Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 regulates matters relating to employment of worker, wages, leave and service benefits of worker, relation between worker and employer, formation of trade union, industrial disputes,  health, safety, welfare and working conditions of workers etc. in Bangladesh.

Most importantly, the Act provides certain benefits to those employees who comes under the purview of the definition of Worker working in an institutions to which the Act applies.

Most common reply I get when I send a legal notice for my client requiring his/her employer to pay the service benefits is that my client not being a worker defined in the Act, he/she is not entitled to the benefits prescribed by the Labour Act. Now let’s see if you are a Worker.

As per Section 2(65), you need to fulfill the following conditions (divided into two categories: i.e. positive and negative for convenience):

Positive Conditions

1. You need to be employed or be an apprentice in any establishment or Industry except in the industries where Labour Act does not apply.
2. You may be employed directly or through contractor.
3. You can be a skilled, unskilled, manual, technical, trade promotional or clerical work for hire or reward.
4. Terms and conditions of your employment can be expressed or implied.
5. You may have any designation like worker, Manager, Accountant etc. as long as you meet the other conditions.

Negative Conditions

1. You work must not be employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity;
2. You must not be a Supervising Officer.

Please note that occasional work in managerial and administrative capacity or as supervising officer will not disqualify you from being an Worker.

Labour Act does not define Administrative or Managerial works, neither does it define a Supervising Officer giving rise to ambiguity and difference of opinion. However, Labour Rules touches the issue by including two definitions: one for Administrative or Managerial Work and another for Supervising Officer. Conditions to be fulfilled to be treated as Managerial, Administrative worker or supervisory officers can be explained as follows:

Administrative or Managerial Work -Rule 2(j)

• Appoints workers; employees,
• determines the salaries and allowances,
• terminates the services or removes from the services,
• pays off the final dues and approves or controls the expenditures of the firm.
• Such activities must be carried out under written authorization by the owner or the managing authority.

Supervising Officer-Rule-2(g)

Unlike Rule 2(j) that defines Administrative or Managerial Work directly, Rule 2(j) defines ‘Supervising Officer’ instead of supervisory works.  As per the rule, a supervising officer carries out the following activities:  

•  determines the target of any work and service,
• controls the extent of the work, the implementation activities,
• assesses or reviews the work,
• gives direction or supervises the work of any section of the factory or firm by dint of powers given to him.
• Must be authorized in writing by the Owner or the Managing authority to carry out the aforesaid functions.

If you have already concluded that you are a Worker under the Labour Act, you may need to check if your employer is excluded from the applicability of Bangladesh Labour Act. See section 1(14) of the Act the confirm that your employer is governed by the Labour Act.

Disclaimer: The Article is for academic purpose only also contains author’s own opinion which may differ from the opinion of the others. Please do not use this as legal advice.