Economic policy liberalisation in Sri Lanka has been associated with rising female labour force participation in the manufacturing sector, as in many other developing countries. 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. The key policy recommendations presented include the maintenance of a macroeconomic and sectoral policy framework to encourage high-tech, knowledge based industries; implementation of skills training programmes that cater to such industries; legislative reform; strengthening mechanisms for monitoring, enforcing labour standards etc.