In addition to the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 almost all the major central labour laws are applicableto women workers. The Equal Remuneration Act was passed in 1976, providing for the payment ofequal remuneration to men and women workers for same or similar nature of work. Under this law,no discrimination is permissible in recruitment and service conditions except where employment ofwomen is prohibited or restricted by the law. The situation regarding enforcement of the provisionsofthislawisregularlymonitoredbytheCentralMinistryofLabourandtheCentralAdvisoryCommittee.
In respect of occupational hazards concerning the safety of women at workplaces, in1997 the Supreme Court of India in the case of Vishakha Vs. State of Rajasthan [(1997) 6 SCC 241]held that sexual harassment of working women amounts to violation of rights of gender equality. Asa logical consequence it also amounts to violation of the right to practice any profession, occupation,and trade.
The judgment also laid down the definition of sexual harassment, the preventive steps,the complaint mechanism, and the need for creating awareness of the rights of women workers.
