KARACHI: The fixation of Rs25,000 as the minimum wage by the Sindh government has been challenged in the Sindh High Court (SHC), which issued notices to the provincial government as well as to the labour and human resource departments of Sindh.
The SHC issued the notices after the Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) and others submitted a petition against increase in the minimum wage of the unskilled workers from Rs17,500 to Rs25,000 per month without even initiating statutory requirements as contained in the Sindh Minimum Wages Act.
The petitioners submitted in the court that they had earlier raised objections against the recommendations of the Sindh Minimum Wages Board on various legal and factual grounds, but they were not invited to the board meeting to decide the minimum wage.
They requested the court that besides increasing the minimum wage of unskilled workers, it would also invoke a proportionate increase in the wages of other workers' categories that might disrupt the entire compensation structure and would even amount to closure of businesses.
They informed the court that the minimum wage in other provinces has been fixed at Rs20,000 per month from July 1 and submitted that fixation of Rs25,000 in Sindh would place the petitioners in the most uncompetitive and disadvantageous position compared to other provinces.
They requested the court to declare the notification of increased minimum wages unlawful and pleaded to suspend the implementation of notification till the decision of the petition.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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