Workplace Harassment Complaint in Balochistan: Ombudsperson or Inquiry Committee, Every Time Limit

A workplace harassment complaint in Balochistan can go to either of two places: the Inquiry Committee inside your organisation, or the provincial Ombudsperson. Section 8 of the Balochistan Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2016 gives every employee that choice, and the Ombudsperson must issue a show cause notice to the accused within 3 days.

The Act was amended in July 2025, and two changes matter to readers: it now covers the whole province, and it fixes how the Ombudsperson is chosen. Below are both routes step by step, the time limits at each stage, the penalties, and the appeal to the Governor. We read the Act as amended on the Balochistan Code portal.

You choose between the Inquiry Committee and the Ombudsperson

Under section 8(1), any employee may complain either to the organisation's Inquiry Committee or straight to the Ombudsperson. You do not have to try the committee first. Going straight to the Ombudsperson makes sense when the accused is senior, or when the office has never formed a committee.

The Act covers a regular or contract employee paid by the day, week, month or hour, and it includes interns and apprentices. The workplace includes transport, field sites and any situation linked to official work, even outside the office.

The Inquiry Committee must finish within 30 days

Every organisation must have a five-member Inquiry Committee with at least two women. Within 3 days of a written complaint, it sends the charges to the accused, who gets 7 days to reply. Its findings go to the Competent Authority within 30 days, which must impose the penalty within one week.

1. Write the complaint with dates, places, what was said or done, and any witnesses.
2. Hand it to the Inquiry Committee chair or any member, and ask for a dated receipt.
3. Keep copies of messages, emails and any medical record.
4. Attend the hearing. You may bring a friend, a colleague or a union representative.
5. Ask for the written findings once the 30 days have run.
6. If unhappy with the decision, appeal to the Ombudsperson within 30 days.

The Act protects you during the inquiry. No adverse action may be taken against the complainant or the witnesses, the evidence is confidential, and the committee must stop the employer or the accused from creating a hostile environment. If you are in trauma, the organisation must arrange counselling or treatment and extra medical leave.

The Ombudsperson has the powers of a civil court

The Ombudsperson must send a written show cause notice to the accused within 3 days of the complaint. The accused gets 5 days to reply, or the case can go ahead ex parte. The Ombudsperson can summon witnesses, demand documents, inspect premises and punish contempt like a High Court.

Both sides may represent themselves, so you do not need a lawyer. The Ombudsperson records a decision and sends it to both parties and to the organisation's management to carry out. Any party unhappy with it can make a representation to the Governor within 30 days, and the Governor's decision is final.

The 2025 amendment says the Ombudsperson must be a woman chosen through a search committee led by the Chief Secretary, at least 45 years old, and either fit to be a High Court judge or a BPS-20 officer with a law degree and ten years of legal work. She must hold a Balochistan domicile.

Penalties run from censure to a Rs 500,000 fine

Minor penalties are censure, withheld promotion or increment, stoppage at an efficiency bar, and recovering compensation from the accused's pay. Major penalties are demotion, removal, dismissal, or a fine of Rs 50,000 to Rs 500,000, part of which can go to the complainant.

The Inquiry Committee can also recommend a criminal case. And an employer who never put up the Code of Conduct or formed a committee can be fined Rs 25,000 to Rs 100,000 on a complaint by any employee.

A warning runs the other way too. If a complaint is found false and made in bad faith, the committee can recommend action against the complainant. Write only what happened.

The 2025 amendment extended the Act to the whole province

Before July 2025, section 1 excluded the Provincially Administered Tribal Areas. The amendment, passed on 28 July 2025 and signed by the Governor on 31 July 2025, deleted that exception. Women working in those areas can now use the same routes.

The same amendment added rules for the Ombudsperson's staff, with posts of BPS-16 and above to be filled through the Balochistan Public Service Commission after two years. Section 13 also asks the Women Development Department to run a helpline for victims. We could not confirm a working number for it.

Federal offices and other provinces use different laws

If you work in Balochistan for a federal ministry or a federal corporation, check whether the federal Ombudsperson has jurisdiction instead; the federal workplace harassment complaint route is separate. Sindh has its own Sindh workplace harassment complaint system.

Complaints about a provincial department's general maladministration, as opposed to harassment, go to the Balochistan Ombudsman instead.

Common questions

Can a man file a complaint under the Balochistan Act?

Yes. Section 2 defines a complainant as a woman or a man aggrieved by harassment, even though the Act's title names women.

Is there a time limit to file the first complaint?

The Act we read sets no deadline for the first complaint. Its 30-day limits apply to appeals and to the representation to the Governor. File soon anyway, while witnesses remember.

Does the complaint cost anything?

The Act sets no fee for a complaint to the committee or the Ombudsperson, and both sides may appear without a lawyer.

What counts as harassment under the Act?

Any unwelcome sexual advance, request for sexual favours, or verbal, written or physical conduct of a sexual nature that interferes with work or makes it hostile. Punishing someone for refusing also counts.

What if my organisation has no Inquiry Committee?

Go straight to the Ombudsperson. You can also complain that the employer failed to form one, which carries a fine of Rs 25,000 to Rs 100,000.

Where is the Ombudsperson's office?

We could not find an official web page with the office address or phone number. Ask the Women Development Department in Quetta, or your district administration, for the current address.

How we verified this

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

We read the Balochistan Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2016, as amended by Balochistan Act No. XIX of 2025, on the Balochistan Code portal on 27 October 2026. We looked for the Ombudsperson's office details on the Government of Balochistan website and did not find them. We have not filed a complaint, so we cannot say how quickly the office works in practice.