Re-employed pensioners allowed to draw reduced salary

• Decision brings relief to thousands of re-employed pensioners.
• Re-employed can continue working in their organisations.
• President’s Secretariat, PM's Secretariat among others to get relief.
  

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has permitted pensioners to receive their pensions while being re-employed, as long as their salary is lower than an amount equal to their total pension, reported The News.

This decision has brought relief to thousands of re-employed pensioners across 36 departments, including the President’s Secretariat, Prime Minister’s Secretariat, Supreme Court of Pakistan, Senate Secretariat, National Assembly Secretariat, Election Commission of Pakistan, and several others.

Earlier, the Ministry of Finance had asked the re-employed workforce to get a salary or pension and barred them from getting both simultaneously. It was conveyed to the Regulation Wing of the Finance Ministry that the condition of choosing between salary and pension in case of re-employment will result in creating difficulties for different bodies to retain their workforce. 

For instance, in the case of regulatory bodies, the government had to hire a specialised workforce, and in the case of hiring from the private sector, it would be hard to find people who do not have any vested interests.

This has made it impossible for re-employed people to continue working in their organisations. Keeping in view different representations, the Ministry of Finance came up with a solution that during the re-employment period, the salary amount will be provided after deducting an equivalent amount from the gross pension.