Safeguarding the Rights of Domestic Workers: Existing Laws and Ways to Move Forward

The present paper aims to identify the existing legal regime with respect to the domestic workers. Who are the domestic workers? What are their constitutional and legal rights? Do they have an effective legal remedy if their rights are violated? How and to what extent should the legal provisions be modified to address these issues? By examining the answers to these questions, the present paper argues that the existing laws relevant for domestic workers are lacking both in terms of substantive provisions as well as in terms of implementation procedure. While attempting to identify the ways to move forward and to create a better legal regime, it is asserted that a special legislation providing special laws and procedures for the domestic workers is the best solution. The possible contents of such proposed legislation is discussed briefly. The paper concludes with an observation that since the domestic workers do not count as a pressure group, the human rights activists, specialists in the field, social workers, voluntary sector organisations and NGOs must take a concerted effort to form favourable public opinion and influence law making.