Mothers at Work: Analysing Labour Law Protections for Working Mothers in India

The traditional Indian society observed a normative gender role, where men were wage earners and women were workers at home. However, with the advent of modernisation and industrialisation, the need for a more gender-egalitarian economic arrangement was felt. This resulted in the dual-breadwinner model, where women, like men, stepped outside their domestic realm for paid work. Although participation of women in the workforce initially remained significantly low, Census 2011 records the ratio of female workers to be 25.51%. Among these women are also mothers, who carry the double burden of caregiving duties to their children and responsibilities towards the paid employment. This peculiar twofold challenge faced by working mothers call for exclusive protective measures in the social welfare legislations safeguarding labour rights. The Indian Constitution under Article 42 protects mothers in workspaces by directing the State to “make provision for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief.” The aforesaid Directive Principle is manifested in ‘the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961’, which is a ground-breaking legislation entirely for maternity relief. While ‘the Employees' State Insurance Act, 1948’, too provides for maternity benefits, the Parliament through noteworthy labour legislations like ‘the Factories Act, 1948’, ‘the Plantations Labour Act, 1951’, ‘the Beedi and Cigar Workers (Conditions of Employment) Act, 1966’, and other kindred legislations, additionally organise for child care facilities for working mothers. International instruments like ‘Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183)’ of the International Labour Organisation contribute considerably to the welfare of working mothers. This paper aims to complimentarily and critically analyse the current laws and the forthcoming Labour Codes basing on ground reality.