India’s New Labour Codes Signal a Structural Shift for Women in the Workforce

For decades, women’s participation in India’s workforce was constrained not by lack of aspiration, but by unsafe workplaces, unequal wages, fragile job security, and the absence of institutional support for care and dignity at work. The recent convergence of India’s Labour Codes with targeted initiatives such as SHe-Box marks a decisive attempt to change that reality. Together, they reflect a structural shift in how the Indian state understands women’s work, safety, and economic agency.

Speaking at the National Conference on Safety of Women at Workplace, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Annpurna Devi described workplace safety for women as a “national resolve”, not merely a policy objective. Her remarks came against the backdrop of a striking data point: women’s labour force participation has risen from 23 percent to 42 percent. According to the Minister, this rise signals that India’s growth story is now being driven by Nari Shakti.

This framing matters. It situates women’s workplace safety not as a welfare concern, but as a cornerstone of economic development and social stability. The new Labour Codes, read together, give legal form to that vision.

The Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020 lays the foundation. It imposes a clear statutory duty on employers to ensure workplaces free from hazards, mandating cleanliness, hygiene, proper ventilation, safe machinery, protective equipment, and annual health check-ups. For women workers, these provisions take on added significance. The Code explicitly recognises reproductive health hazards and places safeguards around hazardous and dangerous operations. It also enables women to work night shifts, subject to consent and safety conditions, dismantling long-standing exclusions while insisting on responsibility from employers.

Equally important are the welfare facilities embedded in the Code. First aid, shelters, sitting arrangements, separate toilets, washing facilities, rest rooms, and crèche provisions are no longer discretionary. They are essential components of a dignified workplace. While sexual harassment is governed by the POSH Act, the OSH Code strengthens protection indirectly by mandating supervision, welfare officers, CCTV, and complaint redressal frameworks that reduce isolation and vulnerability at work.

Economic dignity is addressed through the Code on Wages, 2019. By prohibiting gender-based discrimination in wages, recruitment, and conditions of employment, and reaffirming equal pay for equal work, the Code tackles one of the most persistent structural barriers faced by women. Crucially, minimum wage and timely payment protections extend to women in the informal, domestic, home-based, and gig sectors, areas where exploitation has traditionally gone unchecked. By covering these segments, the law acknowledges that women’s work is not confined to formal offices or factories.

The Code on Social Security, 2020 completes the picture by recognising care work and motherhood as integral to workforce participation. Paid maternity leave of 26 weeks, protection against dismissal during maternity, nursing breaks, and mandatory crèche facilities for establishments with prescribed employee strength shift the burden of care away from individual women and towards collective responsibility. The inclusion of gig and platform workers within social security schemes marks an important, if still evolving, recognition of changing work realities.

What distinguishes this framework from earlier labour reform efforts is its attention to job security and anti-victimisation. The Industrial Relations Code requires standing orders to clearly define work hours, leave, misconduct, and disciplinary procedures. This transparency becomes particularly important for women who file complaints. Explicit prohibitions on unfair labour practices, including victimisation, threats of dismissal, or punishment for raising grievances, create legal guardrails against retaliation. For women navigating hostile or hierarchical workplaces, this protection is critical.

Seen together, these laws form a combined protection framework. Physical safety, night shift safeguards, hygiene, equal and timely wages, maternity and childcare, job security, and health protection are no longer scattered across disconnected statutes. They are integrated into a coherent legal architecture that recognises women as workers, caregivers, and rights-bearing citizens.

This legislative shift is being reinforced by institutional mechanisms such as SHe-Box. Launched in August 2024, the portal provides a secure, multilingual, and confidential single-window platform for women to register sexual harassment complaints. Complaints are automatically routed to the relevant Internal or Local Committee, with real-time tracking to improve transparency and accountability. At the conference, the government also launched the SHe-Box logo, a PoSH Voluntary Compliance Checklist, integration with the Mission Shakti App, and training links under Karmayogi Bharat. These steps aim to ensure that rights are not merely codified, but usable.

Minister Annpurna Devi’s emphasis on initiatives like the Women Helpline, Fast Track Courts, Safe City Project, and Meri Saheli underscores the intent to translate policy into lived safety. Her assertion that “a safe and dignified work environment is the cornerstone of an empowered India” reflects a broader governmental narrative: women’s safety at work is inseparable from national progress.

The challenge, of course, lies in implementation. Laws must be enforced, employers must internalise compliance, and women must be made aware of their rights. But the direction is unmistakable. India is moving away from viewing women’s workforce participation as conditional or exceptional, and towards treating it as central to the country’s economic future.

In that sense, the new Labour Codes and the SHe-Box ecosystem do more than regulate workplaces. They signal a reimagining of work itself, one where safety, dignity, and opportunity are not privileges, but guarantees. If implemented with seriousness and accountability, this framework has the potential to redefine what it means for women to work, grow, and lead in India.