International Labour Standards and condition of

women worker in India an analysis

A final draft submitted in fulfillment of the course Labour Law- II, Semester 5th during the
academic year 2018-19.

Submitted To: Submitted By:

Mrs. Pallavi Shankar Sumit Kumar, (1656, B.B.A. LL.B)

Faculty, Labour Law

Subject: Labour Law- II

September, 2018

CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY, NYAYA

NAGAR, MITHAPUR, PATNA (800001)
 DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE

I hereby declare that the work reported in the B.B.A. LL.B (Hons.) Project Report entitle
“International Labour Standards and condition of women worker in India: An Analysis”
submitted at Chanakya National Law University, Patna is an authentic record of my work
carried out under the supervision of Mrs. Pallavi Shankar. I have not submitted this work
elsewhere for any other degree or diploma. I am fully responsible for the contents of my
Project Report.

(Signature of the Candidate)

SUMIT KUMAR
Chanakya National Law University, Patna

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I am overwhelmed in all humbleness and gratefulness to acknowledge from the

bottom of my heart to all those who have helped me to put these ideas, well above
the level of simplicity and into something concrete effectively and moreover on
time.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my faculty Mrs. Pallavi Shankar,
for his invaluable support, guidance and advice. His assignment of such a relevant
topic made me work towards knowing the subject with a great interest and
enthusiasm.

I owe the present accomplishment of my project to my friends, who helped me

immensely with sources of research materials throughout the project and without
whom I couldn’t have completed it in the present way. I would also like to thank
the library staff for working long hours to facilitate us with required materials
going a long way in quenching our thirst for education. I would also like to extend
my gratitude to my parents and all those unseen hands who helped me out at every
stage of my project.

SUMIT KUMAR

Semester-5.

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 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Aims & Objectives

The researcher will do this research to

 To understand international labour standards by ILO.

 To know position of women worker in India.

Hypothesis

 International Labour Standards are standards for individual countries to legislate

labour laws.
 Women worker in India have same position as men worker.

Research Methodology

The researcher will emphasize and use the doctrinal method for this project topic. The
researcher will be collecting valuable data from library which includes the written works and
from the field. All these data will help the researcher to solve his research problem. All the
books, journals, articles published in newspapers, bodies, reports. The researcher will make
use of doctrinal. The doctrinal process includes the use of literary source.

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 Contents
DECLARATION BY THE CANDIDATE ................................................................................ i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT .........................................................................................................ii
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................................................. iii
Aims & Objectives ............................................................................................................... iii
Hypothesis............................................................................................................................ iii
Research Methodology ........................................................................................................ iii
1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1
2. Subjects covered by International Labour Standards ......................................................... 3
3. India’s Female Population .................................................................................................. 6
4. Internationally Recognised Core Labour Standards in India .............................................. 9
5. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 13
6. BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................ 14

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 1. Introduction

International Labour Standards (ILS) are legal instruments, drawn up by the ILO constituents
(governments, employers and workers), that set out basic principles and rights at work. They
are either Conventions, which are legally-binding international treaties that may be ratified by
ILO member States, or Recommendations, which serve as non-binding guidelines. In many
cases, a Convention lays down the basic principles to be implemented by ratifying countries,
while a related Recommendation can also be autonomous (not linked to any Convention).

These instruments are adopted at the International Labour Conference and member States are
required to submit them to their competent authority (normally the parliament) for
consideration. In the case of Conventions, this means consideration for ratification. Ratifying
countries commit to applying the Convention in national law and practice and to reporting its
application at regular intervals. Representation and complaint procedures can be initiated
against countries for violations of a Convention they have ratified.

There are now more than 189 Conventions and 202 Recommendations, supported by a
comprehensive system of supervision. The ILO considers that some 77 Conventions are up-to-
date and suitable for promotion on a priority basis and for further ratification by member
States. Others are deemed to be in need of revision or are obsolete.

The Employers' position is that ILS, and in particular Conventions, should seek to address
fundamental workplace issues and have a high impact. Conventions should be reserved for
unchanging principles and for issues on which there exists a broad tripartite consensus that
regulation at international level is necessary.

Women workers in India are faced with lot more challenges than their counterparts in the other
countries. Besides of so many efforts from past years, female section of society is deprived in
compared to male section. They are not given first priority in social and economic decisions in
her own family. According to United Nations Development Programmer (UNDP) report,
women are involved in doing 67% work of world; still they are socially and economically
deprived. They are receiving only 10% of the universal income and have 1% part in global
assets. This discrimination also persists in their work place in unorganized sector. In informal
sector, women workers don’t get same wages for same nature of work for same hours done by
men. They are exploited at workplace. They are some acts i.e. The Unorganized Workers Social
Security Act, 2008, Domestic Workers Welfare and Social Security Act, 2010 etc. but due to

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their improper implementation, women workers are forced to work and live in miserable
conditions in unorganized sector.

In India mostly it is women who have to do household as cook, clean the house, do the dishes,
wash clothes, care of children and men do not share on most of the household works. Men do
that work that is to be dealt outside the house. Now a day there is increasing need for getting
some income for the family then women have to work harder. Women workers have to handle
Persecution's at their work place, sometimes just over look things to ensure that their job is not
jeopardized in anyway. Many Indian families are still living as joint families along with the
parents and in-laws. This adds to their stress further because they have to please all the family
members of her husband. Listen to their complaints that they make against her and turn deaf
ears towards them and so on. Overall, majority of women in India look towards or live in the
hope that things will change.

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 2. Subjects covered by International Labour Standards

Equality of Opportunity and Treatment

Millions of women and men around the world are denied access to jobs and training, receive
low wages, or are restricted to certain occupations simply on the basis of their sex, skin
colour, ethnicity or beliefs, without regard to their capabilities and skills. In a number of
developed countries, for example, women workers earn up to 25% less than male colleagues
performing equal work.1 Freedom from discrimination is a fundamental human right and is
essential for workers to choose their employment freely, to develop their potential to the full
and to reap economic rewards on the basis of merit. Bringing equality to the workplace has
significant economic benefits, too. Employers who practise equality have access to a larger
and more diverse workforce. Workers who enjoy equality have greater access to training,
often receive higher wages, and improve the overall quality of the workforce. The profits of a
globalized economy are more fairly distributed in a society with equality, leading to greater
social stability and broader public support for further economic development.2 ILO standards
on equality provide tools to eliminate discrimination in all aspects of the workplace and in
society as a whole. They also provide the basis upon which gender mainstreaming strategies
can be applied in the field of labour.

Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 requires ratifying countries to ensure the application
of the principle of equal remuneration for men and women workers for work of equal value.
The term “remuneration” is broadly defined to include the ordinary, basic or minimum wage
or salary and any additional emoluments payable directly or indirectly, whether in cash or in
kind, by the employer to the worker and arising out of the worker’s employment.

Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 defines discrimination as

any distinction, exclusion or preference made on the basis of race, colour, sex, religion,
political opinion, national extraction or social origin, which has the effect of nullifying or
impairing equality of opportunity or treatment in employment or occupation. It requires
ratifying states to declare and pursue a national policy designed to promote, by methods
appropriate to national conditions and practice, equality of opportunity and treatment in

1
ILO: Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling: women in management. Update 2004 (Geneva, 2004), p. 30.
2
ILO: Time for Equality at Work: Global Report under the Follow-up to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work, Report of the Director-General, International Labour Conference, 91st Session,
Geneva, 2003.

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respect of employment and occupation, with a view to eliminating any discrimination in these
fields. This includes discrimination in relation to access to vocational training, access to
employment and to particular occupations, and terms and conditions of employment.

Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 with the aim of creating effective
equality of opportunity and treatment for men and women workers, the convention requires
ratifying states to make it a goal of national policy to enable persons with family
responsibilities who are engaged or wish to engage in employment to exercise their right to
do so without being subject to discrimination and, to the extent possible, without conflict
between their employment and family responsibilities. The convention also requires
governments to take account of the needs of workers with family responsibilities in
community planning and to develop or promote community services, public or private, such
as childcare and family services and facilities.

In addition to these standards, numerous other ILO standards include provisions on equality
in relation to the specific topic they cover.

Maternity Protection

Raising a family is a cherished goal for many working people. Yet pregnancy and maternity
are an especially vulnerable time for working women and their families. Expectant and
nursing mothers require special protection to prevent harm to their or their infants’ health,
and they need adequate time to give birth, to recover, and to nurse their children. At the same
time, they also require protection to ensure that they will not lose their job simply because of
pregnancy or maternity leave. Such protection not only ensures a woman’s equal access to
employment, it also ensures the continuation of often vital income which is necessary for the
wellbeing of her entire family. Safeguarding the health of expectant and nursing mothers and
protecting them from job discrimination is a precondition for achieving genuine equality of
opportunity and treatment for men and women at work and enabling workers to raise families
in conditions of security.

Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 is the most up-to-date international labour standard
on maternity protection, although the earlier relevant instruments – the Maternity Protection
Convention, 1919 (No. 3), and the Maternity Protection Convention (Revised), 1952 (No.
103) – are still in force in certain countries.

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provides for 14 weeks of maternity benefit to women to whom the instrument applies.
Women who are absent from work on maternity leave shall be entitled to a cash benefit
which ensures that they can maintain themselves and their child in proper conditions of health
and with a suitable standard of living and which shall be no less than two thirds of her
previous earnings or a comparable amount. The convention also requires ratifying states to
take measures to ensure that a pregnant woman or nursing mother is not obliged to perform
work which has been determined to be harmful to her health or that of her child, and provides
for protection from discrimination based on maternity. The standard also prohibits employers
to terminate the employment of a woman during pregnancy or absence on maternity leave, or
during a period following her return to work, except on grounds unrelated to pregnancy,
childbirth and its consequences, or nursing. Women returning to work must be returned to the
same position or an equivalent position paid at the same rate. Also provides a woman the
right to one or more daily breaks or a daily reduction of hours of work to breastfeed her child.

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 3. India’s Female Population

At the 2001 census, India had a female population of 496 million. India accounts 15% of
World’s women characterized by vast regional differences and a variety of cultures. But, social
discrimination and economic deprivation on the basis of gender is common to all, irrespective
of religion, cast, community, and State.

Empowerment of women, gender discrimination, and violence against women, which have
become serious subjects of sociological research in contemporary times, was hitherto
neglected. While contemporary social changes have exposed women to unprotected socio-
economic, cultural and political environment, there are no corresponding protective social
systems and institutions of social justice to safeguard their interests. There are many who are
skeptical about women’s ability to exercise equal rights with men and about their capacity to
play equal role with men. But such apprehensions are ill-founded in the context of the broader
opportunities available for women following mechanization of industry and agriculture,
enabling women to compete with men successfully.

Innovations in science and technology have removed the disparity between men and women
attributed to physical strength alone. Women are able to handle modern appliances which
require intelligence and training and not merely physical strength. Thus, India has now several
women working as pilots, driving locomotives, buses, tractors and machinery in workshops.
Sex as maternal factor in the area of legal rights has practically disappeared. It is not therefore
fair to relegate women as a group to an inferior position in society. The Constitution does not
regard sex as a permitted classification and prohibits sex as a basis of differential treatment in
all areas of legal rights.Modernity has resulted in a growing flexibility and changes in the
gender roles of men and women. The earlier conception that man was the provider of basic
necessities for family and women the child bearer and care taker of home, is no longer valid in
the changing social structure and economic compulsions.

Therefore, any attempt to assess the status and problem of women in a society should start from
the social framework. Social structure, cultural norms, and value systems are crucial
determinants of women’s role and their position in society. In respect of the status there is a
gap between the theoretical possibilities and their actual realization.

PROBLEMS FACED BY WORKING WOMEN IN INDIA:

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Imbalance between work and family leads to occupational stress. Imbalance between work and
family life arises due to a number of factors. Various factors are following.

1. Mental harassment- It is an age old convention that women are less capable and inefficient
in working as compared to men. The attitude which considers women unfit for certain jobs
holds back women. In spite of the constitutional provisions, gender bias creates obstacles in
their recruitment. In addition to this, the same attitude governs injustice of unequal salaries for
the same job. The true equality has not been achieved even after 61 years of independence.
Working in such conditions inevitably puts strain on women to greater extent as compared to
men, thus making them less eager in their career.

2. Sexual harassment- Today, almost all working women are prone to sexual harassment
irrespective of their status, personal characteristics and the types of their employment. They
face sexual harassment on way on transports, at working places, educational institutions and
hospitals, at home and even in police stations when they go to file complaints. It is shocking
that the law protectors are violating and outraging modesty of women. Most of the women tend
to be concentrated in the poor service jobs whereas men are in an immediate supervisory
position, which gives them an opportunity to exploit their subordinate women.

3. Discrimination at Workplace- However, Indian women still face blatant discrimination at

their workplaces. They are often deprived of promotions and growth opportunities at work
places but this doesn’t apply to all workingwomen. A majority of working women continue to
be denied their right to equal pay, under the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976 and are underpaid
in comparison to their male colleagues. This is usually the case in factories and labor-oriented
industries.

4. No Safety of Working Women- While Traveling Typically, the orthodox mindset in the
Indian society makes it difficult for a working woman to balance her domestic environment
with the professional life. In some families, it may not be acceptable to work after six o’clock.
Those families that do accept these working hours may experience considerable anxiety every
day about a woman’s safety while traveling. So many issues affect a working woman because
she is closely protected or watched by her family and the society.

5. Lack of Family Support- Lack of proper family support is another issue that working
women suffers from. At times, the family doesn’t support women to leave the household work

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and go to office. They also resist for women working till late in office which also hampers the
performance of the women and this also affects their promotion.

6. Insufficient Maternity- Leaves Insufficient maternity leave is another major issue that is
faced by a working mother. This not only affects the performance of women employees at
work, but is also detrimental to their personal lives.

7. Workplace Adjustment- Adjusting to the workplace culture, whether in a new company or

not, can be intensely stressful. Making oneself adapt to the various aspects of workplace culture
such as communication patterns of the boss as well as the co-workers, can be lesson of life.
Maladjustments to workplace cultures may lead to subtle conflicts with colleagues or even with
superiors. In many cases office politics or gossips can be major stress inducers.

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 4. Internationally Recognised Core Labour Standards in
India

India ratified ILO Convention No. 100 on Equal Remuneration in 1958, and Convention No.
111 on Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) in 1960.

The Constitution provides several provisions with regard to non-discrimination, including

equality before the law, equal protection under the law, and prohibition of discrimination by
the State on a number of grounds including sex. Additional provisions include equality of
opportunity in matters of public employment and no discrimination in respect of any
employment or office under the State on grounds including sex. Furthermore the State has to
ensure that citizens have the right to an adequate means of livelihood and that there is equal
pay for equal work for both men and women. The State must further strive to minimise
inequalities in income.

An HMS communication from 2006 (ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of

Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR), Observation, 2006) indicated that Articles 14
and 15 of the Constitution (equality before the law and prohibition of discrimination on grounds
of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth) “did not cover private sector employees and that
widespread discrimination against Dalits, adivasis and women in the construction and fishing
industries as well as agriculture is alleged”.

The Equal Remuneration Act of 1976 applies to an extensive range of classes of employment,
which includes informal employment relationships. It requires employers to pay workers not
less than is paid to the opposite sex that performs the same or similar work. Furthermore,
employers must not discriminate on the basis of sex in the recruitment of workers for the same
or similar work, or in any terms or conditions of employment, such as promotion, training or
transfer. Same work or work of similar nature is defined as “work in respect of which the skill,
effort and responsibility are the same when performed under similar working conditions or
where any differences are not of practical importance in relation to the conditions of
employment”.

The ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations

(CEACR) report of 2005 (Direct Request) notes that the ERA is not in line with the Convention,
as it merely requires employers to pay equal remuneration to men and women for the same

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work or work of similar nature. The Convention stipulates however that the same pay should
be given for work of equal value, which goes beyond “same” or “similar” work.

The CEACR report of 2005 (Observation) further notes that the job classification is biased.
Work traditionally done by women such as weeding and transplanting in agriculture is often
classified as light work which does not correspond to the real tasks. Therefore objective criteria
need to be used, unrelated to the workers’ sex and free from gender bias, to establish job
classifications.

The CEACR report of 2005 (Observation) refers to a CITU communication which states that
wage discrimination exists in the beedi industry, agriculture, plantation, construction and
manufacturing, particularly in the unorganized sectors. This followed earlier comments by the
ICFTU and NFITU concerning difficulties in the application of the Convention and the ERA
in the informal economy and unorganized sectors.

The CEACR report of 2005 (Observation) finds that enforcement of the ERA only applies to
“the central government in relation to employment carried out within the central government
or under its authority and regarding some specific sectors identified in the Act”. “The majority
of establishments and sectors are under the jurisdiction of the respective state governments”. It
further notes that “the Government appears to have adopted a more proactive approach with
regard to monitoring compliance with minimum wage and equal pay legislation in the
unorganized sector, in accordance with the Tenth Five Year Plan (2002-2007) which provides
for the reduction of gender pay gaps by at least 50% by 2007”. However, no detailed
information is available to assess these objectives. There is a serious lack of statistical
information on the earnings of men and women.

The CEACR report of 2006 (Observation) notes that some past cases of voluntary occupational
retirement schemes have focused only on women and are therefore not in line with the
Convention. Such schemes should be designed and implemented without discrimination on the
basis of sex. Also the clauses with provisions of employment to dependants in case of deceased
employees (in mining) have been discriminatory in favouring male dependants over females.

The CEACR report of 2006 (Observation) notes that based on 2001 census data, the
participation of women in the organised sector, the public sector and in government
employment remains very low compared to men.

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NAWO’s shadow report for the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), prepared in 2006, notes that the majority of women
(87%) are employed as agricultural labourers and cultivators. In the urban areas some 80% of
the women are employed in informal employment relationships in sectors like garments, small
trading, services, construction, domestic work, agarbathi (incense), beedi rolling (cigars),
teaching and nursing in private establishments and home based work. There are some 30
million home-based workers in India. In the formal economy only 17% of workers are female.
Restructuring policies have led to a decline of women’s share in employment in agriculture,
manufacturing, mining and services, from 33% in 1993-1994 to 31% in 1999-2000. At the
same time there has been a decline in the growth rate of employment and in the quality of
employment. The report also notes a weakening of bargaining power of workers and an
increased militancy of employers.

The adult illiteracy rate was 51.7% for women in 2003 (down from 56.5% in 1998) compared
to 29.8% for men. The overall adult illiteracy rate was 40.5% in 2003, down from 44.3% in
1998. A study by van der Meulen and Menon (2006) which looked at the impact of trade
liberalization on gender wage differentials in manufacturing in India, shows that economic
reform and trade liberalization in India have led to a widening of the wage gap. “In a scenario
with declining rents (due to increased competition) in the concentrated sector post-
liberalization, firms appeared to have maintained male wages at the expense of female wages.
Rather than competition from international trade putting pressure on firms to eliminate costly
discrimination against women, pressures to cut costs due to international competition appear
to be hurting women’s relative pay. The study concludes that “the results indicate that groups
of workers who have weak bargaining power and lower workplace status may be less able to
negotiate for favourable working conditions and higher pay, a situation that places them in a
vulnerable position as firms compete in the global market place. Lack of enforced labour
standards that prohibit sex-based discrimination combined with employer practices that favour
male workers can leave women with less bargaining power and limited wage gains compared
to men”.

The vast majority of domestic workers are women, who are not covered by any national law
that deals with the protection of their rights, although state-level legislation does exist in some
states. The States of Kerala and Karnataka have adopted minimum wage laws for domestic

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workers. The lack of regulation in this sector has led to violations of domestic workers’ rights,
working hours between 8 and 18 hours a day, and the absence of job security. Domestic workers
are also vulnerable to sexual and verbal abuse and are often refused days off.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

concluded in January 2007 that “Dalit women in India suffer from “deeply rooted structural
discrimination”, and that the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report “Hidden Apartheid” records
the plight of Dalit women and the multiple forms of discrimination they face. Abuses
documented in the report include forced prostitution and discrimination in employment and
wages.

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 5. Conclusion

Now a day’s women workers are improved and promote in their workplace and in technological
work. Trade Union should try to improve the conditions for woman’s workers in many parts
for example maternity leave is easily give to women and help the woman for achieve higher
post actually women’s nature is promotion to gain high quality in every field but if the condition
is not ready then the reduction of promotion and optimization in work will be occur and etc...

Discrimination in employment and wages is prohibited, however there are a number of legal
shortcomings and in practice discrimination in employment and wages is common. Women are
mainly employed in agriculture and in the informal economy. Women are also
underrepresented in public sector employment and earn less than men. There is serious
discrimination regarding employment and wages of Dalits, who are employed in the most
exploitative forms of labour.

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 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

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India.

10. Varma, V. (2017, September 25). How Intellectual Property relates to E-Commerce.
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