Rates at a glance (unskilled adult worker, per month)
- Sindh: Rs 43,000 from 1 July 2026, notified in August 2026 under the Sindh Minimum Wages Act 2015.
- Islamabad Capital Territory: Rs 40,700 from 1 July 2026, notified in August 2026.
- Punjab: Rs 40,000, the latest notification found (effective 1 July 2025); no 2026-27 notification found at the time of writing.
- Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Rs 45,000 proposed in the June 2026 budget; we found no notification, so confirm before applying it.
- Balochistan: we found no 2026-27 notification; confirm with the provincial Labour Department.
Sindh
The Sindh notification sets Rs 43,000 a month for unskilled adult, juvenile and adolescent workers from 1 July 2026, with daily and hourly equivalents for an 8-hour day and 48-hour week. It applies across industrial and commercial establishments and covers permanent, temporary, contract, daily-rated and piece-rated workers; piece-rated workers must earn at least the time-rate equivalent. Sindh also notifies separate, higher rates for semi-skilled, skilled and highly skilled workers, and requires wages to be paid through banking channels.
Islamabad
The ICT notification for 2026-27 sets Rs 40,700 a month for adult unskilled workers from 1 July 2026, with a part-time rate and an hourly rate for domestic workers. The same Rs 40,700 figure is the base EOBI uses for contributions nationally from July 2026, according to EOBI's circular. Note that the federal rate covers Islamabad; it is not a national rate for workers in the provinces.
Punjab
Punjab's last notified rate is Rs 40,000 a month for 26 working days, effective 1 July 2025. The Punjab Labour Code 2026 repealed the earlier minimum wages law, but its transition provisions keep existing notifications in force until replaced, and the Code requires basic wages to be no lower than the minimum wage. Punjab employers should check the Labour Department's site for a 2026-27 notification and be ready to pay arrears from 1 July if one is issued with retrospective effect.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan
The KP budget presented on 19 June 2026 proposed raising the minimum wage to Rs 45,000. A budget announcement is not a legal rate until notified, so KP employers should watch for the notification and its effective date. For Balochistan we found no official 2026-27 notification online.
What this means for payroll
- Apply the rate for the province where the employee works, not where head office is.
- Check total pay for piece-rate and daily-wage workers against the time-rate minimum.
- Expect retrospective notifications and plan for July and August arrears.
- Update EOBI, PESSI and SESSI settings when their wage bases follow the new rate.
- Pay through bank transfer where provincial rules require it.
How StreamHCM helps
StreamHCM keeps salary structures per branch, so pay for each province can be reviewed against its own rate, and arrears can be paid as a one-time component when a rate is notified after payroll has already run.
Skilled and other categories
The rates above are for unskilled workers. Sindh's notification includes higher monthly rates for semi-skilled (Rs 44,484), skilled (Rs 53,350) and highly skilled (Rs 55,626) workers, and other provinces have notified category rates or industry-specific rates in some years. If your workforce includes skilled trades, check the category rates, not just the headline figure.
Why notifications arrive late
Provincial minimum wage notifications often come weeks after the budget speech and after July payroll has run. The usual practice is to apply the new rate from its stated effective date and pay the difference as arrears in the next payroll. Keep the old and new rates as separate dated records so the arrears calculation is transparent to staff and auditors.
About this guide
This guide is general information, checked against the sources listed below on 24 October 2026. It is not legal or tax advice; confirm current notifications with the relevant authority or your adviser before acting.