Labour Laws

Sindh Labour Department embarks on the implementation of labour laws by drafting rules of business

The legislative process does not stop once a bill becomes law. To put laws into practice rules formation is a key step. The Labour and Human Resource Department Sindh took lead and organized a two day tripartite plus consultation on 3rd and 4th May 2018 to draft rules for six labour laws.

Press release | Karachi, Pakistan | 04 May 2018
KARACHI (ILO News): Following the 18th constitutional amendment of 2010, the subject of labour has been devolved to the provinces prompting Departments of Labour (DoLs) to embark on the development of labour legislation at provincial level. To date, the province of Sindh has developed 14 new labour laws through its tripartite consultative process.

As part of the process of implementing its labour laws, the Sindh Labour and Human Resource Department organized a two day consultation with the technical and financial support of International Labour Organization through its International Labour and Environmental Standards project, funded by the European Union, and Labour Standards in Global Supply Chains project funded by the Federal Republic of Germany. The process was also supported by the ILO Country Office Islamabad and the ILO’s technical specialist on International Labour Standards, Ms Miranda Fajerman. Representatives of workers, employers and civil society participated in the consultation.

The consultation held from 3rd and 4th May 2018 discussed the rules of business to be drafted with for six labour laws as follows: The Sindh Minimum Wages Act 2015, Sindh Payment Wages Act 2015, Sindh Workers’ Welfare Management Act 2015, Sindh Companies Profit (Workers’ Participation) Act 2015, Sindh Shops and Commercial Establishment Act 2015 and Sindh Factories Act 2015.

Both workers’ and employers’ representatives thanked the Government of Sindh for seeking their views through consultation and noted that this was the first occasion on which representatives had been involved in this important stage of rule setting. They also encouraged the provincial government to increase and strengthen their representation and participation in consultations at provincial level. The government was assured by workers’ and employers’ representatives of their full cooperation in making and implementing these important rules.

During the consultation, the participants divided into groups representing workers, employers and government to review preliminary draft of rules and provide inputs for further consideration by the Department of Labour, Sindh.

Mr Syed Farrukh Humayun Zaidi, Joint Director Labour, Sindh assured the participants that the Government of Sindh would give due consideration to all of their inputs, and thanked the EU and GIZ for their support.

The next consultation on drafting rules of business for the remaining Sindh Labour Laws will take place in June 2018.