Home-based workers in Lahore say they earn as little as Rs 50 an hour, unchanged for three years

Home-based workers in Lahore say they are paid as little as Rs 50 an hour, with piece rates unchanged for three years while electricity bills and living costs have climbed, Business Recorder reported from a meeting held to mark International Home-Based Workers Day.

The workers, most of them women who do piece work at home for garment, toy and textile suppliers, gave their own rates to the gathering organised with the Home-Based Workers Union and the Textile Power-loom Garment Workers Federation.

What the work pays

At Rs 50 an hour, an eight-hour day earns Rs 400. Even working 26 days a month, that is about Rs 10,400, far below what a full-time factory job pays under the minimum wage. Speakers also said women are paid less than men for the same work.

What the workers are asking for

• Better piece rates and decent working conditions
• Equal pay for women
• Social security registration, so home workers get the health and pension cover factory workers can claim
• Protection from harassment at work
• Occupational health help, since many described pain from long hours of repetitive stitching
• Local union branches, so they can approach the government together

Union president Ashra, vice president Jamila and general secretary Sabira spoke, along with the federation's general secretary Niaz Khan and LEF programme manager Irfan Elahi.

Why it matters

Home-based workers make much of what Pakistan's export and local garment trade sells, but because they work at home through middlemen, they rarely appear on any payroll. That keeps them outside minimum wage enforcement, EOBI pensions and provincial social security.

Check your own pay

If you do piece work, write down the hours each order takes and work out your hourly rate: it is the strongest argument when you negotiate with a contractor. Our overtime calculator and salary breakdown calculator can help you compare. If you are registered with an employer, the EOBI calculator shows what pension you are building.