Over 58mn workforce in Pakistan lacks social security benefits, reveals study

•  58 million of the 65.5 million labor force are in the unprotected employment, meaning that they do not enjoy any form of social security.
• At present, employers register their workers with social protection institutions.

Over 89 percent of the 65.5 million labor force in Pakistan does not have access to social protection benefits including healthcare, pension, and cash support, found a new study.

As per a study conducted by Iftikhar Ahmad, titled Social Protection for the Unprotected Economy, the number of protected workforce, which is linked to various programs including, Employees Social Security Institutions (ESSI), Employees Old-Age Benefits Institutions (EOBI), Workers Welfare Fund (WWF) sits at only 7.12 million or 11pc of the entire workforce.

7.12m out of the 65.5m or 11% of the entire workforce has protected employment.

Whereas, the remaining 58 million of the 65.5 million labor force in Pakistan are in the unprotected employment, meaning that they do not enjoy any form of social security.

The study found that a large majority of workers in the formal sector do not receive statutory appointment letters/employment contracts from their employers on their appointment. This practice prevents workers from claiming and proving their identity as workers and getting access to various workplace rights including registration with labor welfare schemes.

It also found that at present the employers register their workers with the social protection institutions in the country, therefore, the study has called for workers to be allowed to self-register.

The study proposed that EOBI and WWF may be transferred to the PASS Division since social protection is the federal subject. “Once these are transferred to the PASS Division, a wholesale reform can be initiated through amendment or drafting and enacting new legislation for EOBI and WWF by the federal legislature, removing all those lacunas that have occurred due to recent court judgments,” it said.

The study recommended ensuring that every worker, irrespective of nature of contract and wage payment status, gets an employment contract and is registered with social insurance institutions, and has called to raise the penalties to increase compliance.

The research called for raising worker’s contribution from 1pc to 5pc in the next 5 years under EOBI

It further said that once the worker is registered, the employer must be registered within a month if not registered. The research called for raising worker’s contribution from 1pc to 5pc in the next 5 years under EOBI, and as for ESSIs, worker’s contribution must be raised to at least 3pc by 2023.

The research also recommended that employers’ contributions must also be raised to a level comparable with other countries in the region.

The study also called for linking registration with social insurance institutions with CNIC (B form) and covering every worker irrespective of his work status.

It added that employees under the age of 18 years old must also be registered with social insurance institutions on the basis of their B form and their contributions be paid.

The study also called for linking registration with social insurance institutions with CNIC (B form) and covering every worker irrespective of his work status.

The study said that in order to make EOBI sustainable, the minimum years of contributions for an old-age pension must be raised from the current 15 years to at least 25 years in the next 15 years (by 2035).

It also called for enacting new legislation for micro-enterprises, employing less than 10 workers, proposing a simplified single labor code for micro-enterprises, with fewer requirements and ease of compliance.