Last updated on July 7, 2026.

Paid Time Off (PTO) in Pakistan

Vacation (Annual Leave) Quota

14 days

Regular employees in Pakistan get 14 days of paid vacation each year—after being employed for one full year.

An employee is considered to have completed one full year of continuous service even if this period is interrupted by illness, accident, or any other authorized leave, as long as these interruptions don’t surpass a total of 90 days. This also applies to breaks in service caused by a lawful strike, a lockout, or up to thirty days of involuntary (obligatory) unemployment.

Taking a Vacation

After completing twelve months of continuous service, an employee has at their disposition fourteen consecutive days of vacation in the following twelve-month period.

Pakistan leave laws require vacation days to be taken all at once and may not be divided into parts. However, depending on company policy, this rule may be disregarded in practice, and vacation may be taken in smaller fragments.

An employer must reimburse half of the total vacation pay before an employee’s vacation begins.

Carry Over

Allowed; up to 14 days.

Vacation days not taken during a calendar year may be rolled over to the next year; up to 14 days may be transferred.

PTO Payout at Termination

Must be paid.

Vacation days that are accrued but not taken must be paid out to an employee at the termination of employment.

Sick Leave

8 - 16 days

The exact number of sick leave days depends on provincial law and whether the company works under the Factories Act or the Shops Ordinance.

• Employees are entitled to 16 days of regular sick leave, paid at 50% of their regular wage, if they fall under the Factories Act, like, for example, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab. In Balochistan, 20 days of sick leave at full pay. In Sindh, 16 days at full pay.

• Employees are entitled to 8 days of sick leave per year if they fall under the Shops and Ordinances Act.

A medical certificate is required for authorized sick leave.

Casual Leave

10 days fully paid.

Each regular employee is entitled (besides sick days) to 10 days of fully paid casual leave. This leave is separate from vacation days. Casual leave can be taken for sudden sickness or incident, as well as other critical or urgent situations. Employees should notify their supervisor as soon as possible when they need to take casual leave, ensuring that proper arrangements can be made to cover their responsibilities during their absence.

Maternity and Paternity Leave

Maternity Leave in Pakistan

180 days for the first child.

A female employee in Pakistan who becomes pregnant is entitled to maternity leave; its duration depends on which pregnancy it is.

Paid maternity leave covers the first three children.

An employee is entitled to paid maternity leave for the duration of:

• The first birth: 180 days.
• The second birth: 120 days.
• The third birth: 90 days.

After the 3rd child, employees are not entitled to paid maternity leave.

Employees qualify for maternity leave after completing 4 months of service in the company (waiting period).

Taking a Maternity Leave

Maternity leave may start six weeks prior to the anticipated delivery date. A pregnant employee must give their superior in the company a written notice of their pregnancy as soon as possible, after knowing about it. Eligible pregnant employees are entitled to medical care both before and after childbirth as part of their maternity benefits.

Pakistani Leave Laws for Maternity Leave

Pakistan leave laws include two main provisions regarding maternity leave—one is federal law and the other is provincial.

An employee taking maternity leave is protected from termination during this period.

Payout

Maternity leave is paid by the employer at a rate of 100% of the regular salary.

To qualify for paid maternity benefits, an employee must have paid a minimum of 180 days of contributions to social security in the 12 months leading up to maternity leave.

Paternity Leave in Pakistan

30 days of fully paid leave.

An employee working in Pakistan who becomes a father is entitled to 30 days (one month) of fully paid paternity leave. Male employees are able to apply three times during their employment for paternity leave.

Payout

Paternity leave in Pakistan is paid by the employer at 100% of an employee’s regular salary.

Bereavement Leave in Pakistan

Applied when a female employee loses her spouse.

Bereavement leave is only specified and guaranteed by Pakistani leave laws for a female employee in the event of her husband’s death.

A female employee may be entitled to Special (Iddat) Leave for up to 130 days fully paid (which is 4 months and 10 days) following her husband’s death. This leave starts on the day of his death. She must provide a death certificate when she applies for Iddat Leave or as soon as practicable thereafter. This leave is not deducted from her regular leave balance.

Besides this, Pakistan’s leave laws do not specify bereavement leave. Employees may use casual leave for these unfortunate events like a death in the family.

Jury Duty Leave in Pakistan

Jury duty leave is not specified in Pakistan’s leave laws. Juries do not exist, and all trials are conducted exclusively by professional judges.

Military Leave in Pakistan

Online data unavailable; check official or offline legal materials.

Voting Leave in Pakistan

Voting leave is not specified by law, but election day itself is declared a nationwide public holiday, providing employees with enough time to visit polling stations.

Public Holidays in Pakistan

7 national and 4 Islamic holidays

If an employee works on a day that is a public holiday, they are going to be given time off in lieu, which means that they will have one extra day off as a substitute for work on a holiday.

(*) - Dates are movable every year according to the Islamic lunar calendar and are approved as the date of the holiday approaches.

Sources

1. Labor Laws in Pakistan, https://ahmedandqazi.com/statutes/labour-laws-in-pakistan/

2. Local Laws & Regulations, https://www.atlashxm.com/en/countries/pakistan

3. Payroll and Benefits Guide Pakistan, https://www.papayaglobal.com/countrypedia/country/pakistan/

4. Definitive Guide to Hiring in Pakistan, https://www.globalexpansion.com/countrypedia/Pakistan

5. Official Government Document: The Maternity and Paternity Leave Act, 2020, https://www.mercer.com/content/dam/mercer-dotcom/migrated-assets/blogs/law-and-policy/2020/12/gl-2020-pakistan-maternity-and-paternity-leave.pdf

6. Leaves Regulations MTI KTH/KMC/KCD 2021, https://kmc.edu.pk/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Leaves-Regulations-2021-MTI-KTH-KMC-KCD-1.pdf

Check out our Leave Laws page to learn more about laws in various countries.