Workplace harassment in Pakistan has a dedicated statutory route, separate from ordinary employment grievance procedures and separate from the criminal law. Many people never use it because they do not know it exists, or because they assume the only options are to resign or to endure.

There is a defined process, it is designed to be accessible, and it does not require you to fund litigation.

The statutory framework

The Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010 established a complaints mechanism, and subsequent amendment has broadened its scope — including in relation to who may complain and what counts as a workplace, extending protection beyond the conventional employer-employee setting.

Two features matter practically.

Every organisation is required to have an Inquiry Committee and to display the Code of Conduct. Many do not, and that failure is itself something the Ombudsperson can act on.

There is an independent route. You are not confined to your employer's internal process — a complaint may be made to the Ombudsperson, which matters a great deal where the harasser is senior, or where the organisation is the problem.

What counts

The statutory definition covers unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favours, and other verbal or written communication or physical conduct of a sexual nature, and it extends to conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment, and to the abuse of a position of authority in connection with such conduct.

It is not limited to physical acts. Repeated unwelcome messages, pressure tied to promotion or continued employment, and conduct that makes the working environment hostile can all fall within it.

Ordinary workplace unpleasantness — a difficult manager, an unfair workload — does not, though it may raise other employment issues. See dismissed from your job in Pakistan.

The two routes

The Inquiry Committee, internally. The committee must inquire, give the accused an opportunity to respond, and report. Penalties available range from minor to major, including dismissal.

The Ombudsperson, directly or on appeal. This is the route where the internal committee does not exist, is not independent, or does not act — and it is frequently the better route from the outset for that reason.

Appeals from the Ombudsperson lie further, and the process is designed to be comparatively quick.

You may also, separately, pursue criminal proceedings where the conduct discloses an offence, and civil remedies in appropriate cases. These are not alternatives — they can run in parallel.

Evidence

You may have more than you think.

  • Messages, emails and call logs — preserve them, export them, and do not delete the conversation
  • A dated contemporaneous record of each incident, written as close to the time as possible
  • Witnesses, including colleagues who observed conduct or to whom you complained at the time
  • Any complaint already made, and the response or absence of one
  • Employment records — a sudden decline in appraisals or a transfer following a refusal is relevant
  • Medical or counselling records, where relevant

Preserve first, complain second. People who confront the harasser before securing their evidence frequently lose access to it.

Retaliation

Adverse action following a complaint — dismissal, transfer, demotion, an engineered performance issue — is a recognised pattern and can itself be raised.

If you are dismissed after complaining, note that employment grievance deadlines are short, and separate from the harassment process. Take advice immediately so that both are protected.

For employers

The obligations are not optional, and compliance is inexpensive:

  • Constitute an Inquiry Committee properly, and keep it constituted as people leave
  • Adopt and display the Code of Conduct
  • Train the committee — an inquiry conducted badly is set aside, and the organisation then faces both the original complaint and the failed process
  • Inquire properly: specific allegations, the accused given the material and an opportunity to respond, a reasoned report
  • Protect the complainant from retaliation during the process
  • Keep it confidential. Leaks are common and cause serious harm

Employers who deal with a complaint by pressuring the complainant to resign convert a manageable inquiry into a harassment claim, a wrongful dismissal grievance and a reputational problem at once.

Practical advice

Complain in writing, and keep a copy.

Do not resign first if you can avoid it — resignation narrows your options and is frequently what the situation is engineered to produce.

Do not accept a "full and final settlement" without advice on what you are releasing.

Act promptly. Delay weakens the account and may affect the remedies available.

How the firm can help

We advise complainants on which route to use, prepare complaints to Inquiry Committees and to the Ombudsperson, and represent parties through the inquiry and any appeal. Where dismissal or retaliation follows, we act in the employment proceedings alongside — and in criminal proceedings where the conduct warrants them.

We also advise employers on establishing compliant committees and conducting inquiries properly, and represent those facing complaints, where a fair process matters equally.

These matters are handled discreetly. Contact the firm, or telephone the chambers if you would prefer to speak before putting anything in writing.