–Court directs Punjab govt to regulate wage structure, working hours of domestic help
LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday banned the employment of children under the age of 15 as domestic workers and directed the Punjab government to legislate on the issue.
The court was hearing a petition moved by Advocate Sheraz Zaka arguing that in 2015, the former LHC chief justice had directed the government to frame a policy on the wages of domestic workers, but failed to do so.
“The rights of domestic workers have been violated ever since Pakistan came into being,” the court remarked and then directed the provincial lawmakers to regulate the wage structure and working hours of domestic help.
The court ruled in the case after the Punjab government provided a draft of the Domestic Workers Bill 2018.
Moreover, the state prosecutor told the court that “as part of the proposed bill, domestic workers’ shifts will be limited to eight hours, whereas special courts and committees will be formed to resolve their problems”.
The court was further informed that the submitted draft plans to ban the employment of children under-15 expressed its satisfaction over the recommendations and referred to it as a positive measure to protect the rights of the domestic workers.
Earlier, in 2015, then LHC chief justice Justice Mansoor Ali had ordered the government to pass the legislation for the protection of domestic workers.
Also, it was argued by the petitioner that Pakistan is a member of International Labour Organisation and has signed about 36 different treaties on worker’s rights, however, the obligations are not being fulfilled by the provincial governments.
Following this, the high court had formed a commission comprising the labour department secretary, a UNICEF representative and three lawyers to ensure that the provincial government take the right steps towards protection of the domestic workers.
