Links between labour welfare, good governance practices and poverty reduction is a relatively under- researched area in the Pakistani context. Yet, given the poverty alleviation concerns of the Government of Pakistan, this is an important avenue to explore. Poverty reduction not only requires that employment opportunities be created but also that these employment opportunities are able to pull individuals and households out of absolute poverty. Moreover, there is increasing concern that employment conditions should remain 'humane', i.e. devoid of conditions of forced labour, child labour and provide a living wage (conditions of decent work). Poverty alleviation also underpins ADB's project lending to member countries. ADB has also recently signed an MOU with the ILO that binds the ADB to enforce core labour standards in all projects that it funds. Since road construction projects constitute a significant component of ADB's portfolio, the ADB commissioned the Collective to study the level of compliance with core labour standards in ADB funded road construction projects. The main objectives of the study were to document the general conditions of work in the road construction sector, gauge the level of compliance of core labour standards, as well as identify the parameters of the labour market that facilitated or hindered the implementation of key labour standards. The research was also expected to provide policy suggestions to enable the government of Pakistan to ensure implementation and monitoring of key labour standards in the road construction sector.