You work six days a week. Sometimes seven. Your employer says the shop cannot close, or the factory needs you on Sunday, or your day off is a favour, not a right. In Pakistan, that is not how the law sees it.
Most workers have a legal right to at least one full day off every week. Factory workers, shop staff, office employees, even domestic workers in Punjab. This guide covers what the law gives you, and what to do when an employer says no.
Is a weekly off a legal right in Pakistan?
Yes. The Factories Act 1934 gives factory workers a weekly holiday. The shops laws give every shop and office employee one day off each week.
One more thing. You cannot sign this right away. Section 21 of the shops ordinance says any contract where an employee gives up a right under the law is null and void.
What do factory workers get?
Section 35 of the Factories Act is the core rule. No adult worker may work in a factory on a Sunday unless he has had, or will have, a holiday for a whole day on one of the three days immediately before or after that Sunday.
The manager must also inform the Inspector before that Sunday and display a notice in the factory. And no arrangement may make you work more than ten days in a row without a whole day off.
If an exemption takes your weekly holiday away, section 35A gives you compensatory holidays of the same number.
Other limits back this up. Section 34 caps the working week at forty eight hours. Section 36 caps the day at nine hours. Section 47 says any work beyond that is overtime at twice your ordinary rate. Our guide on overtime pay in Pakistan covers this in detail.
Breaking these rules draws a fine of up to five hundred rupees under section 60. A repeat offence costs more under section 61: up to seven hundred and fifty rupees the second time, and up to one thousand rupees from the third time on.
What do shop and office workers get?
The West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance 1969 covers shops, offices, banks, clinics and similar places. Section 6 says every establishment must stay entirely closed for at least one day each week. Every employee also gets one day off that week, on top of leave.
The holiday is paid. Section 6 says no deduction may be made from your wages for it. If you are on daily wages, you still get paid for the holiday. If you are on piece rate, you get the average of what you earned that week.
The closed day must be Friday or Sunday. The employer chooses and tells the authority. Changing it later needs written approval.
Section 8 caps the week at forty eight hours and the day at nine hours. Section 9 pays overtime at double the rate. An employer who breaks the weekly holiday rule faces a fine of up to two hundred and fifty rupees for the first offence under section 27, and up to five hundred rupees or three months simple imprisonment for a repeat.
Which shops law applies in your province?
Punjab and Islamabad still run on the 1969 Ordinance. The other provinces passed their own laws.
Sindh has the Sindh Shops and Commercial Establishment Act 2015. Section 6 keeps the same right: one day closed each week, one paid holiday for every employee, no deduction, and a closed day of Friday or Sunday. A first offence under section 27 costs between one thousand and ten thousand rupees.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shops and Establishment Act 2015. Section 6 gives every employee one paid day off each week with no deduction. First offences draw a fine of two thousand to ten thousand rupees under section 28, and repeats up to twenty thousand rupees or one month in prison.
Balochistan has the Balochistan Shops and Establishments Act 2021. Section 6 mirrors the 1969 law: one day off each week, paid, with Friday or Sunday as the closed day.
Do domestic workers get a weekly off?
In Punjab, yes. The Punjab Domestic Workers Act 2019 says every domestic worker gets a holiday of at least one whole day in a week. It also caps the day at eight hours and the week at fifty six hours. An employer who breaks the law faces a fine of up to five thousand rupees, and up to ten thousand for a repeat.
What if your employer refuses?
First, ask in writing. Then go to your provincial Labour Department.
For factories, complain to the Inspector of Factories. For shops, to the Chief Inspector of Shops. Prosecutions under the Factories Act need the Inspector's sanction under section 74, and under the 1969 Ordinance the Inspector's sanction under section 28. In Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Labour Court tries these offences.
If the employer also cut your wages for the holiday, you can claim before the wages Authority under section 12 of the 1969 Ordinance. You have four months from the day the wages were due.
Related reading: minimum wage in Pakistan and what the law says when you are fired without notice.
The weekly off sits on top of other leave
The weekly holiday is separate from annual leave. Factory workers get fourteen days of paid annual holiday after twelve months of service, under section 49B of the Factories Act, plus ten days of casual leave and sixteen days of sick leave at half pay under section 49H. Shop employees get annual, casual, sick and festival leave under sections 14 to 16 of the shops laws.
Festival holidays are paid too. Section 49I of the Factories Act says workers get paid holidays on all days the provincial government declares as festival holidays.
What this means for you
One day off a week is the floor. It is paid. It cannot be signed away, and it cannot be replaced by a longer lunch break. If your employer treats it as a favour, they are wrong.
Know your hours too. If you work past nine hours in a day or forty eight in a week, the extra time pays double. The law on overtime pay in Pakistan explains the full picture.
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