Statutory entitlement
Under the West Pakistan Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Orders) Ordinance 1968 and the Factories Act 1934, permanent workers are entitled to:
| Province / Sector | Sick Leave Days/Year | Pay |
|---|---|---|
| Punjab (Standing Orders) | 10 days | Full pay |
| Sindh (Factories Act) | 14 days | Full pay (Sindh Factories Act 2015) |
| KPK | 10 days | Full pay |
| Balochistan | 10 days | Full pay |
| Federal Government employees | Unlimited (with medical board approval) | Full pay up to 4 months; half pay up to 4 more months |
Most private companies add to the statutory minimum, offering 10–15 days full-pay sick leave and an extended half-pay tier for longer illnesses. The tiered structure below is the most common private sector approach in Pakistan.
Pay tiers: full pay → half pay → unpaid
Full Pay Sick Leave (Days 1 to X)
Employee receives full salary for the first X days of sick leave per year (commonly 10–16 days). No salary deduction. Leave balance is consumed at 1 day per sick day.
Half Pay Sick Leave (Days X+1 to Y)
After the full-pay balance is exhausted, the employee receives 50% of their daily rate for each additional sick day (up to a configured limit, commonly 6 weeks = 42 calendar days or equivalent working days). A medical certificate is typically required at this stage.
Leave Without Pay (Days Y+1 onward)
Beyond the half-pay tier, remaining sick days are unpaid. For extended illness beyond this threshold, companies may invoke the provisions of the Standing Orders Ordinance regarding incapacity and possible termination with gratuity.
Full-pay balance: 10 days | Half-pay limit: 30 working days
Basic salary: PKR 60,000
Day 1–10 (full pay): PKR 0 deduction per day
Day 11–40 (half pay): Deduction = (60,000 ÷ 26) × 0.5 = PKR 1,154 per day
Day 41+ (unpaid): Deduction = (60,000 ÷ 26) × 1.0 = PKR 2,308 per day
The full → half → unpaid tiering above describes common company practice, not built-in system behaviour. Octal HR does not automatically switch an employee between pay tiers; where reduced or unpaid days apply, HR handles them through your regular loss-of-pay process in payroll.
Medical certificate practice
Most Pakistani companies require a medical certificate (doctor's note) after a threshold number of consecutive sick days:
| Aspect | Typical practice | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate expected after | 3 consecutive days | Standard: day 1–2 no certificate; day 3+ certificate expected |
| Accepted certificate sources | MBBS doctor, hospital, PIMS/Aga Khan/CMH etc. | Unregistered "quack" certificates not accepted in most formal sector companies |
| Certificate submission window | Within a couple of working days of return | If not submitted, sick leave may be treated as Absence Without Leave (AWOL) per policy |
| EOBI / SESSI claim documentation | As per provincial social security authority | For SESSI/ESSI/PESSI claims, formal medical documentation from recognised hospitals is required |
These certificate thresholds are a matter of company policy. Octal HR does not enforce them; HR checks documentation as part of reviewing the request.
Set up sick leave in Octal HR
Sick leave is created as a leave type under Leave → Leave Types, using the standard fields:
Payroll impact
Within the entitled, paid sick leave allowance, approved sick days are treated as paid and do not create a deduction. Sick days that fall outside the paid allowance — for example extended absence your policy treats as reduced-pay or unpaid — are handled through Octal HR's regular loss-of-pay handling in payroll, the same way as any other unpaid absence.
There is no separate automatic "half-pay sick leave" payroll line. Any partial-pay or unpaid treatment for long illness is applied by HR according to your written policy.