The study, entitled “From Complaint to Redress: Routes to Remedy for Garment Workers in Pakistan,” draws on three years of evidence collected via MyVox, a community-based monitoring tool operated by GRC, as well as research from Pakistani civil society organisations and trade unions.
It maps the various judicial and non-judicial pathways available to garment workers and details the obstacles they face in seeking redress for issues such as wage theft, unsafe working conditions, harassment, and lack of social protection.
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Mechanisms examined in the report included labour courts and provincial labour departments. They also included the Federal Ombudsman’s Secretariat for Protection Against Harassment (FOSPAH), the National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR), and the National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC), as well as alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes and social protection bodies like the Employees’ Old Age Benefits Institution (EOBI).
The report also examined company-level grievance channels, multi-stakeholder initiatives, and strategic litigation or international options.
GRC identifies “fragmentation, uneven implementation, and limited accessibility” as key challenges across these existing frameworks.
The organisation states that the challenge in Pakistan is not the “absence of remedy” mechanisms, but that workers struggle to navigate “parallel systems” because of unclear procedures and a lack of standardisation.
Workers often do not have clear information about their rights or which institution to approach, and may experience “delays, jurisdictional confusion, employer resistance, and fear of retaliation.”
The report finds that gaps between brands, suppliers, and state institutions with differing approaches to grievance handling contribute to confusion and place the burden on workers to manage complex procedures without adequate support.
GRC said: “The absence of standardised grievance handling approaches across brands, suppliers, and state institutions results in multiple parallel systems that are inconsistent and poorly understood.”
Despite these challenges, GRC’s report reveals cases where remedy mechanisms delivered outcomes for individual cases, particularly when trade unions or civil society groups supported workers.
Provincial Labour Departments, labour courts, FOSPAH, and social protection institutions have all provided redress under certain conditions.
“Remedy mechanisms can and do work when they are accessible, properly resourced, and supported by worker organisations,” it said.
Findings indicate that labour rights abuses in the sector are often “systemic and overlapping,” with many workers facing wage violations, harassment, and restrictions on freedom of association at the same time. This complexity means that standalone legal processes are insufficient.
The report observes that Labour Departments can act as an effective first point of contact due to their local presence and ability to facilitate negotiation.
Recent years have also seen increased use of ADR methods as a less adversarial route for workers seeking resolution of disputes.
Recommendations
GRC urged Pakistani policymakers to prioritise access to remedy within the next National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights (NAP-BHR) through measurable targets and strengthen coordination between federal and provincial authorities.
It also calls for greater transparency via public reporting, ratification of key International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions and expansion of Labour Departments’ mandate.
For multinational companies sourcing from Pakistan’s garment sector, GRC advises recognition and participation in grievance processes that are led by workers or supported by unions, including those outside of factory-level structures.
It recommends that companies transition towards grievance mechanisms that are designed and managed jointly with workers and unions.
Brands are encouraged to support remediation through purchasing practices, such as making price adjustments or providing advance payments when necessary.
The report also calls on companies to use their influence transparently by requiring suppliers to issue appointment letters, acknowledge unions, and cooperate with state-based mechanisms.
GRC business and human rights lead Lara Strangways said: “As Pakistan prepares the next phase of its BHR-NAP, this report underscores a critical message: effective remedy depends not on creating more mechanisms on paper, but on making existing ones work better, faster, and more consistently for workers.
“Strengthening access to remedy requires coordinated action by the government, brands, suppliers, trade unions, and civil society — grounded in workers’ lived realities and aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs).”
