KARACHI: In a move to protect some of the province’s most overlooked workers, the Sindh Assembly on May 11 passed the Domestic Workers Welfare Bill 2025, bringing formal safeguards to the employment and working conditions of household workers across the province.
According to the bill, which requires gubernatorial assent to become law, a domestic worker is defined as a person who does domestic work in a household.
The new law lays down clear terms for employment and working conditions, requiring employers to provide domestic workers with rest breaks, medical care, a minimum number of meals and regulated working hours.
Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziaul Hassan Lanjar presented the bill along with the report and approval of the Standing Committee on Labour and Human Resources.
As per the bill, no child below the age of 16 shall be allowed to work in a household in any capacity.
New law bars employment below 16s in households; full-time and live-in workers cannot be made to work more than eight hours a day or over six days a week
The law requires that, for every employment or appointment of a domestic worker, an employment letter in the prescribed form must be issued, and a copy submitted to the concerned labour inspector, either manually or digitally.
A full-time or live-in domestic worker may work for no more than eight hours a day. No full-time or part-time domestic worker can be required to work more than six days a week.
A female worker engaged in domestic work shall be entitled to six weeks of paid maternity leave.
Every domestic worker shall be entitled to 10 casual days of leave and eight sick leaves with full wages in a year.
Under the law, a Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC), headed by a grade-16 officer, would be constituted to hear and resolve all disputes or complaints.
The labour department will also appoint an appellate authority in each district to hear and decide appeals against DRC decisions.
Published in Dawn, May 19th, 2026
