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THE Supreme Court, in the Ajay Malik (2025) case, has underlined the urgency for a legal framework to protect and regulate domestic workers’ rights. The judgement stated, “Any avenue for employment—domestic help—being opened to marginalised women merit celebration” and that the legal gaps must be plugged to ensure the rights of this indispensable workforce for Indian households.

- ELLINA SAMANTROY & ROHIT MANI TIWARI

Rapid urbanisation, migration, shifting family dynamics and double-income middle class households have led to the surge in domestic work as ‘employment’ for women. As reported in a Periodic Labour Force Survey in 2023-24, approximately 11 percent of employed women were working as domestic workers in urban areas, reflecting the gendered and urban character of this sector. This outlines the need for ensuring effective social protection for the women working in this sector. The judgement reflects factual considerations that need to be aligned with the emerging legal standards and ongoing policy efforts for gender equity and labour rights.

An International Labour Organization report published in 2023 estimated that 75.6 million people were engaged as ‘domestic workers’ around the world, constituting 4.5 percent of the workforce, with the Asia-Pacific region having the highest proportion. Labour standards such as ILO’s Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (C189) has triggered an international response to develop industrial legality (converting good practices into law), which the Ajay Malik judgement takes note of. C189 recognises that the rights of domestic workers are not only labour rights, but human rights too, and provides definitional clarity on domestic work and domestic worker in employment relations.