Domestic work is one of the oldest informal jobs for millions of women worldwide. It continues to remain unorganised, unrecognised, and unrewarding. Legal protection for domestic workers in India is still a far-fetched dream. Without rights or regulations, many domestic workers endure 16–18-hour workdays with minimal pay. One cannot ignore the inadequate food, cramped living conditions, and forced isolation from their families. Exploitation often extends to sexual abuse, both during job placements and within employers’ homes.
In India, domestic workers face exploitation mainly because there is no proper legal framework to protect them. Homes are considered “private” spaces. It means the government is hesitant to regulate activities that happen inside them.
This loophole makes it hard to create laws specifically for domestic workers. Private residences don’t count as official “workplaces” under labour law. As a result, domestic workers fall outside the protections of major labour regulations. Ultimately, it leaves them vulnerable to unfair treatment and abuse.
Legal protection for domestic workers in India: From vision to veto
There is a long list of supposed protections and welfare schemes “for” domestic workers. However, they stay stuck in the proposal stage and never move forward to actual implementation. Politicians and policymakers often propose grand ideas to improve working conditions, fair wages, or safety for domestic workers. But these promises sit in an indefinite, unresolved state, neither entirely accepted nor outright rejected.
There have been several attempts to pass legal and regulatory frameworks for the domestic care sector. However, most have failed.
Laws concerning legal protection for domestic workers in India
1. Domestic Worker Bill and the House Workers Bill
The first attempts to create a national law to regulate domestic worker services began with the Domestic Worker (Conditions of Service) Bill in 1959 and the House Workers (Conditions of Service) Bill in 1989. Both bills aimed to improve the working conditions of domestic workers. However, no real push came from the government or the public to turn these bills into laws, so they were forgotten. Ultimately, domestic workers continued to work without any legal protections.
2. Domestic Workers Welfare and Social Security Bill
There was another attempt to create a law in the form of the Domestic Workers Welfare and Social Security Bill of 2010. It was drafted by the National Commission for Women. This bill aimed to include domestic workers in the formal workforce. Furthermore, the aim was to address serious issues like unpaid wages, long hours, poor living conditions, and various forms of abuse. The proposed law targeted domestic workers over the age of 18. It also specified that no minor could work as a domestic worker. Yet, despite these well-meaning provisions, this has not been passed either.
3. Domestic Workers Welfare Bill
The Lok Sabha once presented the Domestic Workers Welfare Bill, 2016, to establish a legal framework for domestic workers. The bill aimed to set clear employment and workplace standards. The aim was to ensure better protection and rights for these workers. It also proposed that domestic workers register to qualify for benefits. However, regrettably, like previous attempts, this bill was also never enacted into law.
Legal protection for domestic workers in India: Understanding their rights
Although legal protection for domestic workers in India has only a few laws protecting their rights, it is vital to be aware of these rights, no matter how limited they may be. The main issue faced by domestic workers, especially women, is their lack of awareness about the rights they do have, even if these rights are fewer compared to those in regulated sectors. Knowing these rights is the first step toward gaining protection and empowerment.
Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008
The Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act of 2008 aims to provide social security and welfare benefits to workers in the informal sector. The Act mandates the creation of national and state boards to design plans that offer health, service, and pension benefits to these workers. Domestic workers are included in this Act and are entitled to these benefits.
Section 22 of the Domestic Workers (Registration, Social Security, and Welfare) Act, 2008, states that a domestic worker living in the employer’s home is entitled to at least 15 days of paid leave each year. Section 23 states that anyone convicted of sexually harassing a domestic worker or a child will face up to seven years in prison, a fine of Rs. 50,000, or both.
The PoSH Act
The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition, Redressal) Act, 2013, is specifically designed to protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace. It includes both formal and informal workers. The PoSH Act defines a domestic worker as any woman employed to perform household tasks for pay, whether in cash or kind. It is regardless of whether the work is done directly or through an agency or on a temporary, permanent, part-time, or full-time basis.
Domestic workers are, therefore, protected under this Act. They also have the right to seek help from the local complaints committee (LC) if they face sexual harassment at their workplace.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY) Scheme
Domestic workers are covered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (PMJAY), also known as the Ayushman Bharat scheme. This scheme provides health insurance for poor and backward-class families across India. PMJAY is the largest Universal Health Coverage (UHC) scheme in the country. It offers health insurance coverage of up to Rs. 5 lakhs to around 50 crore beneficiaries or 10.74 crore families. In urban areas, domestic workers are recognised as one of the 11 occupational categories of workers eligible for the scheme.
Join or Form Trade Unions
Domestic workers have the right to form their associations or unions and join existing ones. The Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), a trade union for poor, self-employed women in India’s informal sector, is one example. SEWA has 1.25 million members, two-thirds of whom are in rural areas. Recently, SEWA organised a march to the Assembly and held a dharna to demand the implementation of a law protecting domestic workers’ rights in Kerala and an increase in their minimum wage.
Then, there is the Paschimbanga Griha Paricharika Samiti (West Bengal Domestic Workers Society), which is recognised as the first organisation of domestic workers in the state to be granted trade union status.
The final thoughts: We need a better legislative framework
India needs a strong enforcement system and clear laws for domestic care workers because current laws have many loopholes and ambiguities. Right now, domestic workers are not considered “workmen” under the law. Moreover, the laws do not consider their workplace as an “establishment.” The government often uses this excuse to explain why there is no regulation in this sector.
In some states, like Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, and Odisha, domestic labour is included under the Minimum Wages Act of 1948. However, this does not really help because domestic work is not listed under the central law for scheduled employment. Domestic workers are also not covered by essential laws like the Payment of Wages Act of 1936, the Workmen Compensation Act of 1923, or the Contract Labour (Regulation and Abolition) Act of 1970.
Existing laws fail to address the complexity of domestic work and the different types of domestic labour involved. They also don’t clearly define the employer’s responsibilities. Additionally, the law treats domestic work as “women’s work,” seen as less valuable and unimportant.
The real change lies in making these promises a reality and shifting from welfare-based policies to a rights-based approach, one that ensures domestic workers receive the recognition, respect, and protection they truly deserve.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are based on the writer’s insights, supported by data and resources available both online and offline, as applicable. Changeincontent.com is committed to promoting inclusivity across all forms of content, which we broadly define as media, policies, law, and history—encompassing all elements that influence the lives of women and gender-queer individuals. Our goal is to promote understanding and advocate for comprehensive inclusivity.
