LABOUR LAWS IN PAKISTAN

The government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan has introduced a number of labour laws and policies, since its independence to mirror the shifts in governance from martial law to democratic governance. Under the Constitution labour is regarded as a ‘concurrent subject’, which means that it is the responsibility of both the Federal and Provincial Governments. 

However, for the sake of uniformity, laws are enacted by the Federal Government, stipulating that Provincial Governments may make rules and regulations of their own according to the conditions prevailing in or for the specific requirements of the Provinces. The total labour  force of Pakistan is comprised of approximately 37.15 million people, with 47% within the agriculture sector, 10.50% in the manufacturing & mining sector and remaining 42.50% in various Other professions. Earlier the Labour Laws were regulated by the ordinary law of master and servant.  After realizing to legislate the Labour Laws, the Industrial Disputes Act 1947 a central Prepartition Act was legislated.

The same was repealed by the industrial disputes Ordinance 1959 and subsequently repealed by the west Pakistan industrial dispute Ordinance 1968. Ultimately Industrial Relations Ordinance 1969 was framed, the same was amended in 2002. Furthermore, Industrial Relations Act was legislated in 2008.

The Constitution of Pakistan contains a range of provisions with regards to labour rights found in Part II: Fundamental Rights and
Principles of Policy.
• Article 11 of the Constitution prohibits all forms of slavery, forced labour and child labour;
• Article 17 provides for a fundamental right to exercise the freedom of association and the right to form unions;
• Article 18 proscribes the right of its citizens to enter upon any lawful profession or occupation and to conduct any lawful trade or
business;
• Article 25 lays down the right to equality before the law and prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of sex alone;
• Article 37(e) makes provision for securing just and humane conditions of work, ensuring that children and women are not employed in
vocations unsuited to their age or sex, and for maternity benefits for women in employment.

Application of Labour Laws in Pakistan. 

The Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance was enacted in 1968 to address the relationship between employer and employee and the contract of employment. The Ordinance applies to all industrial and commercial establishments throughout the country employing 20 or more workers and provides for security of employment.

Labour protection;

In the case of workers in other establishments, domestic servants, farm workers or casual labour engaged by contractors, their labour contracts are generally unwritten and can be enforced through the courts on the basis of oral evidence or past practice.

Every employer in an industrial or commercial establishment is required to issue a formal appointment letter at the time of employment of each worker. The obligatory contents of each labour contract, if written, are confined to the main terms and conditions of employment, namely nature and tenure of appointment, pay allowances and other fringe benefits admissible, terms and conditions of appointment.

Termination of the Contract :

The services of a permanent worker cannot be terminated for any reason other than misconduct unless one month’s notice or wages in lieu thereof has been furnished by the employer or by the worker if he or she so chooses to leave his or her service. One month’s wages are calculated on the basis of the average wage earned during the last three months of service. Other categories of workers are not entitled to notice or pay in lieu of notice.
All terminations of service in any form must be documented in writing stating the reasons for such an act. If a worker is aggrieved by an order of termination he or she may proceed under Section 46 of the Industrial Relations Ordinance 2002, aimed at regulating the labour management relations in the country, and bring his or her grievance to the attention of his or her employer, in writing, either him or herself, through the shop steward or through his or her trade union within three months of the occurrence of the cause of action.

Forms of termination have been described as removed, retrenched, discharged or dismissed from service. To safeguard against any colorful exercise of power, victimization or unfair labour practices, the Labour Courts have been given powers to examine and intervene to find out whether there has been a violation of the principles of natural justice and whether any action by the employer was bonafide or unjust.

Working Time and Rest Time

Under the Factories Act, 1934 no adult employee, defined as a worker who has completed his or her 18th year of age, can be required or permitted to work in any establishment in excess of nine hours a day and 48 hours a week. Similarly, no young person, under the age of 18, can be required or permitted to work in excess of seven hours a day and 42 hours a week. The Factories Act, which governs the conditions of work of industrial labour, applies to factories, employing ten or more workers. The Provincial Governments are further empowered to extend the provisions of the Act, to even five workers. Where the factory is a seasonal one, an adult worker shall work no more than fifty hours in any week and no more than ten hours in any day. A seasonal factory, per section 4 of the Factories Act is that which is exclusively engaged in one or more of the following manufacturing processes, namely, cotton ginning, cotton or cotton jute pressing, the manufacture of coffee, indigo, rubber, sugar or tea. However, if such adult worker in a factory is engaged in work, which for technical reasons must be continuous throughout the day, the adult
worker may work no more than fifty-six hours in any week. Section 8 of the West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance, 1969 likewise, restricts weekly work hours at 48 hours. The Shops and Establishments Ordinance regulates persons employed in shops and commercial establishments, who are neither covered by the Factories Act nor by the Mines Act. The Ordinance is exclusive in the whole of Pakistan except for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Section 22-B of the Mines Act, 1923 also fixes weekly hours of work for workers at 48 hours or 8 hours each day, with the limitation of spread-over 12 hours and interval for rest for one hour every six hours. Section 22-C further limits the spread-over to 8 hours for work done below ground level.
In factories, the periods and hours of work for all classes of workers in each shift must be notified and posted in a prominent place in the principal language in the industrial or commercial establishment. The law further provides that no worker shall be required to work continuously for more than six hours, unless he or she has had an interval for rest or meals of at least one hour. During Ramadan (fasting month), special reduced working hours are observed in manufacturing, commercial and service organizations.

Paid Leave
As provided in the Factories Act, 1934, every worker who has completed a period of twelve months continuous service in a factory shall be allowed, during the subsequent period of twelve months, holidays for a period of fourteen consecutive days. If a worker fails in any one such period of twelve months to take the whole of the holidays allowed to him or her, any holidays not taken by him or her shall be added to the holidays allotted to him or her in the succeeding period of twelve months. A worker shall be deemed to have completed a period of twelve months continuous service in a factory notwithstanding any interruption in service during those twelve months brought about by sickness, accident or authorized leave not exceeding ninety days in the aggregate for all three, or by a lock-out, or by a strike which is not an illegal strike, or by intermittent periods of involuntary unemployment not exceeding thirty days in the aggregate; and authorized leave shall be deemed not to include any weekly holiday allowed under section 35 which occurs at beginning or end of an interruption brought about by the leave.

Maternity Leave and Maternity Protection

While article 37 of the Constitution makes reference to maternity benefits for women in employment, there are two central enactments, one federal and the other provincial providing maternity benefits to women employed in certain occupations. The Maternity Benefit Ordinance, 1958 stipulates that upon the completion of four months employment or qualifying period, a worker may have up to six weeks prenatal and postnatal leave during which she is paid a salary drawn on the basis of her last pay. The Ordinance is applicable to all industrial and commercial establishments employing women excluding the tribal areas. It also places restrictions on the dismissal of the woman during her maternity leave. Similarly, the Mines Maternity Benefit Act, 1941 is applicable to women employed in the mines in Pakistan.

Other Leave Entitlements;

In addition to the 14 days of annual leave with pay, the Factories Act, 1934 provides that every worker is entitled to 10 days casual leave with full pay and further 16 days sick or medical leave on half pay. Casual leave is granted upon contingent situations such as sudden illness or any other urgent purpose. It should be obtained on prior application unless the urgency prevents the making of such application.

As a customary practice, causal leave is approved in most cases. Sick leave, on the other hand, may be availed of on support of a medical certificate. Management should not refuse the leave asked for if it is supported by a medical certificate.

In addition to the leave entitlements, workers enjoy festival holidays as declared by the Federal Government. The Provincial Government under section 49 of the Factories Act, 1934, states all festival holidays, approximately 13 or as further declared, in the Official Gazette. Additionally, every worker is entitled to enjoy all such holidays with pay on all days declared and notified by the Provincial Government.

If however, a worker is required to work on any festival holiday, one day’s additional compensatory holiday with full pay and a substitute holiday shall be awarded. Under agreements made with the Collective Bargaining Agent, employees who proceed on pilgrimage i.e., Hajj, Umra, Ziarat, are granted special leave up to 60 days.

Minimum Age and Protection of Young Workers Article 11(3) of Pakistan’s Constitution expressly prohibits the employment of children below the age of fourteen years in any factory, mine or other hazardous employment. In addition, the Constitution makes it a Principle of Policy of the State of Pakistan to protect the child, to remove illiteracy and provide free and compulsory education within the minimum possible period and to make provision for securing just and human conditions of work, ensuring that children and women are not employed in vocations unsuited to their age or sex.

The Factories Act, 1934 allows for the employment of children between the ages of 14 and 18 years provided that each adolescent obtains a certificate of fitness from a certifying surgeon. A certifying surgeon, per section 52 of the Act, shall on the application of any child or adolescent who wishes to work in a factory, or, of the parent or guardian of such person, or of the factory in which such person wishes to work, examine such person and ascertain his or her fitness for such work.

The Act further restricts the employment of a child in a factory to five hours in a day. The hours of work of a child should thus be arranged in such a way that they are not spread over more than seven-and-a-half hours in any day.

Pak-Lawyer Associates , provide full legal services in service laws , our main practice areas are ;

Apprenticeship Ordinance,

Boilers & Pressure Vessels Ordinance;

• Children (Pledging) of Labour Act and Employment of Children Rules;
• Companies Profit (Workers Participations) Act & Rules;
• Cotton Cess Act, The Cotton Ginning and Pressing Factories Act and the Cotton Act;
• Disabled Persons (Employment and Rehabilitation) Ordinance and Rules;
• Dock Labourers Act, Regulations and Dock Workers Employment Regulation Act;
• Employees Costs of Living (Relief) Act;
• Employees Old Age Benefit Act and Rules;
• Essential Personnel (Registration) Ordinance and Essential Services (Maintenance) Act;
• Factories Act and Regulations & Rules;
• Fatal Accident Act and Motor Vehicles Act and Ordinances and The Road Transport Worker Ordinance;
• Hazardous Occupations Rules;
• Immigrations Ordinance & Rules;
• Industrial Relation Ordinance & Rules;
• Industrial Statistics Act and Labour Welfare Statistics Rules;
• Maternity Benefits Ordinance & Rules;
• Merchant Shipping Ordinance;
• Mines Act and Rules;
• National Development Volunteer Program Act & Rules;
• Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Ordinance and the Compulsory Services in the Armed Service;
• Payment of Wages Act, Procedure, Minimum Wages Rules;
• Provisional Employees, Social Security Ordinance and Rules;
• Railways Act and Railway Servants Rules;
• Shops and Establishment Ordinance & Rules;
• Tea Plantations Labour Ordinance;
• Worker Children & Education Ordinance and Rules;
• Worker Welfare Funds Ordinance & Rules and Housing and Plots Allotment Regulations;
• Working Journalists Wages Board Rules and Newspaper Employees Condition and Services Act; and
• Worksmen Compensation Act and Rules
• From the above alphabetical list of related labour laws, we understand that there may be diverse nature of issues and we offer the following legal services:
• Drafting & Vetting of Employment Contracts and Agreements