Legal Protection for Domestic Workers in COVID-19 Pandemic Times in India: Employers’ Perspectives

Abstract

Based on data from Ahmedabad and Kolkata cities, this paper discusses how employers perceive domestic workers and how those perceptions influence the status of employment, wages and working conditions as well as the employer employee relationships in the ‘new normal’ state post-lockdown phase during CODIV-19 pandemic in 2020. The results stand for deterioration in the terms of employment and employer-employee relationships. One of the main consequences has been the reduction of working hours or loss of job resulting from fear and restricted mobility due to confinement measures during Lockdown. Most of the gated \communities have put unreasonable restrictions on the movement of domestic workers and resorted to extra-constitutional measures to prevent even willing households from engaging domestic workers going over and above the Govt. of India guidelines.