Right to Employment and Labour in Nepal: An Unfulfilled Promise?

Constitution Study #11: An analysis of Articles 33 and 34

In Nepal, Right to Employment and Labour are fundamental rights. Yet many Nepalis leave the country for employment and labour. It’s not because we are lazy or don’t want to work. We have cultivated crops in the deserts of the Gulf, constructed buildings and ships in the Middle East, Malaysia, and South Korea, and taken care of children and elderly in the nursing homes of Europe and Australia. So, what’s going wrong–our policies or the way we are implementing them?

Right to Employment and Labour

Article 33 of the Constitution of Nepal (2015) declares the Right to Employment as a fundamental right. It states:

Every citizen shall have the right to employment. [Article 33(1)]

and

Every citizen shall have the right to choose employment. [Article 33(2)]

Article 34 guarantees the Right to Labour. It allows labourers (anyone who does physical or intellectual work for an employer in consideration of remuneration) to have:

• fair labour practice [Article 34(1)]
• appropriate remuneration, facilities and contributory social security [Article 34(2)] and
• form and join trade unions and to engage in collective bargaining, in accordance with law.

International Commitments

Nepal is a signatory to major International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions, including:

• ILO Convention No. 14 (Weekly Rest (Industry))
• Convention No. 29 (Forced Labour),
• Convention No. 98 (Right to Organize and Collective Bargaining),
• Convention No. 131 (Minimum Wage)
• Convention No. 138 (Minimum Age), and
• Convention No. 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labour).

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 23) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 6) also affirm the right to work, fair wages, and decent working conditions.

The constitutional provisions and international commitments on right to employment and labour sound like Nepal values its workers. But promises are far from being fulfilled.

The Ground Reality: Exploitation and Exclusion

Lack of employment opportunties in Nepal is driven by a mostly service-orientated public sector and a slow-growing private sector with little to no opportunities for career growth. Many private institutions don’t even provide minimum basic salary to lower-level employees.

Exploitation of labour is rampant in Nepal, especially, but not limited to the informal sector and among the rural and the marginalized. Even the 16th Plan (2024/25–2028/29) acknowledges this gap. It notes that informal employment still dominates the labour market, with nearly two-thirds of jobs falling outside formal protections, a recipe for exploitation.

Child labour, bonded labour (especially among the Dalit communities), wage theft in the construction and domestic work sectors, and lack of safety standards in manufacturing remain persistent problems. Domestic workers, many of whom are women, and those in high-risk sectors like mining are often excluded from social security. Even white-collar government employees have low remuneration, and only recenlty getting access to contribution-based social security.

The absence of adequate and effective inspection means that companies get away with violations of labour laws. As a result, thousands of labourers suffer in silence. Many leave the country in frustration.

The Great Departure: Why Nepalis Work Abroad

Jobs are linked to dignity. Absence of dignified jobs kills dreams, and people migrate. As per the Economic Survey, more than 774,000 Nepalis received labour permits for foreign employment in FY 2022/23 alone. This does not even count the undocumented workers going to India or trafficked people using alternative routes.

The emigration in search of employment is often a compulsion for many. Jobs in Nepal are either unavailable, underpaid, unsafe, or reserved for the connected few. The 16th Plan admits:

The production and employment sectors have not grown in proportion to the country’s population and its aspirations”.

The stunted growth of productive sectors have brought challenges in implementing right to employment and labour.

A Glimmer of Hope?

The Constitution is alive and the 16th Plan is ambitious. It vows to:

• Increase the formal sector’s share of employment from 36.5% to 70% by 2043,
• Raise labour force participation to 72%,
• Expand trainings for at least one million youths.
• Promote productive employment and decent jobs as a strategy for poverty alleviation.

However, the Economic Survey 2080/81 reminds us that Nepal’s economy remains largely remittance-driven. The contribution of remittance to GDP stood at 21.2%, while the primary sectors like agriculture and manufacturing continue to shrink in their GDP share.

The promise of employment-led growth requires, in addition to policies, political will, labour reforms, skill development, and the courage to challenge vested interests that lead to labour exploitation. It will definitely lead to protection and implementation of the right to employment and labour.

What next?

Should we abandon hope? Or can we demand that the right to employment and labour be more than just ink on paper?

We push for:

• Strengthening of the private sector by creating competitive environment,
• Implementation of the Labour Act, 2074 with strict monitoring and punishments for violations,
• Expansion of social security coverage to informal workers,
• Empowerment of labour unions,
• Investment in job-creating sectors, especially manufacturing and agriculture,
• Returnee reintegration and skill-matching programs.

And most importantly, we must continue to ask questions. Because silence, after all, is the worst kind of exploitation.