This paper assesses the impact of labour laws on female work participation rates (WPR) in India. It is argued that women workers in the informal/unorganized sector have minimal legal rights and social protections.In the formal sector, women workers who are employed as contract labour are not covered by regulatory legislations and cannot avail of all the protections of the law in the same manner as regularized employees. Women are discriminated at two levels, firstly, at the entry level, and secondly on employment, women workers are treated differently from male workers within the organized and unorganized sectors. This paper suggests that only through effective processes of implementation of existing laws and through the formulation of new laws and policies can equality and nondiscrimination of women workers, better conditions of work and social security be guaranteed and availed of.
URL : 20141204062826.pdf