Faisalabad Firm Accused of Withholding Worker’s Pay

By Saleem Mubarak

Ammar Bhatti has been running from pillar to post trying to get his salary from a private firm that works with United Kingdom customers in merchant services and energy solutions, but all in vain.

Talking to Grand Lines, Ammar Bhatti, who joined the company–Aims Contact Technonolgies– as a Business Sales Executive (BSE) on January 29 and left on February 28, said that the company did not pay him around Rs 45,000 in salary despite his serving without any issue.

This company provides utility and merchant services to business owners in the UK. The main job of the BSE is to make outbound calls to convince clients to buy the company’s services.

Employee alleges unfair termination and withheld salary

He said the company, including his team lead, knew that he was a former government employee and that he had an issue going on with his department. He added that he had obtained leave twice to perform some tasks related to his previous government job.

When he returned to work, the company refused to let him resume duty, saying that he had been terminated. When he asked for the reasons for his termination, the HR department officials preferred to remain tight-lipped.

He alleged that the company did nothing but exploit his rights.

“When I told them that I had served the company without any issue and had put in my full effort, the officials ignored my requests and started pressuring me to sign a paper, which I categorically refused.”

Following his refusal, he said, the HR officials told him they were unable to pay his salary. No reason was given for the none-payment of his salary, he added.

Complaint filed with Labour Department Faisalabad

After a few days, Ammar again approached the HR department and requested his salary. The HR team said they would discuss the matter with the CEO. However, even after several more days, there was still no response.

Sensing the situation, Ammar decided to take the legal path. First, he searched the CM Portal to file a complaint against the company; however, he could not find any option there.

Since that option was not available, he contacted the Labor Department Faisalabad.

Submitting the application he explained the whole situation in detail.

Employees claim salary withholding is common practice

Ammar said he had also discussed the situation with different employees of the company, both those who were still working there and those who had already left.

During the discussions, he said it emerged that this was an alleged common practice of the company to keep employees’ money. In most cases, they preferred to terminate employees for different reasons so that the company could refuse to pay their salaries.

He said that, to avoid the shenanigans of the company, some seniors said that most of the employees who left did not submit their resignations only to avoid financial losses.

He added that, like him, some employees tendered their resignations, but the company created issues, refused to accept the resignations, or found excuses to withhold their salaries and humiliated them before termination.

Labour law requires payment of salary after termination

Talking about the issuance of salaries, he said that the company pays employees on the 15th of each month, which is against the labor law.

Speaking to Grand Lines, Labour Inspector Muhammad Ateeq said that a few days ago, he visited the company after receiving an application submitted by Mr. Ammar Bhatti. However, the offices were locked.

He said he had served a notice to the company and asked them to submit their reply by Monday (March 16). However, he said the company did not turn up to reply.

Responding to a query regarding the issuance of salaries, he said that according to the law, companies are bound to pay salaries to employees even after termination.

The Aims Technologies HR Department, responding to the query, said that the company upholds the highest standards of employment and industrial practices in strict compliance with national and international regulations.

Terming the allegations as false and a vague attempt at defamation, the company claimed that the individual breached standard employment terms and the employment contract on the following grounds:

Unauthorized Departure: Left the organization on an immediate basis by personal decision and refused to serve the notice period required by standard employment terms.

Falsified Company Records: Provided false information for employment and refused to provide required documentation when requested.

Author Profile

Saleem Mubarak: Award-winning investigative journalist with 20+ years of experience across Pakistan's leading news organisations, including 15+ years as Senior Staff Correspondent at Dawn. Driven by a lifelong passion for investigative journalism and human rights, with a proven record of hard-hitting stories that forced official action — from hospital negligence and illegal land grabs to harassment probes and social injustice. He is the recipient of the K.C. Kulish International Award for Excellence in Print Journalism.