THE PUNJAB DOMESTIC WORKERS
ACT 2019
(Act II of 2019)
C O N T E N T S
Section Heading
1. Short title, extent and commencement.
2. Definitions.
3. Prohibition on employment.
4. Rights and entitlements of domestic workers.
5. Employment on work.
6. Leave and holidays.
7. Wages during leave or holiday period.
8. Minimum wage.
9. Maternity benefits.
10. Accommodation.
11. Medical examination, vaccination and inoculation.
12. Notice of certain accident.
13. Termination of employment.
14. Restoration of possession of property to domestic worker.
15. Relinquishing of right.
16. Recommendation of minimum wages for domestic workers.
17. Power to declare minimum rates of wages.
18. Time and conditions of payment of wages.
19. Prohibition to pay below the minimum rate of wages.
20. Registration of domestic workers.
21. Registration of employers.
22. Fund.
23. Functions of the Governing Body.
24. Manner of claiming benefits.
25. Resolution of disputes.
26. Appellate Authority.
27. Powers of the Dispute Resolution Committees and Appellate Authorities.
28. Power to issue directions.
29. Power to remove difficulties.
30. Tax treatment of the income of the Fund.
31. Penalties.
32. Presumption.
33. Prosecution.
34. Trial of offence.
35. Labour Inspectors.
36. Functions and powers of Inspectors.
37. Protection of actions taken under the Act.
38. Rules.
[1]THE
PUNJAB DOMESTIC WORKERS ACT 2019
(Act II of 2019)
[25 January 2019]
An Act to provide for the regulation of employment of domestic
workers in Province of the Punjab.
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 Punjab as follows:
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 Punjab.
(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 Punjab;
(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 survivors 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 months prior notice in writing either by
the domestic worker or by the employer and in lieu of the notice, one months 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. No Court, inferior to
that of a Magistrate of the first class, shall try any offence under the Act or
the rules made thereunder.
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]This Act was
passed by the Punjab Assembly on 23 January 2019; assented to by the Governor
of the Punjab on 25 January 2019; and was published in the Punjab Gazette
(Extraordinary), dated 25 January 2019, pages 1767-74.