Pakistan’s employment/labour laws predominantly govern manual labour such as factory workers, not the services sector. Therefore, generally, companies in the services sector draft their own templates for employment agreements based on their specific needs and requirements. The one law that needs to be complied with is “The Contract Act, 1872” (“Contract Act”). The Contract Act lays down the principles for formation of valid contracts, their performance and breach. In terms of specific contracting parties and their relationships, the Contract Act deals comprehensively with Principal-Agent relationships but there are no separate sections or any specific provision of this law on employment contracts in particular or employer-employee relationships in general. In light of the absence of any specific provisions, employment agreements are drafted to cater to the specific needs of the business in particular and the industry/sector in general. The employment agreement should stipulate though whether it is governed by a general or specific labor/employment law such as the Road Transport Workers Ordinance 1961” (“Road Transport Ordinance”), the Mining Labor Code or the Newspaper Employees Act. Therefore, it is pertinent to consider the potential applicability of the Road Transport Ordinance since this law appears to be the most relevant in light of the ride-sharing company’s business.
