A Study on the Applicability of Labour Legislations to Domestic Care Workers An Emphasis Towards South Chennai

Abstract

Domestic workers usually work within private households, performing various duties such as gardening, cleaning, caring for children, cooking and taking care of older people. In India, domestic workers receive very little recognition, especially those caring for the disabled, elderly and infants. Domestic care work is often categorized as household work and is given lower priority due to its nature. Conversely, they do not receive appropriate minimum salaries, experience delays in receiving wages, there are unauthorised deductions from their wages, lack sufficient safety precautions in the workplace, have inadequate welfare measures, etc. The International Labour Organisation in the year 2021 has reported that around 61.4 million are employed as domestic workers informally and lack access to social and labour protection. prevailing labour legislation in India predominantly favours organised labours and generally excludes unorganised labour. In India, a total of nine legislative bills were proposed to safeguard the working conditions of domestic workers. But absence of specific legislation has deprived their right to receive benefits from their employers. Few states have taken initiative to protect these workers by determining minimum wages to be paid to them. Apart from that, these workers are also protected under legislations prohibiting sexual harassment and child labour. They are also recognised as unorganised workers and eligible to claim various social security schemes. In Tamil Nadu, they are protected under the manual workers legislation. Though numerous efforts have been made to uplift their rights in the workplace, they still struggle to overcome the barriers in the workplace. This study intends to identify the need and significance of social security, minimum wages and welfare measures applicable to domestic workers. It aims to analyse the drawbacks and deficiencies in the present legislation.