Most domestic placements in Pakistan happen on a handshake, and most of the disputes that follow trace back to exactly that. A written agreement does not need to be a legal document drafted by a lawyer, it needs to exist, be specific, and be something both sides actually read before signing.
What it should cover, at minimum
- Salary and payment date. The exact figure, the unit (monthly, daily), and a fixed date each month it is paid.
- Duties. Written specifically enough that "helping around the house" cannot later expand to mean anything the employer wants. List the actual tasks.
- Hours and days off. Start and end time, and which day is the weekly off, named explicitly rather than "flexible."
- Live-in terms, if relevant. What accommodation and food are provided, and what happens to them if employment ends.
- Notice period. How much notice either side gives before ending the arrangement, and what happens to unpaid salary if it ends early.
- Advance or loan terms, if any. If a salary advance is given, how it is repaid, written down rather than assumed.
What it should never include
Any clause requiring a payment from the worker to the employer or an agency as a condition of starting work is not a normal employment term, it is the advance-fee pattern covered in our scams guide, dressed up in contract language. A genuine agreement only moves money from employer to worker, never the other way, except for a clearly repaid advance the worker requested.
Both sides should keep a signed copy
Not a photo on one phone that can be deleted, an actual copy each side holds. This is not about distrust, it is about removing memory and interpretation as the only record if a disagreement happens six months in.
For employers reading this
A written agreement protects you as much as the worker. It is the document you point to when a duty was clearly agreed and later disputed, and it is what makes a police character certificate, reference check or guarantor detail worth having, since it sits alongside a record of what was actually promised. Skipping it to save an awkward conversation almost always costs more time later, when the disagreement has already happened.
A simple structure that works
You do not need a template from a lawyer for most household placements. A single page covering the six points above, dated and signed by both parties, with each side keeping a copy, is sufficient for the vast majority of domestic employment in Pakistan. Complexity is not the goal, specificity is.
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