Introduction:

Bangladesh is currently the 8th in population in all over the countries containing over 168 million
people almost. Thus, there is a large and cheap labor force of about 90 million, of which 60
million are agricultural jobs and 30 million non-agricultural jobs. All employers are expected to
follow government’s labor laws that determine employment conditions, working hours, wage
levels, leave policies, health and sanitary conditions, and compensation for injured workers.
Bangladesh ensures the independence of the constitution and has the right to join the union under
the jurisdiction of the Labor Act in Bangladesh. But labor law in Bangladesh is very specific and
these laws are not up to date. The Bangladesh government has failed to established adequate
development to protect the rights of basic workers, including the important rights of free
expression and freedom of association, or strengthening overall access to rule of law for labors.
Workers in Bangladesh face risky working conditions and an awful minimum wage even if it has
increased recently which fails to cover the most basic expenses of living. Moreover, minimum
wage laws and other labor rights protections face a serious lack of systematic enforcement. The
main reason behind the labor law is not effective because of ignorance about the employer and
workers as well as the unknowns of the government. So, unhealthy work environment, low pay,
discrimination, child labor and many illegal practices at workplace are ignored by legal authority
in Bangladesh. When Bangladesh government was under pressure from various sources to
promote labor rules for a long time, as a result the last amended law was enacted in 2013 as
‘Bangladesh Labor Act 2006’.

Definition of labor:

Adolescent: Adolescent means a person who has completed his fourteenth years of age but has
not completed eighteenth years of age.

Child: That means a person who has not completed his fourteenth years of age.

Adult: Adult means a person who has completed his eighteenth years of age.

Retrenchment: Retrenchment means terminating the employer in the service of workers, not as
a measure of punishment but on the basis of redundancy.

Discharge: Discharge means termination of any worker’s service by the employer due to
physical or mental disability or continued illness of a worker.
Dismissal: That means the termination of any worker’s service by the employer for misconduct.

Go-slow: Go-slow means an organized, deliberate and purposeful slowing down of normal
output of work by a body of workers in a combined manner, and which is not due to any
mechanical defect, breakdown of machinery, failure or defect in power supply or in the supply of
normal material and spare parts of machinery

Lay-off: Lay-off means the failure, rejection or incapability of an employer on account of

shortage of coal, power or raw material or the accumulation of stock or the break-down of
machinery to give employment to a worker

Classification of workers:

Workers employed in any organization will be classified into any of the following categories
according to the nature and condition of work namely:
1. Apprentice
2. Substitute/Badli
3. Casual
4. Temporary
5. Probationer
6. Permanent

Classification of workers

Apprentice Badli Casual Temporary Probationer Permanent

1. Apprentice: A worker will be called an apprentice if any worker is employed in an

establishment or an organization as a learner and is paid during the period of training. Or,
a learner who is paid a stipend during his training.
2. Substitute/Badli: A worker will be called a substitute/badli if any worker is employed in
an organization in the post of a permanent worker or probationer during the period of his
temporary absence.

3. Casual: If any worker is employed an organization in an establishment as casual nature is

called casual worker.

4. Temporary: A worker who was hired for a job that was basically temporary in nature
and probably ended within a limited period is called temporary worker.

5. Probationer: A worker will be called probationer if any worker is provisionally in an

establishment to fill a permanent vacancy in a post and has not completed the period of
his probation.

6. Permanent: A worker will be called a permanent worker if the worker is employed in an

establishment on a permanent basis or if he has satisfactorily completed the period of his
probation in the establishment.