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Bangladesh Labour Law 2006: Summary and Key Provisions

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• July 31, 2022

Unraveling the Intricacies of the Bangladesh Labour Law 2006

The Bangladesh Labour Law 2006 is a comprehensive piece of legislation that governs the rights and obligations of workers and employers in Bangladesh. As a practitioner in the field of labor law, I am constantly in awe of the complexities and nuances of this law, and through this blog post, I aim to provide a summary of its key provisions and highlight its significance in ensuring fair and just working conditions for all.

Key Provisions of the Bangladesh Labour Law 2006

One pivotal aspects law emphasis welfare safety workers. It mandates that every worker must have a written contract of employment, ensuring clarity and transparency in the terms of their employment. Additionally, the law specifies the maximum working hours, minimum wage, and provisions for overtime, leave, and holidays.

Furthermore, the law outlines the rights of workers to form trade unions and engage in collective bargaining. This provision plays a crucial role in empowering workers to negotiate for better working conditions and fair remuneration.

Case Studies and Statistics

To truly understand the impact of the Bangladesh Labour Law 2006, it is important to look at real-life examples and statistics. In a recent case, a group of garment factory workers utilized the provisions of the law to negotiate for improved safety measures in their workplace, resulting in a significant decrease in workplace accidents.

Reflections Law

Studying the Bangladesh Labour Law 2006 has been an enriching experience for me. It serves as a testament to the government`s commitment to upholding the rights of workers and fostering a fair and just work environment. However, there are still challenges in its implementation, and ongoing efforts are essential to ensure that all workers are aware of their rights and that employers adhere to the stipulated regulations.

The Bangladesh Labour Law 2006 is a commendable piece of legislation that serves as a cornerstone for the protection and empowerment of workers. By familiarizing oneself with its provisions and advocating for its effective implementation, we can contribute to the creation of a more equitable and harmonious labor landscape in Bangladesh.

Frequently Asked Legal Questions about Bangladesh Labour Law 2006

Summary of bangladesh labour law 2006.

The following contract outlines the key components of the Bangladesh Labour Law 2006, which governs labor rights and regulations in the country. It is important for all parties to understand and comply with the provisions set forth in this law to ensure fair and lawful treatment of workers.

It is imperative for all parties to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Bangladesh Labour Law 2006 and to abide by its regulations to ensure fair and lawful treatment of workers in the country.

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Focus Keyword: Bangladesh Labour Law 

At present, labour courts in Bangladesh are functioning under the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 . According to this Act, the labour court is a unique and distinctive court, the constitution of which is based on tripartite representation model. The Court consists of a chairman and two members, one representing the workers and the other representing the employer. The Chairman represents the state as s/he is appointed by the Government from amongst the District or Additional District Judges. There is a panel of members of the labour court from which the Chairman appoints two members to constitute the court for the purpose of hearing an industrial dispute or a dispute relating to the service/employment of the workers. The Court in trying offences under the Act or resolving a dispute relating to the payment of wages or of compensation to workers for accidents, consists only of the Chairman.

Appeal from the judgments, decisions, or awards of Labour Court lies to the Labour Appellate Tribunal . The Tribunal may be constituted with one Chairman alone or with the Chairman and such other members as the Government may fix. The Chairman may be appointed from amongst the persons who are or had been a Judge or Additional Judge of the Supreme Court . Ordinarily the decisions of the Tribunal is final, no appeal lies against the order or judgment of the Tribunal.

As of now, there are only 7 Labour Courts across the country (3 in Dhaka, 2 in Chittagong, and 1 each in Rajshahi and Khulna). There is only one Labour Appellate Tribunal at Dhaka. By analyzing court registers, it is found that, till September 2016: in the Labour Courts of Bangladesh, 15128 cases were pending among these 11272 cases were pending for more than six months. It is also found that, case filing rate is higher than case disposal rate. As a result backlog and delay in disposal of cases, both are increasing simultaneously, which cause great sufferings to the working masses.

Following are some causes of delay and recommendations to strengthen and accelerate the labour adjudication system in Bangladesh and to mitigate people’s sufferings:

1.  A Labour Court despite being a tripartite adjudicatory body, law has not provided any criteria of judicial knowledge, experience or minimum qualification for members except the Chairman. Though the Labour Court is a specialized judicial body, but there is no provision for any prior experience (in dealing with labour law matters) or minimum training for judges before appointing here from lower judiciary. As a result, indifference, unskillfulness, incapacity and unprofessionalism of judges and members hinder the proceedings of labour courts. These things should be considered for smooth functioning of the labour courts.

2. Though the Act mandated the Government to establish required number of labour courts. The Government so far established only 7 Labour Courts. Among these, Courts of Dhaka and Chittagong are situated in the divisional headquarters. Even there is no labour court at four divisions-Sylhet, Barisal, Rangpur and Mymensingh. As a result, a tea garden worker of Sylhet and a rice-mill worker of Brahmanbaria has to go the Labour Court of Chittagong to file cases for their grievance, unpaid wages and compensation. A worker of Syedpur has to go the Labour Court of Rajshahi and a worker of Barishal has to go Khulna for seeking labour justice. After traveling hundreds of kilometers and after waiting months after months, remedy awarded by the labour courts simply becomes mockery to the workers when their claims are so minimal. That’s why, instead of going courts for their redress many workers have to embrace injustice. Harassing the toiling masses and workers such a way in the name of delivering justice amount to exploitation by the state which is contrary to the spirit of our Constitution. To make the labour courts accessible to the workers and to facilitate them to recover their legal rights at least one Labour Court (constituted with a Joint District Judge) should be established in every district and two in every district having industrial area and at least one Labour Appellate Tribunal (constituted with a District Judge) in every division of Bangladesh.

3. Though the Act mandated to complete trial in the Labour Courts and Tribunal/s within 60 days, it is found that about 50% cases take time from 1-3 years. Around 20% cases take more than 3 years. In most of the cases, the reason behind this delay is adjournment of judicial proceedings on the request from employer side. As a result, a worker who is being terminated from one factory fighting for his/her unpaid wages and other dues and joined in a new factory, by appearing in the Court frequently s/he has to be terminated from new factory also. Thus, labour adjudication system of the country should be made worker-friendly.

4. Delays and backlogs in the labour courts are not only due to the scarcity of courts and inadequate staffing thereof but also because of judges’ aversion to sit in benches regularly and timely. As a general practice, the labour courts tend only to sit for half a day. In some courts, judges sit for less than one hour. In resolving industrial disputes, complaints and some other labour disputes the Labour Court is supposed to be formed with the Chairman and 2 other members. In reality, most of the days members remain absent or one remains present but other does not or when remain/s present used to sit in all types of cases including trial of offences and disputes on payment of wages or compensation which is a clear violation of law. The presence of members should be ensured during disposal of the cases.

5. Disputes between employers and workers are inevitable in industrial relations. Resolving these disputes peacefully, amicably and mutually with keeping working environment intact will result in production, growth, investment, industry and economy of the country. For this, compulsory court sponsored ADR system should be introduced in the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 to reduce inordinate delay and backlogging of labour disputes. At the same time, the existing legal aid scheme of the Labour Courts should be expanded as most of the workers are covered by this scheme.

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Employee’s Rights at Workplace in Bangladesh

By Anika Mardiah Chowdhury

Bangladesh is a populated country and here most people include in the labour force. Most of the labour organizations or companies or garments have their own rules and regulations but all of them had to follow the minimum statutory standards and must make rules according to the same. The Bangladesh labour law of 2006 and the Labour Rules and Regulations of 2015 govern the Recruitment Act or the Federal Labour Act. In this article, the employee’s right in the workplace regarding the right to weekly vacations or annual leave or working hours or wages and other rights shall be cover.

In the Labour Act of 2006, the term “worker” refers to any individual, including an apprentice, who is employed in any establishment or industry, either directly or through a contractor, to perform any type of skilled, unqualified, manual, technical, commercially promotional, or clerical hire or reward work, regardless of whether the terms of employment are stated explicitly or implicitly. However, this term excludes individuals who are primarily engaged in managerial or clerical work. Any employee can demand his rights if hampered before the Labour Court and any person is abiding by the decisions of the Labour Court, can be seen in the case of J ames Finlay & Co. Ltd Vs. Chairman Second Labour Court, 1980, 9 CLC (AD) where the Labour Court held that the application was maintainable and ordered the reinstatement of the employee concerned. Against this decision, the appellant company moved the High Court of Bangladesh under Article 102 of the Constitution. The appellant company did not succeed before the High Court Division.

The 2006 Labour Act states the daily and weekly basis of working hours along with the overtime hours and their payment. The daily working hours shall be 8 hours with an interval as under section 108. Then weekly working hours shall be 48 hours up to 10 hours per day and 60 hours per week and on average 56 hours per week. There has a limitation for Women Workers that no shift from 10.00 pm to 06.00 am without the woman worker’s consent. It is to be mention that double employment is not allowed for any worker.

wages include salary, any bonus, or remuneration for overtime or any other remuneration payable in the course of employment. Wage is a right of an employee but under Labour Act 2006 the wages were not fixed rather it set a procedure for fixing the minimum wages rate. The maximum wage period is one month.

According to the Labour Law, each worker’s wage must be paid before the end of the seventh day after the last day when the wage is payable. This also applies if an employee has been terminated by retirement or by removal, dismissal, or retrenchment by the employer. Wages have to be paid in legal tender or through cheque and in some cases through an electronic transfer in favor of the bank account of the worker or through any other digital medium. It is to be mention that no deduction can be made from the wages except the reasons mentioned under section 125 of the Labour Act.

Under section 195 of the following Act given some restriction upon employers, which is the rights of an employee. Under this section restricted any kinds of discrimination against any person in regard to any employment, promotion, condition of employment, or working condition on the ground that such person is or is not a member or officer of any trade union.

Also, any employees have a fundamental right to take leave. There are many kinds of leave for sickness or maternity leave or annual leave and others as under the following Act.

Employees have a right to a safe workplace and to ensure workplace safety, the following Act instructs the employers to regularly examine the machinery. Section 75 of the Act 2006 provides the provisions regarding safety in the eyes of the workers. It also prohibits workers to engage in duties where the fumes are likely to be inflammable without precautions.

Also, the Labour Act 2006 ensures some special provisions regarding the health issue as well as safety for the employees under chapter VII, sections 79-88. According to this chapter, the workers should be notified of such operations which are hazardous and also harmful to their health.  In terms of women, workers are prohibited to work near machinery which is dangerous. The Government can make rules for securing the safety of persons employed in a factory or industrial establishments.

In the above discussion, we have seen the employees’ rights of wages, security, and others but since early march 2020 the coronavirus cases continue to increase, the employees have also the right to a healthy and safe workplace.  Every workplace or industry should determine the guidelines for safety and control the transmission and impact of covid-19.

Also, the provision to keep the workplace clean and safe states section 51 of the Labour Act, 2006 that every establishment must be kept clean and free from effluvia arising from any drain, privy, or any other nuisance. In particular, it can be said that dirt is to be removed by sweeping the floors, workrooms, staircases, and passages of the establishment on a daily basis. Thus, by keeping the workplace clean the transmission of the covid-19 can be stopped.

There are some other provisions also which can be said that ensures the safety of the employees as section 56 of the following Act prohibits overcrowding and states that “no workroom in any establishment shall be overcrowded to an extent injurious to the health of the workers employed therein”. Then under Section 116 states that all workers are entitled to sick leave with full wages for 14 days.

These two weeks is also the time taken to be able to detect whether someone has in fact contracted Covid-19 and is mild. Thus, this can be saying that these provisions are the rights of each employee during this pandemic, and if any contravention results in such loss of life, the punishment can be up to four years of imprisonment and/or a fine of up to Taka one lakh. Therefore, if an employer fails to uphold these safeguards, they would be liable to fine or imprisonment.

The employees have also some rights at the time of termination that the employer cannot fire or discipline for his misconduct unless the charges brought against him are reported in writing and a copy of the accusation shall be given to him with a duration of at least seven days to explain along with the chance to be heard. In the case of Md. Sadek Ali Vs. Government of Bangladesh and Others Writ Petition No. 7903 of 2011, the General Manager of the Mills terminated the worker from service. In so doing did not serve him any prior notice or give him an opportunity of being heard in any manner.  The court held writ petition does not appear to be maintainable and gave the consideration to the Management of Crescent Jute Mills Ltd. to take the proper decision.

If a worker has been continuously employed by an employer for at least a year, the employer may retrench him or her from the operation of any institution on retirement grounds. In this case, the employer must give the worker one month’s written notice outlining the reasons for the retrenchment or pay him or her salary for the notice period in lieu of the notice.If these conditions do not fulfill by the employer and employee can go before the court for demanding his right.

From the discussion above, it can be concluded that while the Labour Act does a good job of protecting rights, some of its procedures are quite weak. For example, it doesn’t indicate what happens if an employee experiences sexual harassment at work. Though it is said that the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 is a strong piece of legislation that covers the majority of the international standards but workers continue to face serious conditions without effective enforcement of it. here are fatal problems in the enforcement of the existing labour laws also it is proved that the law is inadequate to many extents to address the need of the workers. Thus, to ensure better rights the government shall keep monitoring the industries and other workplaces.

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A Critical Review on Labour Law of Bangladesh

2019, ASA University Bangladesh

Role of labour and industrial laws are of paramount importance. We know that the total economy of a country greatly depends upon the industrial sector. In addition, the growth of the industrial sector involves with some major aspect. These major aspects are the local investment policy, foreign direct investment policy, labour management etc. Besides the necessary infrastructure for investment natural resources are also important and it is very clear that if all these essential elements are not available then growth of industrial sector is unfeasible. Besides all these things labour issues are also very important. Proper management of labour is an essential matter for growth of industrial sector. Timely disposal of labour disputes are also important. We see that in most of the cases the labour law disputes do not solve with in short time. So the remedy which is essential from the case becomes delayed. The labour law is very much important in Bangladesh perspective. It is highly important for the industrial development of Bangladesh. We know that labour is a most important part of an industry. So, we cannot think an industry without labour. Labour right is most essential in Bangladesh. But the labours are in ignorance about their right. They don’t know properly about labour laws and education. It is a great problem. For this reason, they retrenched by the employee. Very often, they retrenched without any legal process. So no one should support the retrenchment of the labour by any illegal process. The retrenchment of labour should be legal and humanly treated. In this report we discussed about Labour Court and Labour Appellate Tribunal in Bangladesh including application to the Labour court, Jurisdiction of the labour court, Power and status of the labour court in trying offences, Power and functions of the labour court and the tribunal. Lastly we tried to discuss about conclusion on the report like Findings, Recommendations.

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The role of labour and industrial laws is of paramount importance when the economy of a country depends largely on its industrial sector. In addition, the necessary infrastructure for investments in natural resources is also important. It is clear that if these essential elements are not available then the growth of the industrial sector is hardly feasible. Besides all these, the proper management of labour is essential for the growth of the industrial sector including managing labour issues. Thus timely disposal of labour disputes is also important. However, in most cases labour law disputes are not solved within a short period of time causing remedies which are essential for these disputes to be delayed. Labour laws are important from the Bangladesh perspective as it is crucial for the industrial development of the country. Labour is an important part of an industry and as such an industry without labour would be inconceivable. Although labour rights are crucial in Bangladesh, employees are ignorant about their rights as they do not have adequate education and knowledge about labour laws. This is a huge problem. This paper aims to narrow the gap between existing laws and the real scenario relating to industrial practices in Bangladesh.

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Topic: Nature and pattern of recent submitted disputes at labour courts in Bangladesh. Methodology: Through this study a scientific research approach and methodology has been applied to have hands on exercise by the team members and an authentic study to be done on our subject matter. To get adequate data from reliable sources the study followed the method of qualitative and both quantitative data collection method. Data was collected from respective labour court office secondary source, interview with key informants, observation. Time line of the study: The study has been completed by a four months period from Dec 2018 to March 2019. By this time the study team has selected the research issue and complete all the research process and prepared the report. Key Findings a. Conditions of Service and Employment related issues and wage and dispute settlement is two most big are for raising disputes in employment sector. b. Job sector in Bangladesh is struggling on very primary level of labour rights so that the major stake of rights issues remaining behind. c. Garments sector case number is highest than other sectors. d. Female workers ration of submitting dispute in labour court to get remedy is very insignificant. e. Government (labour inspector) itself playing a significant role in favor of labour and worker rights, benefits and justice. f. Individuals and sufferer not coming at labour court forgetting justice and compensation against illegal or unlawful offences under the criminal section of BLA by the employer or employee. g. Labours are missing labour court services to get justice due to far distance between location of Labour court and its geographical jurisdiction. h. Legal Aid support is a good initiative to get service for the poor and underprivileged workers/employees.

Mahanaz Islam

Bangladesh's economic growth is largely related to its export-oriented garment industry, which employs a large, mostly female workforce. Despite considerable advances, the country's labor laws are still insufficient to protect workers' rights and provide good working conditions. This study critically examines Bangladesh's present labor laws, exposing their deficiencies in comparison to international labor norms. Key areas of weakness include limitations on freedom of association, poor workplace safety and health measures, and insufficient pay safeguards. These legislative flaws lead to common labor rights breaches, such as union suppression, unsafe workplaces, and wage exploitation. The article contends that Bangladesh needs urgent and comprehensive labor law reforms to promote social fairness and long-term prosperity.

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Bangladeshi domestic workers suffer from lack of legal protection. There are a lot of laws, but none can ensure the rights of the domestic workers separately. Albeit, the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh guaranteed some rights of the domestic workers impliedly. However, domestic workers can seek redress under ordinary civil and criminal laws of Bangladesh. Nonetheless, they need some sort of special treatment, because they work in private place and in more vulnerable situation. In addition, the nature of their work is quite different from other traditional work sectors. There is no provision for their working hours, leave, minimum wages, holiday, maternity benefits etc. Though the ILO Convention No 189 has been adopted to ensure the rights of the domestic workers but Bangladesh is not a state party to the convention. Hence they need a new piece of legislation to protect their employment rights. This research paper aims to find out the lacunas of existing laws of Bangladesh and recommend to enact a new law in this regard.

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Advancing social justice, promoting decent work

Ilo is a specialized agency of the united nations.

International labour standards

ILO statement on reform of Bangladesh labour law

Amendments to the Bangladesh labour Act 2006 were adopted on 15 July 2013. Its conformity with international labour standards ratified by Bangladesh will be reviewed by the ILO supervisory machinery later in the year.

Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining

Workplace safety and health, other fundamental rights, next steps on cooperation.