ding demand of the labor movements.
According to the latest agreement with the labor organizations, the government was scheduled to place the
Labor Code Bill in the Jatiya Sangsad by April 30, 2004.
The law minister, trying to justify the delay, said, It is a gigantic work as the draft bill has been prepared
incorporating and updating all the provisions of the existing 27 laws on labor, and the bill was finalized
after a series of pre-legislative consultations with the concerned labor organizations and chambers of
commerce and industries, and experts.
Even most of the countries of the world, including neighboring countries, are yet to enact such a
comprehensive and uniform labor code, he claimed.
If enacted, the law will repeal 27 existing laws on labor and industrial relations including Workmens
Compensation Act 1923, Children (Pledging of Labor) Act 1933, Workmens Protection Act 1934, Dock
Laborers Act 1934, Payment of Wages Act 1936, Employers Liability Act 1938, Employment of Children
Act 1938, Maternity Benefit Act 1939, Motor Vehicles (Drivers) Ordinance 1942, Maternity Benefit Act
(Tea Estate) Act 1950, Employment (Records of Service) Act 1951, Communication and Transport Service
Maintenance Ordinance 1957, Bangladesh Plantation Employees Provident Fund Ordinance 1959, Coal
Mines (Fixation of Rates of Wage) Ordinance 1960, Road Transport Workers Ordinance 1961, Minimum
Wages Ordinance 1961, Employees Social Insurance Ordinance 1962, Plantation Labor Ordinance 1962,
Apprenticeship Ordinance 1962, Factories Act 1965, Shops and Establishment Act 1965, Employment of
Labor (Standing Orders) Act 1968, Companies Profits (Workers Participation) Act 1968, Industrial
Relations Ordinance 1969, Newspaper Employees (Conditions of Service) Act 1974, and Dock Workers
(Regulation of Employment) Act 1980.
The bill has incorporated all the necessary provisions of those laws in its 353 sections detailed in 21
chapters, said sources present at the meeting of the cabinet.
According to the bill, the workers of any factory will enjoy the right to form, or to be involved in, trade
unions.
No person, who is not employed or does not work in the factory, will be eligible to be elected as a leader of
the factorys trade union, says the bill.
According to the bill, no owner will have the right to engage any worker without a proper appointment
letter. He will have to maintain a service book for each of his workers at his own cost. He will also have to
maintain a register of the workers, and the register will be open all the time for inspection by the inspector
of factories.
The bill proposes the provision for prohibiting engagement of any child (below the age of 14 years) in any
profession or institution. Though the bill proposes provision for allowing engagement of an adolescent
(between 14 and 18 years of age) in a profession or institution, it will need a certificate of fitness of the
adolescent for the work by a registered physician.
According to the bill, no adolescent will be allowed to work more than five hours a day or 30 hours a
week. No adolescent or woman will be allowed to work in a factory or shop between 10pm to 6am.
No woman will be allowed to work in any institution within eight weeks after giving birth to a baby. A
Page 1/2 Source: PRLog.Org -
Global Press Release Distribution
mother will enjoy maternity welfare for eight weeks before the expected date of her delivery and for
another eight weeks after the delivery. The maternity welfare includes leave, gross salary, etc.
The bill proposes detailed provisions for ensuring health, good environment and security for the workers in
any factory, shop or other institutions.
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Media,Government
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