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Economic policy liberalisation in Sri Lanka has been associated
with rising female labour force participation in the manufacturing
sector, as in many developing countries. Coupled with the
other economic changes that have been taking place, the
feminisation of Sri Lanka’s manufacturing industry
has profound implications for existing labour legislation.
This study reviews the existing legislation to assess the
extent to which it is meeting its original objectives of
ensuring social justice, and whether regulations designed
to protect women workers have led to even more discrimination
against them. The study shows that increasing female employment
in Sri Lanka has been associated with low wages, poor working
conditions, and significant erosion of labour standards.
Minimum wage legislation has been implicitly weakened, regulations
on working hours and night work openly flouted, and laws
protecting the health and safety of workers ignored for
the most part, particularly in the smaller, non-unionised
establishments producing for the domestic market. Key policy
recommendations include the following: maintaining a macroeconomic
and sectoral policy framework to encourage high-tech, knowledge-based
industries; implementing skills training programmes that
cater to such industries; legislative reform; strengthening
mechanisms for monitoring and enforcing labour standards;
and, measures to develop human resources management skills.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- A Profile of Sri Lankan Women Workers
- Real Wage Trends, Male-Female Earnings Differentials,
and Minimum Wage Legislation in Sri Lanka
- Holidays, Leave and Maternity Benefits
- Job Security, Sub-Contracting and Working Hours
- Labour Productivity, Management Practices and Working
Conditions
- Industrial Relations and Prospects for Trade Unionism
- Conclusions and Directions for Policy Change
- References
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