Court Rules Workers Eligible for Pension After 14.5 Years of Service

The Federal Constitutional Court on Friday upheld workers’ right to a monthly pension, ruling that employees with at least fourteen and a half years of service qualify under the rounding off provision of the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Act, 1976.

A three judge bench dismissed five appeals filed by the Employees’ Old-Age Benefits Institution against earlier Lahore High Court decisions that granted pensions to workers with slightly less than fifteen years of insurable employment.

The court ruled that the law allows service periods of six months or more to count as a full year when determining eligibility. The court found that EOBI wrongly denied pensions to five workers by strictly applying the fifteen year requirement and ignoring the statutory schedule.

The judgment stated that public institutions must act fairly and consistently, especially in social welfare matters, and cannot withdraw benefits through executive circulars once legal rights have accrued.

The court held that the rounding off rule forms a substantive part of the pension framework and exists to prevent technical disqualification due to marginal shortfalls in service. It ruled that EOBI’s 2022 circular, which attempted to exclude rounding off, could not override the law or take away vested rights.

The bench concluded that workers with fourteen and a half years or more of service meet the legal requirement for pension eligibility and dismissed all appeals, reaffirming the pro worker intent of pension laws.