A person can spend an entire day stitching clothes for a business without ever entering its factory. Another may work in a household for years without a written contract. Women may perform demanding agricultural work and contribute to family incomes without receiving the recognition and workplace protections available to formally employed workers.

These workers are an important part of Pakistan’s economy. However, many remain beyond the effective reach of systems designed to protect people at work.

The Pakistan Bureau of Statistics’ (PBS) Labour Force Survey 2024-25 highlights the scale of the problem. According to the survey, 80.8 percent of employed people in Pakistan are informally employed under the 21st International Conference of Labour Statisticians (ICLS) recommendations. Only 19.2 percent are classified as formally employed.

This figure is different from the separate estimate that 72.1 percent of non-agricultural employment is in the informal sector. Both statistics use different measures, but they point to the widespread nature of informal work in Pakistan.

The issue is not simply whether the country has labour laws. It is whether those laws provide meaningful protection to people working outside conventional offices, factories and registered businesses.

Millions of Workers Remain Outside Formal Employment

Informal employment covers several types of work, including jobs in small businesses, agriculture, domestic services and homes. It also includes arrangements in which people earn an income without formal employment contracts or adequate job security.

Home-based work is one example. The PBS survey estimates that around 4.6 million employed people work at their own dwellings, accounting for 6 percent of all employed people.

Women make up a disproportionately large share of this group. Around 19.8 percent of employed women work at their own dwellings, compared with just 1.8 percent of employed men.

However, working from home does not automatically make someone a home-based worker under labour legislation. Legal recognition depends on the nature of the work and the employment relationship, rather than simply the location where the work is performed.

Many home-based workers stitch garments, undertake embroidery, package products and complete other assignments for businesses or contractors. They may receive raw materials, complete orders at home and return the finished products in exchange for payment.

The business benefiting from their work can be several steps removed from the person actually carrying it out. Without written agreements or reliable employment records, establishing responsibility for wages, working conditions and other obligations becomes difficult.

Domestic workers face a different set of challenges. Their work takes place inside private homes, where employment arrangements are often less visible. Many have no written contracts, clearly defined working hours or sufficient bargaining power.

For workers who depend on employers for their income or accommodation, filing complaints can also carry serious consequences.

Agricultural workers face their own difficulties. Women contribute to farming and related activities, but their work may be treated as part of household responsibilities instead of recognised employment. This can limit their ability to claim wages, social protection and other workplace rights.

These categories cannot be treated as one uniform group. Domestic workers, home-based garment workers and women employed in agriculture face different challenges. Protecting them requires understanding how they work, receive payments and remain connected to the people or businesses benefiting from their labour.

Provincial Laws Extend Protection to Informal Workers

Pakistan has taken steps to extend legal protections beyond conventional workplaces. Following the devolution of labour matters to the provinces, provincial governments introduced legislation covering several categories of informal workers.

Sindh enacted the Sindh Home-Based Workers Act 2018. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa followed with the Home-Based Workers (Welfare and Protection) Act 2021, while Balochistan introduced its Home-Based Workers Act 2022. Punjab subsequently enacted the Punjab Home-Based Workers Act 2023.

These laws recognise that employment does not have to take place inside a factory or office to qualify for legal protection. They establish frameworks for recognising home-based workers and addressing issues such as wages, working conditions, registration and social benefits.

Other categories have also received legislative attention. Punjab enacted the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019 to regulate domestic employment and provide a framework for working conditions, welfare and social protection.

Sindh has also introduced legislation specifically covering women agricultural workers. The Sindh Women Agricultural Workers Act 2019, formally numbered Sindh Act No. V of 2020, recognises rights relating to wages, working hours, maternity leave, access to public services, protection against harassment and the right to form associations.

Section 12 of the law is particularly significant. It extends the relevant rights to women agricultural workers whether they are employed directly or indirectly, work through labour contractors or male family members, or provide paid or unpaid family labour.

Section 13(7) further clarifies that registration is not a prerequisite for the recognition, protection or promotion of these rights.

This provision is important because it means a woman’s entitlement to basic workplace protections should not depend entirely on completing an administrative registration process.

Together, these laws challenge the traditional assumption that labour protection should be limited to people employed in factories or registered commercial establishments.

However, legislation alone does not guarantee that workers will receive the protections it promises.

Why Legal Protections Are Still Failing Workers

The implementation of the Sindh Home-Based Workers Act provides an example of the gap between legal recognition and practical protection.

On June 23, 2025, the Sindh Human Rights Commission held a policy dialogue to review progress and challenges in implementing the 2018 law.

Participants highlighted several shortcomings, including the absence of a provincial council and verification officers, inadequate data on home-based workers, complicated registration procedures, weak grievance-redressal mechanisms, poor coordination between government departments and insufficient budget allocations.

These problems directly affect whether workers can benefit from the rights provided under the law.

For instance, workers cannot easily access registration-based benefits if the registration process is difficult to navigate or the institutions responsible for administering it are not functioning.

The challenge is therefore not limited to introducing new legislation. Provincial governments also need reliable worker data, functioning administrative bodies, accessible complaint mechanisms and adequate funding to enforce existing laws.

Pakistan’s labour market is dominated by informal employment, but the people working in these arrangements should not remain invisible to the country’s protection system. Legal recognition must translate into practical safeguards, including fair wages, safer working conditions and access to social protection.