Impacts of India’s New Labour Codes on Women in the Unorganized Sector: A Digital Induction Perspective

India’s recent labour law reforms, consolidated into four labour codes, aim to simplify regulation, expand social security coverage, and formalize employment through technology-driven governance mechanisms. A central feature of these reforms is the increasing reliance on digital induction, whereby workers are registered and integrated into labour and welfare systems through digital platforms. While these reforms seek to enhance inclusion, their implications for women workers in the unorganized sector remain underexplored. This study examines the impact of India’s new labour codes on unorganized women workers through a digital induction perspective, focusing on awareness, accessibility, perceived impact, and barriers to inclusion.
The study adopts a cross-sectional quantitative research design and draws on primary data collected through a structured survey administered to women engaged in informal occupations across urban and semi-urban contexts (N = 134). Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and chi-square tests are employed to examine relationships between awareness of labour codes, digital induction experience, perceived impact, barriers, and socio-demographic factors such as education and smartphone access.
The findings reveal moderate awareness of labour codes but low engagement with digital induction systems, alongside high levels of reported barriers. Smartphone access and education emerge as significant determinants of inclusion, with digitally connected and better-educated women demonstrating higher awareness, stronger digital engagement, and greater perceived benefits. Conversely, women lacking digital access experience significantly higher barriers, indicating a pattern of digital stratification. The study highlights a critical implementation gap, wherein labour reforms are conceptually inclusive but operationally exclusionary. It underscores the need for gender-sensitive, assisted digital mechanisms to ensure equitable realization of labour rights and social security for unorganized women workers in India.

Unorganized Sector, Women Workers, Labour Code Reforms in India, Digital Induction, Informal Employment, Social Security Access, Gendered Digital Divide

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