Lecture-02

UNITED INTERNATIONAL
UNIVERSITY
Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management

Course Title: Employee Relations and Employment Laws

in Bangladesh
Facilitator:
Abul Hashem Mazumder
MBA (HRM), PGDHRM(BIM), LLB (NU)
Fellow & Former GS, BSHRM
Member : Labour Court, Dhaka.

Corporate Head of HR,

Mirpur Ceramic & Khadim Ceramics Ltd.
Email: ahmazumder2009@gmail.com
Cell : 01730010520, 01811343402
 Recap
1. Prior to this new Labor Law, how many Acts, Ordinances and
rules were there to follow?

2. When the Government of Bangladesh formed a National Labor

Law Commission to compile all laws, Acts and Ordinances ?

3. When the Labor Law was passed by the Parliament ?

4. BLA 2006 contains how many sections and Schedules ?

5. When Labour Rules under the BLA were formulated and

implemented ?

6. What is the minimum standard for HR practices in Bangladesh ?

7. Bangladesh Labour Law applies to what type of organization ?

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 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
Topics to be covered:

 Retirement.  Illegal strike

 Factory  Illegal lock-out
 Adolescent  Wages
 Subsistence Allowance  Collective Bargaining Agent
 Gratuity (CBA)
 Retrenchment  Lock-out
 Trade Union  Lay-off
 Strike  Industrial Dispute
 Establishment  Child
 Maternity benefit  Worker
 Dismissal
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
• Retirement:
2(1)'Retirement' Means normal termination of employment of a
worker on attaining certain age under section 28 of the Act.
Provided that retirement shall also include voluntary retirement
from service on completion of 25 years of service in any
establishment.

• Establishment:
2(31) 'establishment' means any shop, commercial establishment,
Transport, industrial establishment or premises in which workers
are employed for the purpose of carrying on any industry;

;
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 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS (Contd….)
• Factory:
2(7) 'factory' means any premises including the precincts
thereof whereon five or more workers ordinarily work
on any day of the year and in part of which a manufacturing
process is being carried on, but does not include a mine;
• Adolescent:
2(8) 'adolescent' means a person who has completed his
fourteenth year but has not completed eighteenth year
of age;
• Child:
2(63) 'child' means a person who has not completed his fourteenth year
of age;
• Subsistence Allowance:
2(9a) “Subsistence Allowance” means the half of basic wage,
dearness allowance and ad hoc (if any). 5
 Suspension and Subsistence Allowance
Suspension :
Basically two types of Suspension are there as provided by BLA:
 Suspension pending Inquiry (to keep the employee away from
work place till finalization of the disciplinary process).
 Suspension as a measure of punishment(without wages or
subsistence allowance). It is one of the Minor punishments
instead of dismissal on being found guilty of misconduct).
Subsistence allowance is the half of basic wages, interim wages
(if any), ad-hoc and dearness allowance and other allowances in
full 2(ix a) and 24(2) or gross (-) half of basic.
If the charge(s) could not be established, it will be treated that
he was at work and thus he has to be refunded the rest half of
basic wages deducted.
If he is awarded with any kind of punishment, he will not be
refunded the wages deducted. 6
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS (Contd….)
 Gratuity:
2(10) “gratuity” means wages payable on termination of employment of
a worker which shall be equivalent to not less than thirty days' wages
for every completed year of service or for any part thereof in excess of
six months, or in the case of more than ten years of service which shall be
equivalent to not less than forty five days' wages of the concerned worker at
the rate of last payment. It shall be in addition to any payment of
compensation or payment of wages or allowance in lieu of notice due to
termination of services of a worker on different grounds under this act
• Lay-off:
2(58) 'lay-off) means the failure, refusal or inability 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;

 Retrenchment:
2(11) 'retrenchment' means the termination by the employer of services of
workers, not as a measure of punishment but on the ground of redundancy;7
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS (Contd….)
• Trade Union:
2(15) 'trade union' means trade union of workers or
employers formed and registered under chapter XIII of
this Act and shall include a federation of trade unions.

 Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA):

2(52) 'collective bargaining agent (CBA)', in relation to
an establishment or group of establishments, means the
trade union of workers or federation of trade group of
establishments in the matter of collective bargaining;

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 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS (Contd….)
• Maternity benefit:
2(34) 'maternity benefit' means the sum of money payable
under the provisions of chapter IV to a woman worker
with leave;

• Dismissal:
2(39) 'dismissal' means the termination of services of a
worker by the employer for misconduct;

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 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS (Contd….)
• Strike:
2(22) 'strike' means cessation of work by a body of
persons employed in any establishment acting in
combination or a concerted refusal, or refusal
under a common understanding of any number of
persons who are or have been so employed to
continue to work or to accept employment;

• Illegal strike:
2(43) 'illegal strike' means a strike
declared, commenced or continued in
violation of the provisions of chapter 14; 10
 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS (Contd….)
• Lock-out:
2(57) 'lock-out' means the closing of a place of employment
or part of such place, or the suspension, wholly or partly, of
work by an employer, or refusal, absolute or conditional, by
an employer to engage at work any number of workers
employed by him, where such closing, suspension or refusal
occurs in connection with the industrial dispute or is intended for
the purpose of compelling workers employed the industrial dispute
or is intended for the purpose of compelling workers employed to
accept certain terms and conditions of or affecting employment;

• Illegal lock-out:
2(44) 'illegal lock-out' means a lock-out' means a lock-out
declared, commenced or continued in violation of the provisions
of chapter 14;
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 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS (Contd….)
 Wages:
2(45) 'wages' means all remuneration, expressed in terms of money
or capable of being so expressed, which would, if the terms of
employment, expressed or implied, were fulfilled, be payable to a
worker in respect of his employment or of work done in such
employment, and includes any other additional remuneration of the
nature aforesaid which would be so payable, but does not include-
(a) the value of any house accommodation, supply of light, water
medical attendance or other amenity or of any service excluded by
general or special order of the government,
(b) any contribution paid by the employer to any pension fund provident
fund,
(c) any traveling allowance on the value of any traveling concession,
(d) any sum paid to the worker to defray special expenses entitled on him
by the nature of his employment;

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 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS (Contd….)
• Industrial Dispute:
2(62) 'industrial dispute' means any dispute or
difference between employers and employers
or between employers and workers or
between workers and workers which is
connected with the employment or non-
employment or the terms of employment or
the conditions of work of any person;

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 IMPORTANT DEFINITIONS
Worker:
As per Section 2 (65) of the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006
(hereinafter referred to as ‘BLA’):

‘Worker’ means any person including an apprentice

employed in any establishment or industry, either directly
or through a contractor, in whichever name it is referred
to, to do any skilled, unskilled, manual, technical, trade
promotion or clerical work in exchange of wages or
money for hire or reward, whether the terms of
employment be expressed or implied, but does not
include a person employed mainly in a managerial,
supervisory or administrative capacity.
 RULES 2 (G) AND (J)
• Under Rule 2(g) ‘Supervisory officer’ has been defined as a
person deriving powers in writing from employer or
managing authorities, who under powers so derived, provides
or supervises the objectives, regulations of work, implementation
of control, evaluation or review of work, directing the workers,
in connection with an activity or service of a section of a factory
or establishment.

• Rule 2(j) clarifies that ‘Person employed in Administrative or

Managerial capacity’ derives powers in writing from employer
or managing authorities, and is employed for approving or
controlling the expenses of the establishment and the
recruitment, allocation of wages and benefits, termination or
removal from services, paying out the final settlement of the
workers or employees of the factory or establishment. 15
 Worker Vs Non-Worker

It is generally seen that there are two types of employees in

every organization:
- Employees falling within ‘Worker’ category; and
- Employees falling within ‘Non-Worker’ category.
As such it is important to have a clear understanding of the
meaning of ‘Worker’.
 Worker Vs Non-Worker
• A Worker when on very solitary occasions performs the
functions of a manager or administrative officer is not
ceased to be a Worker.
• What is important in determining whether a person is a
‘Worker’ is to see the main nature of the job done; not
just the designation.
• To be able to say that a person/title is not a Worker, it has to
be established further that he exercises functions mainly of
a managerial or administrative nature.
• It has to be resolved in each case by reference to the
evidence on record (i.e. the actual job description i.e.
duties actually performed, meaning not only the paper
based record).
 Class Evaluation
 Can any worker go on retirement after working 25 yrs
in a company ?
 Age to become Adolescent ..................
Age to become Child ..........................
When we put an employee under suspension.
When we give subsistance allowance to an employee?
Is Gratuity mandatory to provide by the employer?
When management can retrench a worker?
Can employers form a Trade Union?
Can employer go for Strike?
Understanding about Layoff
Meaning of Worker
What is Industrial Dispute
 Q&A
SESSION

19
Domestic Enquiry & Disciplinary Procedures
THANK YOU ALL

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