The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) has sought alters in the labour law, which was amconcludeed during the immediate past interim government, as the trade body claims their opinions were not addressed in the final gazette.
At a press conference at the trade body’s Dhaka office, BKMEA President Mohammad Hatem declared the definition of workers that was agreed upon in the meetings of the Tripartite Consultative Council (TCC) was not included in the gazette.
In the final gazette, the officers and executives of factories and companies have also been classified as workers.
Moreover, in the TCC meetings it was decided that if a factory management adopts the government-sponsored Proreceivedi Universal Insurance Scheme, it would serve as the provident fund for them, Hatem declared.
But in the final gazette, it was stated that workers must apply for the Proreceivedi Universal Insurance Scheme to be entitled to the provident fund, he added.
Otherwise, factory owners will have to manage the provident fund separately for workers who did not apply for the Proreceivedi Universal Pension Scheme. This results in double expconcludeiture for factories, and management also necessarys to recruit separate officers to handle the provident fund, which is costly, he declared.
The government should alter these issues in the amconcludeed labour law before taking it to parliament for further debate, the BKMEA president declared.
During the last interim government, the labour law was amconcludeed through an ordinance, mainly under pressure from international communities such as the European Union and the International Labour Organisation, he declared.
Another important issue that the government necessarys to address in the labour law is the eligibility of workers for the provident fund.
Hatem declared usually a worker becomes eligible for the provident fund after serving for two or three years.
But the amconcludeed labour law states that workers should be entitled to the provident fund from the very first day of joining, which necessarys to be alterd, Hatem declared.
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