The court also stopped the implementation of the Minimum Wages for Unskilled Workers Act 2016 in the province.
Justice Ayesha A Malik passed the orders on petitions filed by Masood Textile and other industrial units, challenging the EOBI notification for the increase in the employers' and employees' contribution.
During the hearing, the petitioners' counsel, arguing before the court, submitted that the EOBI had increased the employers' and employees' share of contribution to Rs 780 per person per month.
The industrial units were further asked to deposit the outstanding dues from July 2013, as per the revised contribution, they added.
They mentioned that the EOBI took the step on the basis of revised minimum wages, amended through the Minimum Wages for Unskilled Workers Act 2016.
The counsel said that after passage of the 18th Amendment, the laws formed by the Federal Government were not applicable in the provinces in this regard. Accordingly, the Minimum Wages Act could not be implemented on industrial units, located in Punjab, they contended.
They pleaded to the court to stop implementation of federal minimum wages act in Punjab and set aside the EOBI notification for increase in employers' and employees' share of contribution or suspend implementation of it.
The court, after hearing initial arguments, stopped implementation of the notification and the minimum wages act in Punjab. The court also sought reply from the EOBI, federal and provincial governments till May 12.