Domestic Worker Minimum Wage and Rights in Pakistan

In Punjab, a domestic worker is legally entitled to an 8 hour working day, one paid rest day a week, and a wage that cannot fall below the province's general minimum wage. Sindh passed its own domestic workers law in 2025 but it has not yet cleared final assent, so most of the country still leans on general minimum wage law rather than a law written for domestic work specifically.

Domestic worker minimum wage Pakistan questions come up constantly in homes that employ a maid, cook, driver or cleaner, and the honest answer depends heavily on which province that home is in. Punjab moved first, Sindh is catching up, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have not passed a dedicated law at all.

This guide covers wages, hours and rest, not the separate question of registering a worker with the police, which some provinces also require for security reasons. The two protections sit side by side and neither replaces the other.

Punjab's own law sets an 8 hour day and a weekly rest day for domestic workers

The Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019 treats a maid, cook, driver, gardener or similar household employee as a worker with real statutory protection, not someone outside the law entirely. An 8 hour working day and one paid rest day a week sit at the centre of it.

The Act also sets a minimum working age of 15, and allows only light work for anyone between 15 and 18. A household employing a domestic worker under that age, for anything beyond light, supervised tasks, is acting outside the law.

The wage floor tracks the province's general minimum wage, not a separate fixed figure

Punjab's law lets a yearly Minimum Wage Board set domestic worker pay, with one condition that matters most to a household budgeting a salary: it cannot go below the general minimum wage the province has already set for the period.

Right now that general floor in Punjab is Rs 40,000 a month, the figure we already checked and published in the guide to Punjab's current minimum wage, with no new 2026-27 rate notified as we publish this. A domestic worker paid less than that in Punjab is, on the numbers the province itself has set, being underpaid.

Sindh passed a domestic workers bill in 2025 that is still waiting on assent

The Sindh Assembly passed a Domestic Workers Welfare Bill in May 2025, built around regulated hours, rest breaks, medical care and a minimum age of 16. On paper it would bring Sindh close to Punjab's protections and go further on the minimum age.

What we could not confirm is that it has actually been signed into force. A report from as late as March 2026 described the Governor's assent as still pending, leaving roughly a million domestic workers in the province without the dedicated law while it sits unsigned. Until that changes, a domestic worker in Sindh falls back on the general minimum wage, Rs 43,000 a month, which we already checked and published in the guide to Sindh's current minimum wage, backdated to 1 July.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan have no dedicated domestic workers act

We looked for an equivalent law in both provinces and found none. That gap matters for a household in Peshawar or Quetta employing domestic help, because there is no statute spelling out an 8 hour day or a weekly rest day the way Punjab's Act does.

The general minimum wage set by each province's wage board still applies as a wage floor, since that law is not limited to factory or office workers. Hours and rest, though, rest on whatever the employer and worker actually agree, in the absence of a dedicated act in either province.

A written letter of employment protects both sides, even where the law stays thin

Where a dedicated act exists, like Punjab's, it asks the employer to issue a letter setting out the nature of the work and the agreed wage. Where no such act exists, there is nothing stopping a household and a worker from writing that letter anyway.

A simple note stating the wage, the hours, the rest day and the start date protects a worker who later needs to prove what was agreed, and protects an employer from a dispute over terms nobody wrote down. Neither side loses anything by putting it on paper.

Raise an underpayment the same way any wage dispute moves forward

A domestic worker paid below the applicable floor, or denied the weekly rest day Punjab's law promises, has the same escalation path as any other underpaid worker. Start with a written request to the employer, then take it to the provincial labour department if that gets nowhere.

1. Write down the agreed wage, hours and rest day, even if nothing was signed at the start.
2. Raise the shortfall with the employer in writing first, by message if nothing else.
3. Check the current general minimum wage for your province before naming a figure.
4. Contact the provincial labour department if the employer will not meet the floor.
5. Keep every message and payment record, since a labour forum weighs a written trail heavily.

Where the dispute turns into a formal wage claim rather than a quick correction, the process runs through the same labour court system any worker uses, which we cover fully in the guide to how an unpaid wages case moves through a labour court.

Wage rights are separate from registering a domestic worker with the police

Some provinces, including Punjab, also ask households to register a domestic worker with the police, mainly as a security and verification measure rather than a labour protection. That process is useful on its own terms, but it has nothing to do with wages, hours or rest.

A worker can be correctly registered with the police and still be underpaid, or working far more than 8 hours a day without a rest day. The registration step and the wage question need to be handled separately, and we cover the registration process on its own in the guide to registering a domestic worker with the police.

Common questions

Is there a minimum wage for domestic workers in Pakistan?

In Punjab, yes, set under the Domestic Workers Act 2019 and tied to the general minimum wage. Other provinces rely on the general minimum wage as a floor, in the absence of a dedicated act.

How many hours can a domestic worker legally be made to work in Punjab?

8 hours a day under the Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019, with one paid rest day a week on top.

Does Sindh have a domestic workers law like Punjab's?

The Sindh Assembly passed a Domestic Workers Welfare Bill in 2025, but as of the most recent reporting we could confirm, it was still awaiting the Governor's final assent.

What is the minimum age to employ someone as a domestic worker?

15 in Punjab under its Domestic Workers Act, with only light work permitted between 15 and 18.

Is registering a domestic worker with the police the same as securing their wage rights?

No. Police registration is a separate security step and does not set, confirm or enforce a wage, hours or a rest day.

What can a domestic worker do if their employer refuses to pay the minimum wage?

Raise it in writing with the employer first, then approach the provincial labour department, and keep a record of every message and payment for that process.