EQUAL EMPLOYMENT

OPPURTUNITIES
PAKISTAN
TUGHRAL HILALY
7902

Sir Abdullah Patoli

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SECTION E

/2010
EEO in Pakistan is faced with the lack of understanding and poor education at the
institutional level. Current EEO crisis in the country has its affects on the
employers and the employers and at a wider scale the whole economic level. With
profit and productivity targets as the top most priority, a typical Pakistani
employer fails to understand that EEO can also be to his own advantage rather
than just an expensive implementation.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) is about making sure that workplaces are
free from all forms of unlawful discrimination and harassment and providing
programs to implement EEO Laws by means of workplace rules, policies,
practices and behaviors that are fair and do not disadvantage people because they
belong to particular groups. In such an environment, all workers are valued and
respected and have opportunities to develop their full potential and pursue a
career path of their choice.

EEO aims to achieve fair practices and behavior in the workplace, including:
• Recruitment and selection
• Training and development,
• Flexible working arrangements that create a productive workplace,
• Grievance handling
• Communication to give employees access to information
• Management decisions without bias
• No unlawful discrimination or harassment
• Respect for the social and cultural backgrounds

EEO groups as a result they may be more likely to be unemployed or working in

lower paid jobs. Common groups are:
• Women
• Members of racial, ethnic and ethno religious minority groups, or
• People with a disability.

The laws related to the equal opportunity in Pakistan were provided in the
Objectives Resolution which was passed by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan
in March, 1949. The laws related to the equal opportunity further improved in
Constitution of 1973.

 Article 11 of the Constitution prohibits all forms of slavery, forced labor and child
labor.
 Article 17 provides fundamental right to exercise the freedom of association and the right
to form unions.
  Article 18 says every citizen; subject to qualifications can enter a trade, business or
profession of his/her choice.
 Article 32 of the constitution says that special representation shall be given to women in
local government institutions.
 Article 37(e) makes provision for securing just and humane working conditions,
 Article 38(a) of the constitution commits the State to secure the well-being of the people,
irrespective of their sex.

Labor Welfare Package for Workers was announced by federal government on

April 30, 2000 in which it was made obligatory for the employers to offer gender
equality and affirmative action. This package enforces laws equal remuneration for
men and women for work of equal value through appropriate legislation
concerning maternity benefits for female workers, safeguards against sexual
harassment, recruitment of female labor inspectors for enforcement of labor laws
on female workers and extension of coverage of laws to agriculture and other
informal sectors of economy.

 The Federal Government introduced new labor policy in 2002 which empowered
labor courts to order re-instatement of illegally dismissed workers or award
reasonable compensation in lieu of re-instatement. The policy pledges equal
opportunities for all and categorically bans child and bonded labor, and
discrimination on the basis of gender, sex, race etc. The Constitution of Islamic
Republic of Pakistan states: "No child below the age of fourteen, shall be engaged
in any factory or mine or in any other hazardous employment." Also, "All forms of
forced labour and traffic in human beings is prohibited."

‘If implemented in true spirit, this is expected to be a right step towards affirmative
action and equal employment opportunity which is a luxury for the working class
of Pakistan and not only benefit the employee but also the employer.’

Ministry of Women’s Development has taken several steps to advance the work for
women as well as equal pay for work of equal value but there is a long way to go
until these are actually implements. Since the literacy rate in females is less than
males, there is only a limited female presence in the organizations and it is not
deemed viable or safe for a female to be employed in a predominantly male set-up.
This situation is nonetheless on the change in the organizations in the big cities like
Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad where females can in general work better than
males, for example in the education sector, textile designing and interior
decorations industry. 
The article 25, 26, 27 completely bans the discrimination against in the matter of
employment on the basis of race, religion, caste, sex, residence or place of birth.
Mainly multinationals have adopted procedures to ensure equal opportunity to
some extent but one can easily find the cases of gender biasness against women
who are not considered equally capable for a particular job. Similarly, minorities
and protected group members often face difficulties in getting the jobs of their own
choice e.g.; Hindus, Mohajirs, Pathan.

The support for equal employment opportunities further improved when Pakistan
signed the following international instruments legally binding them in international
human rights courts: 

 ILO Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111)

 ILO Equal Remuneration Convention, 1951 (No. 100)
 UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women,
1979
 ILO Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983
 ILO Underground Work (Women) Convention, 1935
 ILO Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize Convention, 1948
 ILO Night Work (Women)(Revised) Convention, 1948
 ILO Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949
 UN Convention on the Political Rights of Women, 1953

The legislation has not been effective for the employees in the past and more than
95% of the cases of violation of employees´ rights by the employers are not
reported in a court of law.

Though the legislation for Equal Employment Opportunities in Pakistan has

significantly evolved with the passage of time but there is still barely any
implementation. One of the main reasons for this problem is the lack of awareness
of these rights among the employees. You will hardly find employees suing
employers for the misconduct or injustice during the employment selection
process. To sum up, the government still needs to be aware of whether the very
basic rights promised in Objectives Resolution of March, 1949 are actually
delivered.

Contrary to the federal laws, Pakistani organizations in practice do not offer equal
employment opportunities and there are instances of discrimination against
candidates.
Staff working in Personnel or HR is not suitably educated or trained about EEO
issues, and to expect this from line managers would be unrealistic. Merit,
unfortunately, does not come at the top while considering a candidate for
employment. Most of the jobs are through personal connections of the candidates
within the organization (Sifarish/Pawa) thus compromising the quality of
recruitment. Another major EEO issue in Pakistan is the recruitment of a huge
workforce on political basis in violation of merit. Instead of crating jobs,
successive governments have been acting as head hunters to provide jobs to their
relatives and supporters.

In 2002, the provincial government in Punjab announced to put five thousand posts
in education and health sectors at the disposal of the members of provincial
assemblies to be filled on their recommendations.

‘This decision is known as the death of recruitment through merit and EEO.’

In March 2002, a complaint regarding appointment of four junior secretarial

assistants in the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) against the merit policy was
reported. According to this report, two of the four appointees were stated to have
close family relations with some high-ups at the CAA headquarters in Karachi
while qualified candidates were ignored in the interview.

In Pakistan, major challenge for EEO is not legislation, but implementation.

Government as well as organizations must take EEO seriously starting with the
educating the policy makers, and the employees in so that they can understand the
advantages of it and wholeheartedly support it.

Secondary Data Sources

www.scribd.com/doc/35780468/Ib-Pakistan-Final

mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/13183/1/MPRA_paper_13183.pdf

blog.mustakbil.com/.../equal-employment-opportunity-laws-in-pakistan/