Minimum employment age in Punjab set at 16 years

Lahore: The Punjab government has decided to increase the minimum employment age to 16 years to discourage child labour.

In the meeting presided over by Punjab Labor Minister Faisal Ayub Khokhar, it was decided to establish a special task force to implement the minimum wage of Rs37,000.

 Labor Minister said that the payment of salary to the workers will be ensured through bank accounts and for immediate resolution of their problems, the Labor Department has also set up a grievance cell where the identity of the complainants will be kept confidential.

Faisal Ayub Khokhar stated that the workers will encourage the right to form unions and associations for which the employment agencies are being brought under the ambit of labor laws to protect the workers.

Labor Minister further said that strict action has been taken against child labor across Punjab while raising the age of employment to 16 years to discourage child labour.

It is pertinent to note that according to Section III of Article 11 of the Constitution of Pakistan, the minimum age for employment in the country should be 14 years.