Rights of Domestic Workers in India: A Legal Overview

Abstract

This paper provides a legal overview of the rights of and issues concerning domestic workers in India.It probes into the conventions of the International Labour Organisation viz., the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (Convention No. 189), and R201 - Workers Recommendation, 2011, and the Indian laws viz., the erstwhile, Unorganised Workers’ Social Security Act, 2008, and the prevailing, Code on Social Security, 2020, that are concerned with such work. The paper examines the contract between an employer and the domestic worker.  With forethought it wraps up by alerting the legislative and legal community to exercise caution that laws and regulations do not become a blight for domestic workers.