Bangladesh finalises labour policy

The government has finalised the new labour policy two years after amending the labour law.

The tripartite advisory council, formed with representatives of the industry owners and workers, finalised the policy at a meeting on Tuesday, State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu said.
 
The Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Bill, 2013, was passed in Parliament on July 15 that year.  
 
The government made changes to the law after facing global criticism over the deadly fire at Tazreen Fashions factory and collapse of Rana Plaza.
 
Demands for the labour policy had been made since the enactment of the Act.  
  
In March last year, the government reconstituted the 62-strong advisory council with 20 representatives of the industry owners and 20 of the workers. 
 
The state minister for labour was made the head of the council.
 
Chunnu said the new policy has 349 sections.
 
The policy would soon be gazetted after vetting by the law ministry, he said.
 
All the matters included in the Labour Act are mentioned in the policy in detail, he said.
 
The policy made it mandatory to keep 0.03 percent of the total export earnings for the welfare of the workers, according to the state minister.
 
The labour ministry held talks with the stakeholders several times before finalising the policy.
 
Labour Secretary Mikail Shipar and BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, among others, were present at Tuesday’s meeting.