How to Claim SESSI Benefits in Sindh: Sickness, Maternity and Injury Pay

If you are a registered worker in Sindh, SESSI pays 75 per cent of your wage while you are sick, full wages for a work injury, and 12 weeks of full pay for maternity. File the claim at your SESSI directorate within 7 days of your first medical certificate, or 15 days for maternity and death claims.

The Sindh Employees' Social Security Institution (SESSI) runs the province's social security scheme for factory, shop and office workers. It spends more than 70 per cent of its budget on medical care, says its own introduction, but cash benefits are where most workers lose out. The claim windows are short, and many people never hear of them.

We read each benefit page on sessi.gov.pk, its registration page and its page on contributions. Every rate, deadline and form below comes from those pages. We did not file a claim, because that needs a registered worker and a SESSI medical officer.

SESSI pays seven cash benefits to registered workers

SESSI pays sickness, injury, maternity and iddat benefits, a death grant, disablement gratuity or pension, and survivors' pension. Each has its own claim deadline and forms. The table shows the rate and the window for each, as SESSI publishes them.

"Secured worker" is SESSI's term for a worker whose employer pays social security for them. If your employer has never registered you, none of this applies yet. Registration comes first.

Get registered and get your Benazir Mazdoor Card

Your employer registers the business, then registers you. Since January 2022, SESSI records each worker's biometrics and family details through NADRA at its field offices. You then receive a Benazir Mazdoor Card, which you show for treatment and cash benefits.

New businesses sign up through the Sindh Business Registration Portal at business.sindh.gov.pk. SESSI says there is no fee to register a unit, and it is done the same day once the paperwork is complete. The employer then gets a login and pays contributions online.

Older workers may still hold the earlier Social Security Registration Card, form R-5. SESSI's forms accept either the R-5 or the Benazir Mazdoor Card. This is separate from the federal labour registration on the NADRA portal, which is a different scheme.

Your employer pays, not you

The employer pays 6 per cent of your wage to SESSI each month, says its contribution page. It is due by the end of the month before. A late employer pays half a per cent a day extra, up to 50 per cent.

One warning on figures. The same page says contributions are counted on wages up to Rs 37,000 a month and quotes a Rs 40,000 minimum wage from 2023. Sindh has since raised the Sindh minimum wage to Rs 43,000, so the page looks out of date. We could not find a newer SESSI figure. Ask your directorate before you rely on it.

Claim sickness benefit within 7 days

To claim sickness pay, see a SESSI authorised medical officer, get the first incapacity certificate (M-1), and file within 7 days. You qualify if contributions were paid for at least 90 days in the 6 months before you fell ill.

1. Go to a SESSI dispensary or hospital and get examined by its authorised medical officer.
2. Collect the M-1 certificate. Later visits give you M-2 and M-3, verified by a consultant.
3. Ask your employer for form B-2, showing your attendance for the last 6 months and your last wage.
4. Take the forms and your Benazir Mazdoor Card or R-5 to your SESSI directorate within 7 days of the M-1.
5. Collect payment at the SESSI pay office or dispensary your directorate tells you.

Sickness pay runs for up to 121 days in any 365 days, or up to 365 days for tuberculosis or cancer. The first two days are not paid, unless you fall sick again within 15 days of an earlier paid spell. A note from a private doctor is not on SESSI's list. The certificates have to come from its own medical officer.

Claim injury, maternity and iddat benefits

An injury at work pays your full last wage. Your employer must report the accident on form B-3 within 24 hours. Maternity pays full wages for 12 weeks if contributions were paid for 180 days in the last 12 months. Iddat pays full wages to a widowed worker.

Injury at work

File within 7 days of the first M-1 certificate. You need the employer's B-3 accident report, form B-2 for your wage, your card, and medical certificates M-1, M-2 and M-3. If the employer will not file B-3, tell the directorate yourself. The 24 hour rule binds the employer, not you.

Maternity

Six weeks are paid before the birth and six after. For the first half, the SESSI medical officer certifies the expected date on form B-6, and you file within 15 days of it. For the second half, they certify the actual birth on form M-9. Your employer also signs form B-2 for your 180 days of attendance and form B-20 to confirm you are not working.

Iddat

A female worker whose husband dies claims on form B-28, with form B-28A from her employer, within 15 days. Bring both CNICs, his computerised death certificate and your marriage certificate. SESSI says even a seasonal worker keeps this benefit if her job ends during iddat.

Claim the death grant and survivors' pension

When a registered worker dies, the widow, a needy widower or whoever paid for the funeral can claim a death grant of at least Rs 15,000 within 15 days. If the death came from a work injury, dependants also get a monthly survivors' pension.

For the death grant, file form B-7, attested by the employer, with these:

• The computerised death certificate.
• The original Benazir Mazdoor Card or R-5 card.
• Form B-2 from the employer.
• A marriage certificate, if the widow is claiming.
• Proof of funeral costs and an affidavit.

The survivors' pension is worked out from 75 per cent of the worker's last wage. A widow, widows together, or a needy widower get three fifths. Each child gets one fifth, or two fifths if both parents have died. Dependent parents get one fifth.

Disablement pay after a work injury needs no new claim

After injury benefit ends, a SESSI Medical Board sets the loss of earning capacity. Up to 20 per cent gets a lump sum gratuity. From 21 to 66 per cent gets a partial pension, and 67 per cent or more a full one.

The treating medical officer refers you to the board, so you do not file a fresh claim. Once a pension has been paid for five years, it is paid for life. If your disablement is 50 per cent or more, you keep medical care even after you leave the job.

Pensioners paid at their home town must visit the directorate once a year, or send a life certificate twice a year in June and December. Miss it and SESSI may hold your pension.

Where to go if SESSI delays your claim

Start at your SESSI directorate. There are 14, from SITE East and Korangi in Karachi to Hyderabad, Kotri, Mirpur Khas and Sukkur. If that fails, call the toll free line 0800-33772 or the UAN 021-111-173-774, or email info@sessi.gov.pk.

Keep copies of every form and note the date you handed it in. If a provincial office still does not act, you can take it to the Sindh Ombudsman. Workers in Punjab deal with a different body, and the PESSI benefits rules there are not the same. Old age pension is not SESSI's job at all. That comes from the federal EOBI, and the EOBI pension claim is filed separately.

Common questions

How much is SESSI sickness benefit?

75 per cent of your last wage for ordinary illness, and 100 per cent for tuberculosis or cancer. It is paid for up to 121 days in a year, or 365 days for TB or cancer.

What is the deadline to claim SESSI maternity benefit?

15 days from the date on form B-6, the medical officer's certificate of your expected delivery date.

How much is the SESSI death grant?

At least Rs 15,000, or 30 times the worker's daily sickness benefit if that is more. The claim is due within 15 days of the death.

Who pays the SESSI contribution, the worker or the employer?

The employer. SESSI's page puts it at 6 per cent of the worker's wage each month.

What is the Benazir Mazdoor Card?

The worker card SESSI has issued since January 2022 after NADRA biometric registration. You show it to get treatment and cash benefits.

Can I use a private doctor's certificate for a SESSI claim?

No. SESSI asks for certificates M-1, M-2 and M-3 from its own authorised medical officer.

How we verified this

What we checked, where we read it, and what we could not confirm.

Last checked on 3 October 2026. The rates, claim deadlines, qualifying periods and forms for sickness, injury, maternity, iddat, death grant, survivors' pension, disablement gratuity and disablement pension are read on SESSI's benefit pages at sessi.gov.pk, each marked "Updated 26 Jan 2026". The NADRA registration from January 2022, the Benazir Mazdoor Card, the free same day unit registration and the business.sindh.gov.pk route are read on its registration page. The 6 per cent contribution, the late payment increase and the Rs 37,000 wage ceiling are read on its contribution page, marked "Updated 22 Apr 2026". We could not find a ceiling that reflects the current minimum wage. The 70 per cent medical budget figure is from SESSI's introduction page, and the help lines and directorates are from its homepage. We did not file a claim.