Despite SC call for statutory protections, panel backs status quo on domestic workers’ rights

Nearly a year after the Supreme Court directed the Union Government to frame a comprehensive law for domestic workers and set up a committee to design the framework, the committee concluded that no new legislation was desirable and recommended stronger implementation of the existing labour codes, The Tribune has learnt.

The report, submitted to the Union Labour Ministry earlier this year, has not been made public and has now been accessed through the Right to Information Act (RTI).

In January 2025, the Supreme Court, responding to a petition on the exploitation of domestic workers, instructed the Centre to initiate the process of creating statutory rights and protections for the country’s estimated three to five crore domestic workers.

The Apex Court also ordered the formation of a committee to propose the contours of the new

law and asked for the report to be submitted within six months.

According to the committee’s report, accessed by The Tribune, the panel has concluded that a dedicated legal framework was not required.

“After detailed discussions on the existing legal and policy frameworks on domestic workers, the Committee has concluded that introducing a new legal framework is not desirable,” the report said.

It added, “The Committee noted that domestic workers are already covered under the four labour codes—the Code on Wages, 2019; the Industrial Relations Code, 2020; the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020; and the Code on Social Security, 2020.”

The report also said that several state governments had set up Domestic Workers Welfare Boards that provide social security, skill development and grievance-redressal mechanisms.

This position stands in contrast to what the Supreme Court indicated in its order. In January this year, while hearing a case of torture and trafficking of a domestic worker in Dehradun, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan said, “The simple reason for this harassment and rampant abuse, which seems to be prevalent throughout the country, is the legal vacuum which exists vis-à-vis the rights and protection of domestic workers.”

“Indeed, domestic workers in India remain largely unprotected and without any comprehensive legal recognition. As a result, they frequently endure low wages, unsafe environments and extended hours without effective recourse,” it said.

Writing the 37-page judgment, the SC recorded seven failed attempts since 1959 to enact a dedicated law for domestic workers, including bills introduced in 1959, 1989, 2004, 2006, 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Declining to frame guidelines like in Vishaka Judgement, the Bench said, “We have our faith in the legislature, and elected representatives of the people, to take imperative steps to ensure an equitable and dignified life for domestic workers.”

Labour rights groups and domestic worker unions, who were expecting progress towards a dedicated law, say the conclusion runs counter to the lived reality of domestic work, which remains informal and unregulated.

Piyush Poddar, senior programme officer at the New Delhi-based Martha Farrell Foundation, which focuses on gender issues, said, “Women domestic workers face intersectional and intergenerational forms of inequality, exploitation and discrimination. Mere reliance on welfare schemes is not enough; a comprehensive institutional framework through legislation is needed to improve their working and living conditions.”

Labour rights groups argue that the labour codes do not effectively cover the work performed in private homes, where inspection, registration and enforcement are difficult.

The report is also being criticised for over-relying on the four Labour Codes and welfare schemes, which are “poorly implemented”.

Poddar, who accessed the report through an RTI, added, “The report shifts responsibility to states and cites existing laws to avoid new legislation, overlooking domestic workers’ unique vulnerabilities and need for targeted legal protection.”