Promoting Women in Workforce: Labour Ministry’s New Advisory

The Union government has issued an advisory to employers to promote women workforce participation across various sectors. The advisory aims to create a conducive environment for women workers and entrepreneurs, and to address the gender gap in the labour market.

Women constitute nearly half of the population of India, but their participation in the workforce is much lower than men. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey 2019-20, the female labour force participation rate was 18.6%, compared to 71.1% for males. The gender gap in employment is also reflected in the wage disparity, occupational segregation and underrepresentation of women in leadership positions.

To address these challenges and to harness the potential of women workers and entrepreneurs, the Union government has issued an advisory to employers to promote women workforce participation across various sectors. The advisory, released by the Ministry of Labour and Employment on January 26, 2024, suggests a range of measures to create a conducive environment for women workers and entrepreneurs, and to ensure their equal rights and opportunities in the labour market.

Key initiatives

The advisory covers four broad areas of intervention: balancing employment and care responsibilities, enhancing representation of women in management, supporting women entrepreneurs and eliminating gender bias in recruitment, promotion and performance review.

Balancing employment and care responsibilities

The advisory recognises that women often face multiple burdens of work and family responsibilities, which affect their career choices and prospects. To enable women to balance their work and care roles, the advisory suggests the following initiatives:

• Providing flexible work arrangements, such as work from home, part-time work, job sharing, compressed work week, staggered work hours etc.
• Enforcing statutory provisions for maternity benefits, paternity leave, childcare leave, adoption leave etc.
• Establishing crèches and daycare facilities at or near workplaces, as per the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act 2017 and the National Minimum Standards and Protocols for Crèches.
• Providing transport facilities or travel allowances for women workers.
• Ensuring safety and security of women workers at workplaces and during commute.

Enhancing representation of women in management

The advisory acknowledges that women are underrepresented in senior management positions across sectors, which limits their decision-making power and influence. To increase the representation of women in leadership roles, the advisory suggests the following initiatives:

• Setting targets or quotas for women’s representation in boards, committees and executive positions.
• Providing mentoring, coaching and networking opportunities for women managers.
• Offering training and development programmes for women employees to enhance their skills and competencies.
• Creating a culture of diversity and inclusion that values and respects women’s contributions and perspectives.

Supporting women entrepreneurs

The advisory notes that women entrepreneurs face several barriers in starting and growing their businesses, such as lack of access to finance, markets, technology, information, networks etc. To support women entrepreneurs and promote their economic empowerment, the advisory suggests the following initiatives:

• Providing financial assistance, subsidies, tax incentives, credit guarantees etc. for women-owned enterprises.
• Facilitating access to markets, technology, information, networks etc. for women entrepreneurs.
• Organising trade fairs, exhibitions, workshops etc. to showcase and promote women’s products and services.
• Encouraging public procurement from women-owned enterprises.

Eliminating gender bias in recruitment, promotion and performance review

The advisory asserts that gender bias in recruitment, promotion and performance review processes affects women’s career opportunities and outcomes. To eliminate gender bias and ensure fair and transparent processes, the advisory suggests the following initiatives:

• Using gender-neutral language in job advertisements, job descriptions, application forms etc.
• Adopting objective criteria for shortlisting, interviewing, selecting and promoting candidates.
• Providing equal pay for equal work or work of equal value.
• Conducting regular performance appraisals based on merit and results.
• Addressing complaints of sexual harassment at workplace as per the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act 2013.

Benefits

The advisory states that promoting women workforce participation is not only a matter of social justice and human rights, but also a source of economic growth and development. The advisory cites various studies that show that increasing women’s participation in the workforce can boost GDP growth rate by 1.4 percentage points, create 43 million new jobs by 2025, enhance productivity by 25%and improve corporate performance by 15%.

The advisory also highlights the social benefits of promoting women workforce participation, such as reducing poverty, improving health and education outcomes, enhancing women’s agency and voice, and advancing gender equality and empowerment.

Conclusion

The advisory for employers to promote women workforce participation is a welcome step by the government to address the challenges and opportunities faced by women workers and entrepreneurs in India. The advisory provides a comprehensive and practical framework for employers to implement various measures to create a conducive environment for women to participate in the workforce predominantly. The advisory also emphasises the benefits of promoting women workforce participation for the economy, society and gender equality. The advisory urges employers to adopt the suggested initiatives and report their progress to the Ministry of Labour and Employment on a quarterly basis.