BAT says it does not force workers to work beyond usual hours

British American Tobacco (BAT) has said that it does not force its workers to work for the extra hours that the government had recently endorsed for the company employees.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 3 Oct 2016, 03:02 PM
Updated : 3 Oct 2016, 03:02 PM

On Monday, the multinational firm released a statement following a report carried by bdnews24.com which said the government had cleared the decks for BAT workers to work up to 60 hours a week, beyond the stipulated 48 hours of work per week, as prescribed by the labour laws.

The statement clarified that the workers work voluntarily for the extra hours and that the notification regarding extra working hours is not against the law.

The statement said the company does not force any worker to work beyond the normal duty hours.

Only those willing to put in the extra hours do so against a compensation of twice their normal wages, the statement said.

The BAT said its workers have been doing so for the past couple of years. The government has been proving the relaxation to the company for quite a few years and the current notification was merely a continuation.

A rotating shift is in place for workers at BAT, it said.

The Dhaka factory workers of the company get two weekend leaves after six working days, which sum up to not more than 48-hour work per week, it added.

Besides these claims, the statement said the BAT employees who work extra hours during the waiver are entitled to more holiday leaves on festivals than employees of other organisations.

A Sep 21 notification from the labour ministry said employees of British American Tobacco can, if they want to, work up to 60 hours a week instead of the current maximum permissible weekly hours of 48.

Anti-tobacco organisation Progga reacted to the notification saying that the extra hours were timed to coincide with the tobacco harvest season.

Progga alleged that the company had managed to coax the government into forcing workers to do extra during the season.