Approximately 12% of the 149.8 million female workers in India participate in the labour market as contractual staff, reports The Hindu citing a study by TeamLease Services. According to the study, one of the primary reasons for the low rate of women at work is their high participation in domestic duties or unpaid work. The work ecosystem in general is also not very conducive for an increase in women’s participation, TeamLease added. A majority of women employees in India do not have a written job contract; nearly half of the regular wage/salaried employees are not eligible for paid leave. The report also points out that a significant proportion of the women who are currently in the workforce do not have access or are not eligible for any social security benefits. The study has made various recommendations including revamping the labour code or including provisions in the labour code to offer upskilling training to women; setting up a comprehensive gender sensitive tax rebates across financial transactions including income tax, stamp and transfer duties during property transfers. TeamLease also recommends setting up a gender sensitive and gender transformative skill development framework; redefining the role of the National Skill Training Institute to promote gender diversity in the training institute as well as encouraging companies to dedicate larger portions of their procurement budgets toward businesses owned by women and also to be partnered with women-owned businesses.