- fixed for Persons engaged on part time basis w.e.f. 01-07-2015 declared by the Govt. of Balochistan

May 10, 2016

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Date: 10-05-2016

Circular Number: C-164

Minimum Wages of Rs. 13,000/= p.m. for Unskilled adult and Juvenile Workers & Rs. 6500/- fixed for Persons engaged on part time basis w.e.f. 01-07-2015 declared by the Govt. of Balochistan

The Balochistan Government has issued the Notification dated 18^th January 2016 under the Minimum Ordinance, 1961. The Notification has been issued on the recommendation of the Balochistan Minimum Wages Board under Section 4 of the Minimum Wages Ordinance, 1961. Our comments on it are given as under:-

The minimum wage of adult unskilled workers (male, female and juvenile workers) employed in all industrial undertakings in the Balochistan has been declared under the Minimum Wages Ordinance, 1961 at the rate of Rs. 13,000/= p.m. for daily 08 working hours w.e.f. 01-07-2015 and Rs. 6500/=pm for part time workers. Arrears have to be paid from July, 2015 till fixing the wage as per the Notification.
The Minimum wage of Rs.6500/-p.m fixed for the persons engaged on part time basis but not mentioning the number of daily working hours constituting part time work. This may create confusion and may be misused by employers. The Balochistan Government should immediately resolve this lacuna.
The daily wage declared is 1/26^th of the monthly wage which includes element of wages of the weekly day offs in it and, therefore, no separate payment is required to be made for weekly day offs.
Please note that the minimum wage declared is inclusive of the basic wage and all regular statutory and non-statutory allowances whatsoever.
If wages of any unskilled worker or juvenile worker paid is already more than the minimum wage, it cannot be reduced.
The daily/weekly working hours, conditions of overtime work, etc shall be regulated by the Factories Act, 1934, Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and other relevant labour laws.
The minimum wage declared is of the unskilled adult, male, female and juvenile workers only. This would call for management action in respect of the workers above the unskilled categories to appropriately revise their wages.
The above may be carefully read along-with the said Notification to further understand the matter. In case of any doubt you may consult your labour laws consultant.
However legal issue may be raised that the Minimum Wages Ordinance, 1961 is a Federal Law, the provincial Government cannot take any action under it. This technical issue may ignore in larger interest as other Provinces too have fixed the same minimum wages.

For M/s S. M. Yaqoob