Holy Grail of Job Security in Pakistan

I am always intrigued that why many Pakistanis prefer government jobs while abusing government departments at the same time. People in my fatherland will curse public transport, government schools & hospitals but when it comes to career, their first priority will be “Permanent Government Job”. It took me almost 5 years of experience and some exposure to laws that helped me dig out the enigma of “Pakee Naukri (meaning Permanent Job)”.

In Pakistan, employees are generally categorized into two groups 1) Management cadre & 2) Staff cadre. Management cadres are usually given titles like Officers, Executives, Managers, Directors etc. Staff level individuals are called Workers with titles like Peon, Driver, Superintendent etc.

Plight of Workers is highlighted in media while issues of management cadre rarely get the light of day. One of the burning issues of Management employees in Private companies is job security. A closer look at the prevalent laws will help you understand it.

In Pakistan, Workers of private firms are heavily protected by more than 40 types of labour laws like Factories Act 1934, IR Act 2013 etc. On the other hand, Management cadre employees are NOT protected by any law instead their terms & conditions are framed by organisations themselves. Interestingly there are many cases where the courts have rejected pleas of management cadre employee on pretext that they are treated under “Master Servant Act of 1868” (Cases Ref # 1994 CLC 1275; NLR 1994 CLJ 718; 1995 PLC (C.S) 408). This means that management cadre employees are SERVANTS in the eyes of law with zero job security and exploited in various ways as they are on mercy of their Masters.

One form of exploitation is “late sitting” culture in office. Organisations are required to pay double the amount of wages to WORKERS under Section 47 of Factories Act 1934 or Section 9 of Shops & Establishment Ordinance of 1969. However Management cadre employees are NOT legally covered for overtime pay. This vulnerability leads to doing whatever your BOSS/Master says till late night.

For Workers, step by step grievance handling procedure is mentioned in IR Act 2013. If their grievances are not addressed by employer then they can take it to platforms of Labour Court, NIRC, Wages Commissioner, High Courts and ultimately to Supreme Court. There are countless cases where employers fired Workers BUT later on have to reinstate them with back benefits on court orders. On the other hand no such platform exists that can act as deterrence to exploitation of management cadre employees in private firms.

Lastly, if a Worker commits misconduct then the employer has to follow the cumbersome procedure in conducting domestic inquiry. Workers are to be given full opportunity to defend themselves and cross examine the other party. On the other hand organisations are NOT bound to go through technicalities while penalizing a management cadre employee in private company. This means that any management cadre employee including Directors/ CFOs in a Private firm can be thrashed out of company with a phone call while the same method can NOT be done to peon.

Government sector employees (both management & staff cadre) are equally protected by Civil Servants Act 1973. They cannot be punished unless the company undergoes tedious process of issuing Show Cause Notice, Inquiry Proceedings, Inquiry Report etc. It is this heavy coverage of law that make the government employee feel secure with “Pakee Naukri”.

Holy Grail of “Pakee Naukri (Permanent Job)” in government departments is the protection given by laws which is not there for management cadre employees in private companies.

To overcome this lacuna on micro level, HR must develop strong Grievance Handling procedure and must religiously follow them to overcome the fear factor of Job Security. HR must ensure that no one is condemned unheard and everyone should be given fair and full opportunity to defend themselves. On macro level the government must streamline labour laws by removing the overlapping section and establishing forums for management cadre employees to address their grievances. Or else Rape of Servants will continue by the Masters.