Islamabad : AwazCDS Pakistan welcomes the enactment of the Punjab Labour Code 2025 (passed on 4 February 2026) as a landmark legislative development formally recognizing agricultural workers as rights-bearing employees under provincial labour law.
The Code marks a decisive shift from decades of legal invisibility by bringing agricultural labour within regulated employment and extending a broad spectrum of protections-including equality of opportunity, non-discrimination on the basis of gender, prohibition of child, forced, and bonded labour, the right to fair working conditions, and others (Chapter II of the Punjab Labour Code 2025).
Commenting on the development, Zia ur Rehman, Chief Executive of AwazCDS Pakistan, stated: “The Punjab Labour Code 2025 is a long-overdue acknowledgment that agricultural workers are workers in every sense. By formally defining this labour and extending fundamental rights, the law has the potential to transform generations of exclusion, exploitation, and informality in rural Punjab.”
However, AwazCDS Pakistan cautioned that several provisions within the Code, if left unaddressed, may weaken its transformative promise.
One of the most pressing concerns relates to provisions permitting the hiring of agricultural workers through contractual arrangements (Contractual engagement through employment agencies and contractors, including restrictions, responsibilities, and temporary work arrangements; Chapter 3.8, Articles 205-209). While contractual employment is recognized in law, the continuation of contractor-led hiring in agriculture risks reinforcing exploitative labour practices.
