Chapter-2:

Working Hours, Wages & Benefits

Maximum Working Hours
Daily Hours: Adult workers’ are generally allowed to work 10 hours a day including 2 hours
of overtime. (Section 100 of BLL)
Weekly Hours: All adult workers are allowed to work maximum 60 hours per week (including
overtime hours) and on average no more than 56 hours per week (including overtime hours)
in a year. (Section 102 of BLL)
Interval for rest or meal
A worker is not bound to work unless the factory management provides break for rest or meal
of:
 minimum 1 hour if s/he works more than 6 hours in any day
 at least half an hour if s/he works more than 5 hours in any day
 at least 1 hour under clause (a) or two such intervals under clause (b) if s/he works more
than 8 hours in any day (Section 101of BLL)

Weekly holiday
Weekly Holiday: A worker is entitled to get 1 day as weekly holiday. (Section 103of BLL)
Compensatory weekly holiday: If a worker works on weekly holiday, a compensatory
holiday shall be provided against that weekly holiday as soon as possible.
(Section 104of BLL)
Limitation of working hours for female workers
Female workers are not allowed to work in an establishment from 10 p.m. - 06 a.m. without
their consent. (Section 109of BLL)
Examples of non-compliance
 Excessive daily / weekly working hours
 Working on weekly holiday(s)
 Women work at night without their consent
 Only half an hour lunch / rest break instead of one hour
Workers’ Responsibilities
Workers should -------
 wear identity card in the factory
 be punctual in coming to the factory
 punch time cards when coming to the factory and maintain their time cards properly; in
case of no punch card system, they can ask the management to maintain an
attendance log book
Consequences of excessive working hours
 Workers are overworked and their health may suffer
 Loss of concentration and increased risk of injuries
 Workers‘ productivity decreases
 Less time for familiy and social gatherings
 Loss of motivation

Definition of Wage
‘Wages’ means all remuneration including any other additional remuneration (such as
termination, death, retirement benefit etc.) payable if the terms of employment were fulfilled.
[Section 2(45) of BLL]
Responsibility for the payment of wages
 Every employer is responsible to pay all wages to the workers
 Payment of wages if any worker is employed in the establishment through contractor
(such as security guards). Worker employed through contractor is not paid by the
contractor. The employer shall pay the wage and adjust the same from the contractor
[Section 121 of BLL]
Minimum rate of wages
Prohibition to pay wages at a rate below the minimum rate of wages
• The employer shall pay at least the minimum wage to the workers as per
the minimum wage declared by the Minimum Wage Board.
• If under any agreement or award or otherwise a worker is entitled to
receive any wages at higher rate, any other amenities or advantages then
s/he will continue to enjoy the benefit already given.
[Section 149 of BLL]
According to the new wage scale, seven (07) grades have been recommended -----
Grade-1
Pattern Master, Chief Quality Controller, Chief Cutting Master/Cutting Chief, Chief Mechanics
Grade-2
Mechanic, Electrician
Grade-3
Sr. Sewing m/c operator, Sr. Winding m/c operator, Sr. Knitting m/c operator, Sr. Linking m/c
operator, Sr. Cutter, Sr. Quality Inspector, Sr. Marker Man, Sr. Line Chief, Sr. Over lock m/c
operator, Sr. Button Stitch m/c operator, Sr. Kansai m/c operator.
Grade-4
Sewing m/c operator, Winding m/c operator, Knitting m/c operator, Linking m/c operator,
Cutter, Quality Inspector, Marker Man, Line Chief, Over lock m/c operator, Button Stitch m/c
operator, Kansai m/c operator, Finishing Iron man, Folding man (Finishing),Packing man.
Grade-5
Jr. Sewing m/c operator, Jr. Winding m/c operator, Jr. Knitting m/c operator, Jr. Linking m/c
operator, Jr. Cutter, Jr. Quality Inspector, Jr. Marker Man, Jr. Over lock m/c operator, Jr.
Button Stitch m/c operator, Jr. Kansai m/c operator, Jr. Finishing Iron man, Jr. Folding
man (Finishing), Jr. Packing man.
Grade-6
Gen. Sewing m/c operator, Gen. Winding m/c operator, Gen. Knitting m/c operator, Gen.
Linking m/c operator, Cutter, Quality Inspector, Marker Man, Line Chief, Gen. Over lock m/c
operator, Gen. Button Stitch m/c operator, Gen. Kansai m/c operator, Finishing Iron man,
Folding man, Gen. Fusing m/c operator
Grade-7
Asst. Sewing m/c operator, Asst. Winding m/c operator, Asst. Knitting m/c operator, Asst.
Linking m/c operator, Asst. Fusing m/c operator Asst. Asst. Marker Man, Asst. Over lock m/c
operator, Asst. Button Stitch m/c operator, Asst. Kansai m/c operator, Line Iron man, Folding
man(Finishing),Packing man.
Trainee/Apprentice: Their training period will be for 3 months.
After completion of their training period they will fall under grade-7.
Overtime work
Extra allowance for overtime:
Overtime wage shall be paid at the rate of twice his / her basic wage. [Section 108 of BLL]
The formula of calculation of overtime wage is:

Wage periods
Fixation of wage periods:
The employer shall fix periods for the payment of wages which is called “wage period”; no
wage period shall exceed one month. [Section 122 of BLL]
Time of payment of wages:
The wages of every worker shall be paid within seven working days from the last day of the
wage period. All wages shall be paid on a working day. [Section 123 of BLL]
Deduction of wages for absence from duty
 Deduction of wages can be made against the unauthorized absent time / day.
 No such deduction can be made against the period of time while s/he was at work /
duty.
 No such deduction can be made against the period of time / day while s/he was not
required to work. [Section 126 of BLL]
Deduction of wage for damage or loss
Deduction can be made for damage or loss of goods or money caused to the employer by
neglect or default of the worker.
 before making any deduction of wage, an employer should give the worker the
opportunity to defend him or herself
 all deductions shall be recorded in a register [Section 127 of BLL]
Fines
 The total amount of fine shall not exceed 10% of the wages payable to the worker in
respect of the wage period
 No fine shall be imposed to the worker under the age of fifteen years
 Every fine shall be deemed to have been imposed on the day the misconduct
happened
 All fines and all realizations shall be recorded in a register and spent for the welfare of
the persons employed. [Section 25 of BLL]

Leave Policy
Casual Leave: Every worker shall be entitled to 10 days casual leave with full wages in a
calendar year. (Section 115 of BLL)
Sick Leave: Every worker shall be entitled to sick leave with full wages for 14 days in a
calendar year. (Section 116 of BLL)
Casual and sick leave shall not be accumulated and carried forward to the succeeding year.
Annual leave:
A worker who has completed one year of continuous service shall be allowed during the
subsequent period of 12 months, to take leave with wages at the rate of:
 One day for every 18 days of work, in case of adult worker
 One day for every 15 days of work, in case of non-adult worker
(Section 117 of BLL)
 Any holiday which falls between annual leave shall be counted as annual leave.
[Section 117(3) of BLL]
 Un-availed annual leave shall be accumulated. The accumulation of annual leave shall be
up to 40 days in case of adult workers and 60 days in case of adolescent workers.
[Section 117(4) & (5) of BLL]
 Any annual leave applied by a worker but refused by the employer for any reason, shall be
added to the accumulated annual leave. [Section 117(7) of BLL]
When counting a period of continuous service of 12 months for the purpose of annual leave
calculation, the following days are also considered as work days:
 any holiday
 any leave with wages
 any leave with or without wages due to sickness or accident
 any maternity leave not exceeding sixteen weeks
 any period of lay off
 legal strike or illegal lock out
[Section 117(8) of BLL]
Festival holiday
 Every worker is allowed for 11 days of paid festival holidays in a calendar year.
[Section 118 of BLL]
 If a worker is required to work on any festival holiday, 2 (two) days compensatory holidays
and 1 (one) substitute holiday shall be provided.
[Section 118 (3) of BLL]
Retirement Benefit
 A worker employed in any establishment shall retire from employment after completion of
60 years of age.
 The date of birth recorded in the service book of the concerned worker shall be the
conclusive proof for counting the age.
 The employer shall pay compensation at the rate of 30 days’ wages (basic) for every
completed year of service in addition to any other benefit to which s/he may be entitled.
[Section 28 of BLL]
Death benefits
After a continuous service of 3 years or more if a worker dies while in service, his / her
nominee or in the absence of nominee, his / her dependent shall be paid by the employer:
a. A compensation for 30 days’ wage (basic wage) for every completed year of service,
plus
b. A compensation for 30 days’ wage (basic wage) for every completed year of service.
(This compensation can be regarded as retirement benefit because the deceased
worker would have been entitled to it, had s/he been alive). [Section 119 of BLL]

Provident fund
 If three fourths of the total work force of the establishment ask the management in
written to set up a provident fund, it is legally mandatory for the employer to do so.
[Section 264 of BLL]
 If such provision exists, every permanent worker, after completion of one year of service,
shall contribute not less than seven percent and not more than eight per cent of his/her
basic wage to the provident fund, and the employer shall contribute to it an equal
amount. [Section 264(9) of BLL]

Discharge
Discharge means the expiry of the employment of a worker on the ground of inability or
incapacity because of ill health. Section 22 of the labor law deals with the procedure of
discharge. As per the section, an employer can discharge a worker on the basis of report of a
registered physician.
Compensation in case of discharge:
Every worker who has completed a continuous service for 1 year shall be entitled to get a
benefit of 30 days wages (basic) for every completed year of service.

Termination
The employer can terminate a worker without assigning any reason whatsoever, in the
following manner as described in section 26 of the Bangladesh Labor Law. The employment of
a permanent worker may be terminated by the employer by giving:
a) 120 days’ notice to him or her in writing
b) Compensation at the rate of 30 days wages (basic)for every completed year of service
c) Payment for any un-availed annual leave days
Any other benefits he/she is entitled to, like; provident fund, bonus etc.
Section 27 of Bangladesh Labor Law states----
 A permanent worker may resign from his/her service by giving 60 days’ notice to the
employer.
 If a worker intends to resign from service without any notice, he/she may do so by paying
to the employer wages in lieu of the notice period required.
 If a permanent worker resigns from his/her service, the employer shall pay compensation:
(a) At the rate of 14 days wages (basic) for every completed year of service, if he/she
completed 5 years of continuous service or more, but less than 10 years.
(b) At the rate of 30 days wages (basic) for every completed year of service, if he/she
completed 10 years of continuous service or more.
Consequences of non-compliance with wages and benefits
 Workers may get less income due to non-compliances in wage and benefit payments
 Delayed payment of wages, non-compliances in termination practices, granting leave and
the handling of misconducts may create dissatisfaction among workers and even unrest
 Loss of workers‘ motivation
 Increase of worker migration rate
 Risk of loosing business from buyers

Maternity Benefit
According to Bangladesh Labor Law,
Employment of women workers is prohibited during a certain period after delivery.
 No employer shall knowingly employ a woman and no woman shall work during the eight
(08) weeks immediately following the day of her delivery.
 No employer shall employ any woman for doing any work likely to adversely affect her
health or any kind of work for which she needs to stand for a long time.
Entitlement of maternity benefit
 Every woman employed in the establishment shall be entitled to maternity benefit of 8
weeks preceding the expected day of her delivery and 8 weeks immediately following the
day of her delivery.
 To be entitled to maternity benefit, a woman needs to work for the employer for at least
six months immediately preceding the day of her delivery.
 Despite working for more than six months a woman is not entitled to maternity benefit if
she has two or more children.
Payment of maternity benefit
1. Procedure regarding payment of maternity benefit:
 Any pregnant woman entitled to maternity benefit under this act may, on any day, give
notice either orally or in writing to her employer that she expects to be confined within
the next eight weeks. She may nominate a person to receive payment of maternity
benefit in case of her death.
 If not given such notice, and she has delivered a child, she shall give similar notice to
her employer within seven (07) days that she has given birth to a child.
Payment of maternity benefit
2. Amount of maternity benefit:
 Under this act, the maternity benefit is payable at the rate of daily, weekly or monthly
average wages, as the case may be, calculated in the manner laid down in sub-section
(2), and such payment shall be made wholly in cash.
 For the purpose of sub-section (1) the daily, weekly or monthly average wages, as the
case may be, shall be calculated by dividing the total wages earned by the woman
during the three months immediately preceding the date on which she gives notice
under this act by the number of days she actually worked during the period.
Calculation of maternity benefit
Responsibilities of Workers Who is Entitled for Maternity Benefit
Female workers should --------
 Inform management at least 08 weeks but preferably 10 weeks before the expected date
of delivery and apply for maternity leave in prescribed form with all supporting documents
 Submit the delivery certificate to the management after having given birth
Employer & Other Workers Responsibilities
 Should not behave or comment in such way so that she gets humiliated physically or
mentally
 Should not engage her in such kind of work which is risky or harmful for her health
 Should shift her to riskless work
 Give priority to use lift during her stay in the factory
 Ensure scope and environment so that after giving birth she can feed her child
Consequences of no maternity benefit
 Workers are financially affected
 No rest before and after having given birth may affect the health of the mother and her
baby
 Productivity is lower when no rest is taken
 Not granting maternity benefits is a major violation of the law and the factory risks to
loose business with buyers
 Workers may leave to work for a factory where maternity benefit is paid as per law; it
causes higher turnover rate, and factory has to hire new workers‘ who initially need
training