SHC orders constitution of social security courts in province

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the provincial government to establish social security courts at all places where such courts have not been constituted under the Social Security Act.

Disposing of a petition of a microfinance bank for issuance of registration cards for its employees by the Sindh Employees Social Security Institution (Sessi), an SHC division bench comprising Justice Salahuddin Panhwar and Justice Adnanul Karim Memon expressed concern over lack of social security courts in the province under the law.

The bench also directed Sessi to recover outstanding arrears of Rs557 million from employer institutions of the province. The high court observed that the provincial government had not made serious efforts for the implementation of the social security law as instead of establishing separate social security courts, the government had notified two labour courts as social security courts.

The SHC observed that the labour courts were already small in number and overburdened and so at least one social security court in each district and four courts in the Karachi division were needed to help determine the issues of the most unprivileged labour and worker classes.

The high court also referred to judicial officers’ report on the status of Sessi in terms of fixing wages and implementation of the labour laws, which stated that 88.5 per cent workers fell in the class of ordinary workers who were not registered with Sessi due to lack of awareness and unwillingness of their employers.

The report pointed out that as many as 651,364 workers had been registered with Sessi in Sindh who could avail medical facilities, gratuity and cash benefits in case of sickness, maternity, death and disability.

The high court observed that the Sindh Workers Welfare Board also provided housing facilities, education to children, financial assistance (grant in aid for marriage, death and scholarship) to those workers who were registered with Sessi or the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution.

The bench observed that the report pointed out that there was failure on part of the institution to recover Rs557 million arrears, which could have been collected and spent on the welfare of workers if the establishment had discharged its obligations.

The bench directed the social security institution to ensure the recovery of Rs557 million by resorting to all legal courses under the law. The high court also directed Sessi to ensure physical verification of all the establishments falling within its territorial jurisdiction and ensure registration of employees.

The SHC directed Sessi to work for the registration of domestic workers under the Sindh Home-Based Workers Act 2018 for which necessary publications shall be issued to inform the domestic workers about their rights in case they had registered themselves under the law.

The high court observed that admittedly, a less number of workers were registered with Sessi and the Sindh Workers Welfare Board and directed all the deputy commissioners to provide help to Sessi officers to ensure that every worker was registered with the institution.

The bench also directed Sessi to introduce digital modes for registration of workers enabling employees and self-employed workers to fill the required forms for issuance of social security registration cards.

The social welfare secretary and others were told to submit a compliance report on the court directives within two months. Regarding the petitioner’s request for the registration of employees, the high court observed that since Sessi had agreed to issue the registration cards, the petitioner shall ensure compliance with required formalities and all the workers shall be registered within one month.