Govt fixes dates for salary, bonus payment to workers

Ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the government has asked factories including garment units to pay workers their June salaries by July 10 and festival allowance by July 14.

The call came from a meeting between the government and the ‘Crisis Management Committee’ on Thursday, State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu said.

The committee has representatives from factory owners and workers.

Workers agitate for payment of their dues almost every year before Eid, vandalising public property and disrupting traffic.

The government has also asked businesses to send workers on vacation in phases so that they can travel home with ease, the state minister said.    

They should be able to head home four to five days before Eid amid the immense rush to leave the capital, witnessed every year. 

“Industry owners have been urged to clear workers’ festival allowance by July 14. We hope they will,” said Haque.

“I don’t think there will be any anomalies,” he added.

Representatives from the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) and Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMEA) attended the meeting.

Several organisations of workers and factory owners also joined it.

The Labour Act did not provide for bonus (festival allowance), the state minister said.

“We have convinced the owners to pay their workers (festival allowance) since civil servants, too, got Eid allowance.”

He said all garment factories had been inspected and that issues including compliance forced 300-350 factories to shut down.

“There might have been issues that may have led to the closure of factories but there are no big problems,” he said. 

“We are on alert so that no big problems occur.”