Contracts and Dismissals
Written Employment Particulars
Standing Orders Ordinance requires that every workman at the time of his appointment, transfer or promotion should be provided with an order in writing, showing the terms and conditions of his service. Similarly, every permanent worker is entitled to a written certificate of service at the time of his dismissal, discharge, retrenchment or retirement from service(S.O. 2-A and 18of Standing Orders Ordinance, 1968)
Similar provisions are found in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Order) Act 2013 (Standing Order 3 & 4) and the the Sindh Terms of Employment (Standing Orders) Act 2015 (Standing Order 3 & 17).
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Fixed Term Contracts
Pakistani labour Law prohibits hiring fixed term contract workers for tasks of permanent nature. The maximum length of a fixed term (temporary) contract including renewals is 09 months.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh legislation allow for hiring workers on contract where the term of the contract is specified by the contract itself.
Sindh legislation however defines a contract worker as "a worker who works on contract basis for a specific period mentioned in the contract, in any establishment but does not include the third party employment".
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa legislation also defines a contract worker as " a worker who works on contract basis for a specific period mentioned in the Letter of Contract". The legislation requires an employer to obtain a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Labour Department to contract out jobs of peripheral nature and not those which are related to core activity of the organization. Such NOC is issued only for a period of 6 months at a time and contains certain conditions related to the job and employment of contract workers.
Probation Period
In accordance with the Standing Orders Ordinance, probation period is of 3 months duration only. (S.O. 1 of Standing Orders Ordinance, 1968)
Similar provisions are found in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Order) Act 2013 (Standing Order 1) and the the Sindh Terms of Employment (Standing Orders) Act 2015 (Standing Order 1).