Paternity Leave in Pakistan: What Fathers Are Entitled To

This question produces more confusion than almost any other employment query in Pakistan, because the honest answer is that it depends on where you work and for whom. Fathers are frequently told there is no entitlement at all, which is not necessarily right - and equally, are sometimes told there is a universal statutory right, which is not right either.

Why there is no single answer

Because the position genuinely varies, this article deliberately does not state a number of days as though it applied to everyone. Check the legislation applicable to your own province and establishment - the Punjab and Sindh labour departments are the starting points - and read your contract.

Where to look, in order

1. Your appointment letter - it may specify leave entitlements directly.
2. The employee handbook or HR policy, which often grants more than statute requires.
3. Any collective agreement where one applies.
4. The service rules if you are in government employment.
5. Provincial labour legislation for your province and type of establishment.
6. Past practice at your employer - what colleagues actually received.

Start with the contract rather than the statute. For most private-sector employees the practical entitlement comes from the employer's own policy, and that is both easier to establish and easier to enforce.

How to ask your employer

• Ask in writing, well before the expected date.
• Ask what the policy is rather than asserting an entitlement you have not verified.
• Ask whether it is paid, and at what rate.
• Ask what notice and documents are required.
• Ask whether it can be combined with annual or casual leave.
• Get the answer in writing, and keep it.

Asking "what is the company's paternity leave policy?" gets a better result than asserting a right. Where no policy exists, many employers will accommodate a request framed reasonably and made early, using annual or casual leave - and a written record of what was agreed protects you if the manager changes.

If there is no specific entitlement

See leave policy law in Pakistan for annual, casual and sick leave, which are more clearly established.

For employers considering a policy

An increasing number of Pakistani employers offer paternity leave without being obliged to. If you are drafting a policy:

1. State the entitlement clearly - days, paid or unpaid, and the rate.
2. State the eligibility - service requirement, if any.
3. State the notice required and the documents needed.
4. State the window within which it must be taken.
5. Say how it interacts with annual and casual leave.
6. Apply it consistently, which matters more than generosity.
7. Put it in the handbook, not in a manager's discretion.

Consistency is the point that carries legal weight. A benefit granted to some employees and refused to others, without a stated basis, creates a grievance risk and damages morale more than having no policy at all. Write it down and apply it the same way each time - see the employer compliance checklist.

If leave is refused

1. Ask for the refusal in writing, with the reason.
2. Check the policy or contract against the reason given.
3. Raise it with HR if the refusal contradicts a written policy.
4. Use the internal grievance procedure where one exists.
5. Take advice if the refusal breaches a contractual entitlement.
6. Keep the correspondence.

Where the entitlement is contractual and clearly stated, refusal is a contract issue and there are remedies. Where it is discretionary, the realistic route is the internal one - which is why getting the policy in writing beforehand matters so much.

Related entitlements to check at the same time

A birth triggers several things worth dealing with together rather than one at a time.

• Maternity leave for the mother, which is more clearly established - see the maternity leave guide.
• Registering the birth with the union council and obtaining the NADRA certificate.
• Adding the child to your family registration certificate.
• Health insurance or social security coverage where your employer provides it.
• Updating nominations on provident fund, gratuity and insurance.
• Reviewing your will or estate arrangements.

Register the birth promptly. Late registration is more difficult, and the computerised birth certificate is needed for school admission, passports and any later claim - see the birth certificate guide.

Where the law is heading

Paternity and parental leave have been the subject of legislative attention in Pakistan in recent years, and the position is not static.

• Provincial legislatures have been active on labour and welfare legislation.
• Federal legislation has addressed parental leave for employments within its scope.
• Applicability differs depending on the employment and the establishment.
• Employer practice is moving faster than statute in the corporate sector.
• Check the current position rather than relying on an older article, including this one.

This is a genuine reason to verify rather than assume. If a colleague tells you what the position was two or three years ago, or you read it online, confirm it against the current legislation applicable to your employment before planning around it. Take advice if the answer matters to a decision you are making.

Frequently asked questions