mover or of any transmission machinery while

the prime mover or transmission machinery is in motion.

They also should not clean any part of any machine if it exposes them to risk of injury from any moving part

either of that machine or of any adjacent machinery.

Under Section 86 of the Factories Ordinance provides

Protection for women and young persons employed in certain processes connected with lead manufacture

and in processes involving the use of lead compounds.

The provisions include notifying the Chief Factory Inspecting Engineer of cases of lead poisoning as a result

of manufacturing processes.

The Shop and Office Employees Act, (Section 10) states that

Person below the age of 14 years cannot be employed in any shop or office, and any person between the ages

of 14 and 18 years cannot be employed in any shop or office before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m.

However, any woman above 18 years may be employed in a hotel or restaurant between the hours of 6 p.m.

and 10 p.m.

Any woman over 18 years of age may be employed in a residential hotel before 6 a.m. or after 6 p.m. on any

day.

Any woman over 18 years of age may be employed in a shop or office for the period or any part of the period

between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m.

This rule is relaxed for a male who is above 16 years of age, enabling him to be employed in the business of a

hotel, restaurant or place of entertainment for the period or any part of the period between 6 p.m. and 10

p.m.

Section16 of the Act provides for;

The provision of seats in shops in every room behind the counters, where women are serving customers the

proportion of the number of seats available must be not less than one seat for every three women working

in the room.

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Any employer in either public or private industrial undertakings which employ women workers and young

persons is required by law to maintain a register of their names, dates of birth as well as their hours of work

and must make it available for inspection at any time.

The employer is also required under the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Act to display

the legal provisions in Sinhala, Tamil and English, pertaining to the protection of the rights of women and

young persons, in the public spaces on the premises.

Under the Mines and Minerals Law and Mines (Prohibition of Females on Underground Work in Mines

expressly prohibits:

The employment of women, irrespective of age, being employed in underground mines at any time.

The exception lies with the employment of women in managerial and supervisory positions.

5. Overtime:

Sri Lanka: In accordance with the Shop and Office Employees Act, normal working hours are 8 hours per day

and 45 hours per week. The Factories Ordinance states that the normal working hours must not exceed 09

hours per day, exclusive of intervals allowed for meals and rest. The normal working hours limit does not apply

to any person who holds an executive or managerial position in a public institution and who is in receipt of a

consolidated salary the initial of the scale of which is not less than Rest. 6, 720 per annum. If a worker works

beyond the stipulated working hours, he/she is entitled to an overtime pay that is 150% (1.5 of X) of the rate of

his ordinary pay. The overtime hours in a week cannot exceed 12 hours.30

6. Social Security and Pension Rights:

Insured workers are eligible for old age benefit (pension) when they reach the age of 55 years (50 years for

women workers), or when they retire from the covered employment and join public service, on the marriage of

an employed women, on emigrating from Sri Lanka permanently, on permanent disability or on the closure of a

workplace by government orders. The required contribution by dividend is at least 10 years.

The amount of old-age benefit is a lump sum of employee and employer contributions plus interest. Dividend

benefit is 1,000 rupees per year.

Under the Employees' Provident Fund Act, an employee’s contribution is 8% of his/her total earnings while employer’s contribution is 12% of worker’s earnings. Employer is required to remit 20% of the total employee

earnings to the EPF department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka before the last day of the next month.31

7. Dependents’ / Survivors' Benefit:

The laws provide survivor benefit to nominee or legal heirs if the fund member dies before retirement. The

benefit is paid to one or more eligible survivors as a lump sum of the total employee and employer contributions

plus interest.32

Invalidity Benefit

The Employees' Trust Fund Act, 1980 provides for invalidity benefit in the case of non-occupational

accident/injury/disease resulting into permanent invalidity. The benefit is paid as a lump sum of the total

employee and employer contributions plus interest. The worker must be assessed with a permanent and total

incapacity for work.

Cultural Parameters – Ability for women to travel within and outside the country, work outside normal

business hours, work in a primarily male populated environment

30Shop and Office Employees Act of 1954 and of the Factories Ordinance 1950 31Employees' Provident Fund Act, 1958 32Employees' Trust Fund Act, 1980

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Business Support – Women Support Groups and Forums, Training, Finance and Incentives provided to

companies owned by women (this is more an Enabler)

Parameters with specific relevance to women participation have been specified here.

Parameters that are common to the industry have not been specified (e.g. Sector Specific Quality Certifications)

8. Annual Leave and Holidays:

An employee is entitled to take annual leave when the next calendar year starts. The duration of that first

annual leave period is determined according to the date/month on which the employment commenced. From

the second year onward, an employee is entitled to 14 days of paid annual leave, after completion of 12 months

of continuous service.

For the first year, an employee would have following annual leave, depending upon the time of commencement

of his employment:

- 14 days if the employment commences on or after the first day of January but before the first day of April;

- 10 days if the employment commences on or after the first day of April but before the first day of July;

- 7 days if the employment commences on or after the first day of July but before the first day of October,

- 4 days if the employment commences on or after the first day of October.

A worker is required to take his annual leave within twelve months of its entitlement. Annual leave schedule is

determined by the mutual agreement between the employer and the employee. It may be split however its

minimum duration cannot be less than 07 days. Employers are not allowed to compel workers to work during

annual leave. If the employment contract expires before a worker could acquire the right to annual leave, the

employee is entitled to the annual leave earned by him or her in respect of the previous year plus the days

earned during the year of termination.

Under Wages Board Ordinance, a higher level of annual leave (up to 21 days) is provided for some trades by the

Wage Boards.

Under the Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of Employment and Remuneration) Act, 1954

Pay on Public Holidays

Workers are entitled to paid Festival (public and religious) holidays. Festival holidays are announced by Sri

Lankan Government at the start of calendar year (usually 16 in number). The public holidays are regulated

under the Holidays Act (No. 29 of 1971). The Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of Employment and

Remuneration) Act, 1954 also provides for Full Moon Poya Day and 8 other public holidays. If a public holiday

falls on weekly rest day, no additional holiday is granted.33

Weekly Rest Days

Workers are entitled to at least one and a half day of rest per week at the worker's full rate of remuneration.

However, the entitlement of full remuneration is not applicable to workers who have worked for less than 28

hours, exclusive of overtime work.

Weekly rest day is not specified in the Act. The rest day can be postponed and taken in 5-weekly blocks,

provided that the Commissioner is satisfied that such postponement is necessary by reason of the nature of the

business or for unforeseen circumstances.34

33The Shop and Office Employees (Regulation of Employment and Remuneration) Act, 1954; Holidays Act (No. 29 of 1971)

34Shop and Office Employees Act, 1954

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9. Land ownership and inheritance:

The Land Development Ordinance of 1935, [LDO] which is a British law is applicable to State lands, gives

preference to male inheritance when the owner dies intestate. The succession rights given in the Ordinance are

as; (1) sons, (2) daughters, (3) grandsons, etc.

This bias in the statute has resulted in women being ousted by a male relative at the death of the original (male)

owner, even if she was cultivating the land. Remarriage of a man would also leave his first wife with no claim to

the land although the land was jointly cultivated by them.

The discrimination to women is at varying levels and depends on their ethnicity.

Thesavalamai Law

Married woman cannot dispose or deal with their immovable property without the written consent of the

husband.

Kandyan Law

Depending on whether a woman is married in diga (the wife leaves her ancestral home to live with the husband

and his family) or binna (the husband comes to live with the wife and her family), accordingly the paternal

inheritance to property is restricted.

Muslim law

When a Muslim household-head dies without leaving a last will, women receive less than what the male

members inherit

The laws in practice:

Kandyan Marriage and Divorce Act No. 44 of 1952 (Sri Lanka)and subsequent amendments

Matrimonial Rights and Inheritance (Jaffna) Ordinance No 58 of 1947 (Sri Lanka) and amendments

Marriage Registration Ordinance No 19 of 1907 (Sri Lanka) as amended in 1995 and 2001

Muslim Marriage and Divorce Act No 13 of 1951(Sri Lanka)

Matrimonial Rights and Inheritance Ordinance 1876 (Sri Lanka)

Maintenance Act No. 37 of 1999 (Sri Lanka)

Adoption of Children Ordinance No 24 of 1941 (Sri Lanka) and amendments

Civil Procedure Code 1889

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PwC 24

A.3. Appendix – Impact of initiatives for returning mothers

in India35

Between 2003 and 2010 almost 48% women dropped out of the workforce due to maternity and child care

activities. Thus it necessitated drastic measures to be adopted by firms to address those issues. Firms

incorporated flexible working hour’s policy, developed crèche facilities at work, increased maternity leave

duration beyond the stipulated laws, introduced return to work programmes for returning mothers etc. to

curtail women attrition rates. Now we see that the efforts to mitigate attrition is paying off, since corporates are

witnessing relatively lower attrition rates amongst married women employees. Return to work programs

enabled smoother induction of women in the organization roles & responsibilities post maternity break by

forming supportive peer groups and addressing the needs of returning mothers like confidence building,

reduced working hours etc. This enabled the women employees to positively acclimatize with the work

environment post maternity.

35 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/india-inc-curtails-post-maternity-attrition/articleshow/56284121.cms

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/india-inc-curtails-post-maternity-attrition/articleshow/56284121.cms

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This report contains information derived or obtained from a variety of sources (as indicated in the report). PwC has not verified the accuracy of this information and accepts no liability or responsibility for any error or omission. The evidence presented in this report are based on information obtained from various publicly available information and discussions held with stakeholders and industry experts, and does not necessarily reflect any views or opinions of PwC. The report is based on information collected during the period from June 2016 to January 2017. Economic conditions, political conditions, legislative factors, market factors and performance change may result in the report becoming quickly outdated and may require updating from time to time.

This report is not intended to constitute investment advice. Readers should not rely on this report in making investment decisions. PwC accepts no liability or responsibility to the contents of this report or any reliance placed on it.

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