Updated: Thursday January 31, 2019/AlKhamis
Jamada El Oula 25, 1440/Bruhaspathivara
Magha 11, 1940, at 09:50:49 AM
[1][1]The
(Act II of 2019)
[25 January 2019]
An Act to provide for the regulation of employment of domestic
workers in Province of the
It is necessary to protect the rights of the domestic
workers, to regulate their terms of employment and working conditions of
service, to provide them social protection and ensure their welfare and to
provide for the matters ancillary thereto;
Be it enacted by Provincial
Assembly of the
1. Short title, extent and commencement.– (1) This Act may be cited as the Punjab Domestic
workers Act, 2019.
(2) It extends
to whole of the
(3) It shall
come into force at once.
2. Definitions.– In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the
subject or context:---
(a) “Act”
means the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019;
(b)
“Appellate Authority” means an Authority appointed under
the Act;
(c)
“beneficiary” means a domestic worker or a heir of a deceased domestic worker eligible
to receive benefits from the Domestic Workers Welfare Fund;
(d)
“Board” means the Minimum Wages Board
established under section 3 of the Minimum Wages Ordinance, 1961 (XXXIX of 1961);
(e)
“Committee” means a Dispute Resolution Committee
constituted under the Act;
(f)
“dispute” means any dispute or conflict between employers
and domestic workers concerning employment or the terms of employment or the
conditions of work of domestic workers;
(g)
“domestic work” means any work which takes place within or
for the household and
includes child care, old age care, sick care or natal/post-natal care and the
matters ancillary thereto;
(h)
“domestic worker” is a person who provides services of a
domestic nature in a household;
(i)
“employer” means:---
(i)
in relation to a person or a group of persons registered
under the Act and employing domestic workers collectively responsible for
employment of domestic workers;
(ii) in relation to an establishment or agency, the owner(s) of
the establishment or agency or a person registered under the Act and having the
ultimate control over the affairs of the establishment or agency as well as any
other person to whom the affairs of such establishment or agency are entrusted
whether such person is called an agent, a manager, an occupier or by any other
name;
(j)
“family” in relation to a domestic worker, means the
spouse, a child below the age of 18 years and includes a disabled child above
the age of 18 years with disability of fifty percent or more;
(k)
“Fund” means Domestic Workers Welfare Fund constituted
under section 22 of the Act;
(l)
“Government” means Government of the
(m) “Governing Body” has the same meaning as in section 5 of the
Provincial Employees Social Security Ordinance, 1965 (X of 1965);
(n)
“household” means individuals who comprise a family unit
and who live together under the same roof;
(o)
“Inspector” means a Labour Inspector notified under
section 35 of the Act;
(p)
“Labour Court” means a Labour Court
established under section 44 of the Punjab Industrial Relations Act, 2010 (XIX of 2010);
(q)
“prescribed” means
prescribed by the rules; and
(r)
“wages” means all remuneration capable of
being expressed in terms of money, which shall, if the terms and conditions of
employment, express or implied, are fulfilled, be payable to a person employed
in respect of his employment or of work done in such employment, but does not
include,---
(a) any
contribution paid by the employer in respect of such person under any scheme of
social insurance or to a pension fund or provident fund;
(b) gift or
anything given in kind.
3. Prohibition on employment.– No child under the age of 15 years shall be allowed to
work in a household in any capacity:---
Provided that no domestic worker under the age of 18 years
shall be engaged in a domestic work except involving light work in a household.
Explanation: “light
work” means a domestic work which is part-time in nature and is not likely to
harm health, safety and education of a domestic worker.
4. Rights and entitlements of domestic
workers.–
(1) A domestic worker shall not be employed under the bonded labour system or forced or partly
forced labor system.
(2) No
domestic worker shall be discriminated in recruitment, continuance of
employment, deciding wages,
benefits and other rights on grounds of religion, race, caste, creed, sex, ethnic
background, and place of birth/residence, domicile,
migration or any other reason.
(3) The
domestic worker shall be addressed as “domestic worker”, not “servant”.
(4) No extra
work may be assigned to the domestic worker without free will of the domestic
worker and extra remuneration.
(5) The
employer shall provide dignified working conditions and occupational safety and
health measures to the domestic worker.
(6) The
benefits for a domestic worker shall include sickness benefits and medical care
during sickness and medical care of dependents, injury benefits, disablement
pension and survivor’s pension under the Punjab Employees Social Security
Ordinance, 1965 (X of 1965) and the rules made thereunder.
5. Employment on work.– (1) Every employment or appointment of a domestic
worker shall be subject to issuance of a letter of employment in the prescribed
form showing the terms and conditions of his employment including nature of
work and amount of wages.
(2) The
employer shall send a copy of the letter of employment issued under subsection
(1) to the Inspector concerned, and the employer may keep a copy of
identification documents of a domestic worker during the course of employment.
(3) An employer shall, within sixty days of
the commencement of the Act, arrange for the issuance of a letter of employment
under subsection (1) to each of the domestic workers employed on work in a
household.
(4) No
domestic worker shall be required to perform any work other than what is
specifically mentioned in the letter of employment.
(5) No
domestic worker shall be required to work for more than eight hours in a day,
however, a domestic worker, at free will, may work for such time duration and
for such remuneration as may be prescribed.
(6) Any work
by a domestic worker in excess of forty eight hours shall incur over time rates
as may be prescribed, and weekly working time shall not exceed fifty six hours.
6. Leave and holidays.– (1) Every domestic worker engaged in
domestic work shall be entitled to a holiday of at least one whole day in a
week.
(2) Every domestic worker
shall be entitled to sick leave with full wages for a total period of eight
days in a year and such leave, if not availed of by a domestic worker during
that calendar year, may be carried forward, but the total accumulation of such
leave shall not exceed sixteen days at one time.
(3) Every
domestic worker engaged in domestic work shall be
entitled to ten days festival holidays with full wages in a year, and the days
and dates for such festival holidays shall be agreed between the domestic
worker and the employer in the beginning of the calendar year.
(4) A female domestic worker engaged in
domestic work shall be entitled to six weeks maternity leave.
7. Wages during leave or holiday period.– (1) For each day of the
leave or holidays allowed to a domestic worker under subsections (1), (2) and
(3) of section 6, the domestic worker shall be paid at the rate equivalent to
the daily average amount, which, during the three months period preceding the
leave or holidays, was being paid to the
domestic worker.
(2) A domestic worker, who has been allowed
leave under subsection (2) of section 6 for any period not less than four days,
shall, before the leave begins, be paid his wages for the period of the leave
allowed.
8. Minimum wage.– (1) Every
domestic worker shall be paid such wages within such period of time as may be
provided in the letter of employment, but such wages must in no case be less
than the wages specified by the Government under the Act.
(2) No employer shall pay to a domestic
worker, remuneration payable, at the rates less favorable than those at which
remuneration is paid to the domestic workers of the opposite sex performing
same work or work of a similar nature or of equal value.
9. Maternity benefits.– A female domestic worker engaged in domestic work shall
be entitled to maternity benefits with a minimum amount equivalent to six weeks
wages in the prescribed manner but not less than the minimum wages notified by
the Government.
10. Accommodation.– (1) Every employer, under express terms and conditions
of employment, shall ensure to provide for the accommodation for live-in
domestic workers who stays at place of work at his free will.
(2) Every employer
shall ensure decent living conditions for a live-in domestic worker.
11. Medical
examination, vaccination and inoculation.– Every employer, on yearly basis,
shall ensure medical examination of a domestic worker in a household by a
registered medical practitioner and such domestic worker shall also be
vaccinated and inoculated against such diseases at such intervals as may be
prescribed, and the expenses, if any, of such medical examination, vaccination
and inoculation shall be borne by the employer.
12. Notice of certain accident.– Where in any household, an
accident occurs which causes death or bodily injury whereby any
domestic worker injured is prevented from resuming his work in the household
during the forty-eight hours after the accident occurred, or which is of any
nature which may be prescribed in this behalf, the employer of the domestic
worker shall send a notice thereof to such authorities, in such form and within
such time, as may be prescribed.
13. Termination of employment.– The termination of employment shall be subject to one
month’s prior notice in writing either by the domestic worker or by the
employer and in lieu of the notice, one month’s wages
shall be paid calculated on the basis of average of wages earned during the
preceding three months.
14. Restoration of possession of property to
domestic worker.– (1) Upon termination of
employment, personal belongings and identification documents of a domestic
worker or his family shall not be retained, and if any belonging or property of
a domestic worker is not returned to him, the aggrieved domestic worker may
apply to the Dispute Resolution Committee for restoration of the possession of
such property and the Dispute Resolution Committee may, after giving the
employer a reasonable opportunity of being heard, direct the employer to
restore to the applicant the possession of the said property within such time
period as may be specified in the award.
(2) Whoever,
being required by the Act to restore any property to the domestic worker or his
family, omits or fails to do so, within time specified in subsection (1), shall
be liable, on conviction before a Magistrate, to a fine not exceeding ten thousand rupees and restoration to the
applicant the possession of the said property.
15. Relinquishing of right.– Where a domestic worker relinquishes any right conferred by this Act,
whether made before or after the commencement of this Act, the relinquishment
shall be null and void in so far as it purports to deprive him of such right.
16. Recommendation of minimum wages for
domestic workers.– (1) The Board shall, upon a
reference made to it by the Government, recommend to it, after such enquiry as
the Board thinks fit, the minimum rates of wages for domestic workers employed
in households.
(2) In its recommendations under sub-section
(1), the Board shall indicate, whether the minimum rates of wages should be
adopted uniformly throughout the Province or with such local variations for
such localities as are specified therein.
(3) In pursuance of a direction under
sub-section (1), the Board may recommend minimum rates of wages for all classes
of domestic workers in any category or capacity and, in such recommendation, may specify,---
(a) the
minimum rates of wages for,---
(i) time work;
(ii) piece
work;
(iii) on call
work;
(iv) over time
work; and
(v) work on the
weekly day of rest and for paid holidays; and
(b) the
minimum time rates for domestic workers employed on piece work so as to
guarantee minimum wages on a time basis for such domestic workers.
(4) The time rates recommended by the Board
may be on hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis.
(5) The rates recommended under this section
for overtime work and work on paid holidays shall not be less than the minimum
rates fixed for such work under any other law for the time being in force.
17. Power to declare minimum rates of wages.– Upon receipt of a
recommendation of the Board under section 16 of the Act, the Government may
proceed as per the procedure laid down under section 6 of the Minimum Wages
Ordinance, 1961 (XXXIX of 1961).
18. Time and conditions of payment of wages.– (1) The wages of every domestic worker shall be paid
before the expiry of the fifth day, after the last day of the wage-period in
respect of which the wages are payable.
(2) No wage period, so fixed, shall exceed
one month.
(3) Where the employment of any domestic
worker is terminated by employer, the wages earned by him/her shall be paid
before the expiry of the second working day from the day on which his
employment is terminated.
(4) All payments of wages shall be made on a
working day.
(5) All wages shall be paid in current coin
or currency notes or in both.
19. Prohibition to pay below the minimum rate
of wages.– (1) No employer shall pay any domestic worker wages at a rate
lower than the rate declared under this Act to be the minimum rate of wages for
such domestic worker.
(2) Any
employer who contravenes the provisions of this section shall be liable, on
conviction before a Magistrate of the first class, to a fine not exceeding ten
thousand rupees, and if the court trying such
contravention by order so directs, shall also pay to the domestic worker
concerned such sum as may be specified in the order to represent the difference
between the amount actually paid to such domestic worker and the amount which
would have been paid to him had there been no such contravention.
(3) All claims of
a domestic worker relating to wages or claims arising out of deductions from
wages against the employer, as the case may be, shall be settled and recovered
in the same manner as is provided in the Minimum Wages Ordinance, 1961 (XXXIX of 1961).
(4) If the Authority hearing any
application under this section is satisfied that no amount to be paid as wages
is due from the employer to the applicant, it shall reject the application; and
if the application, in the opinion of the Authority, is malicious or vexatious,
the Authority when rejecting it, may direct the applicant to
pay a penalty not exceeding five thousand rupees to the employer.
(5) An
appeal against a direction made under sub-section (3)
or subsection (4) under this section may be
preferred, within thirty days of the date on which the direction was made,
before the Labour Court constituted under the Punjab Industrial
Relations Act, 2010 (XIX of 2010), within whose
jurisdiction the cause of action to which the appeal relates arose,---
(a) by the employer, if the total sum directed to be paid by way
of wages exceeds twenty thousand rupees:
Provided that no appeal under this clause shall lie unless
the memorandum of appeal is accompanied by a certificate of the authority to
the effect that the appellant has deposited with the authority the amount payable
under the direction appealed against.
(b) by the applicant directed under subsection (4) of this
section to pay a penalty.
(6) The decision of appeal shall be final
and shall not in any manner be questioned by any person in any court or before
any authority.
20. Registration of
domestic workers.– Every domestic worker, in order
to benefit from the fund, shall make an application for registration in a
manner as prescribed by the Governing Body, and every such domestic
worker shall be provided by the Governing Body with a security number and identity card, which shall be renewable after
completion of every three years:---
Provided that none of the domestic workers shall be
eligible to get more than one security number and identity card.
21. Registration of employers.– Every employer shall make an application for
registration in a manner as prescribed by the Governing Body, and every such
employer shall be provided with a registration number, which shall be renewable
after completion of every three years.
22. Fund.– (1) To provide
social protection, safety and welfare measures to domestic workers, the
Government shall establish a fund to be called “Domestic Workers Welfare Fund”.
(2) The Fund shall consist
of:---
(a)
all grants and loans as may be made to the Fund by the
Government;
(b) all sums received by the Fund from other sources as may be
decoded upon by the Government and all voluntary
contributions from the philanthropists;
(c)
income from the investments made and properties and assets acquired
from the Fund; and
(d) proceeds of loans raised by the Governing Body.
(3) The Fund
shall be applied to:---
(a) financing of measures including education, training and
skill development;
(b) benefits for domestic workers provided in subsection (6) of
section 4 of the Act;
(c) any money
in aid of any scheme for the welfare of the domestic workers; and
(d) meet the expenditures in respect of the cost of management and
administration of the Fund.
23. Functions
of the Governing Body.– The functions
of the Governing Body shall be the same as laid down under the Provincial
Employees’ Social Security Ordinance, 1965 (X of 1965) and the rules
made thereunder.
24. Manner of claiming benefits.– (1) All claims for benefits under this Act shall
be made within such times as may be prescribed, and in such form and manner,
and shall be accompanied by such documents, information and evidence as to
entitlement, as may be provided in the regulations laid down by the Governing
Body.
(2) The payment in respect of benefits shall
be made in such manner, and at such time and place as may be provided in the
regulations.
(3) The payment in respect of benefits under
the Act, shall be made from the Fund in the
prescribed manner.
25. Resolution of disputes.– (1)The Government may, by notification in the
official Gazette, constitute a Committee at the lowest tier of the local
government to be called the Dispute Resolution Committee for the effective
enforcement of the Act.
(2) The Dispute Resolution Committee, having
such number of members and composition as may be prescribed, shall be headed by
the head of the lowest tier of the local government concerned or such other
officer as may be notified by the Government.
(3) All disputes or complaints arising out
of and in connection with enforcement under the Act shall be heard and resolved
through an award by Dispute Resolution Committee:
Provided that every such dispute shall be presented within
30 days from the date on which the dispute arises.
(4) Any party
aggrieved of the award made under subsection (3), may, within 30 days of the
date on which the award was made, prefer an appeal before the Appellate
Authority.
26. Appellate Authority.– (1) The Government shall appoint an Appellate Authority
in each District to hear and decide the appeals preferred against the award of
a Dispute Resolution Committee.
(2) The
Appellate Authority may confirm, modify or reverse the award of a Dispute
Resolution Committee.
27. Powers of the Dispute Resolution
Committees and Appellate Authorities.–
Every Dispute Resolution Committee and Appellate Authority shall, while holding
an enquiry regarding a dispute or complaint under this Act or the rules made
thereunder, have same powers as are vested in a Civil Court under the Code of
Civil Procedure, 1908 (Act V of 1908),
in respect of the following matters, namely:---
(a)
enforcing the attendance of any person and examining him
on oath;
(b)
compelling the production of documents and material
objects;
(c)
issuing commissions for the examination of witnesses; and
(d)
such other matters as may be prescribed.
28. Power to issue directions.– The
Government may, from time to time, issue such directions to employers as may be
necessary for the effective enforcement of the provisions of the Act.
29. Power to remove difficulties.– If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the
provisions of the Act, the Government may, by order published in the official
Gazette, make such provisions, not inconsistent with the provisions of the Act,
as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for removal of the difficulty.
30. Tax treatment of the income of the Fund.– The
income of the Fund including capital gains shall be exempt from Income Tax
within the meaning of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001.
31. Penalties.– (1) An employer
who fails to comply with or contravenes any
provisions of the Act other than section 3, shall, on conviction, be punishable
with fine which for the first offence may extend to five thousand rupees, and for a second or subsequent offence with fine which may
extend to ten thousand rupees.
(2) Whoever
knowingly contravenes the provisions of section 3, shall be
liable to punishment with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one month
if he employs a child under the age of 12 years and in case of a child under 15
years by fine which may extend to Rs fifty thousand but which shall not be less
than ten thousand rupees.
(3) Any employer or any such person who
willfully obstructs an Inspector in the exercise of any power in compliance of
section 37, or fails to produce on demand thereunder any evidence, statement or
other document, shall be punishable with fine which may extend to ten thousand
rupees.
32. Presumption.– A child present in a household along with one or both of his parents
who are employed therein shall not be presumed to be in employment within the
meaning of the Act unless proved.
33. Prosecution.– No prosecution under the Act
or any rules made thereunder shall be instituted except by or with the previous
sanction of the Dispute Resolution Committee.
34. Trial of offence.–
35. Labour Inspectors.– (1) The Government
may notify Labour Inspectors of the respective areas of jurisdiction for the
purposes of ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Act.
(2) An Inspector notified under subsection
(1) shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of the Pakistan
Penal Code, 1860 (XLV of 1860).
36. Functions and powers of Inspectors.–
(1) No household shall be subjected
to inspection except on receipt of a complaint and on direction of a Dispute
Resolution Committee.
(2) An Inspector on direction of Dispute Resolution
Committee may, for the discharge of any functions under the Act or the rules
made thereunder,---
(a) file a
case through the public prosecutor in the Court of competent jurisdiction; and
(b) exercise such
other powers conferred upon him as may be necessary for carrying out the
purposes of the Act.
37. Protection of actions taken under the Act.– No suit,
prosecution or other proceedings shall lie against any person for anything
which is in good faith done or intended to be done in pursuance of the Act or
rules made thereunder.
38. Rules.– The Government may make rules for carrying out the purposes of
the Act.
[1][1]This Act was passed by the
Punjab Assembly on 23 January 2019; assented to by the Governor of the
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