Assignment On:-

A study of the compliance of Leave & Holidays with and without wages

Submitted To:

Sabnam Jahan
Lecturer University of Dhaka Faculty of Business Studies Department of Management Studies

Submitted by:
Group No-06 Mahbubur Rahman Md. Wahidud Jaman Tusher Tariqul Islam Roufun Siraj Lingkon Mohammad Monir Hossain Nipu Heubert Hasda Sec: B Sec: B Sec: B Sec: B Sec: B Sec: B Sec: B ID # 123 ID # 147 ID # 173 ID # 156 ID # 125 ID # 217 ID # 216

Ujjal Barua

Submission Date :- 12/04/2011

Table of Contents
S.L No.
1. Introductory part Introduction Objective of the study Methodology Scope of the study 2. 3. Limitations of the study Provisions of Labor Law Act 2006 Regarding Leave and Holiday Company Profiles :Dada Garments Limited Simco Bangladesh Limited The Rose Garments Ltd. Kins Collections Limited Chaity Group Limited Nimmi Apparels Limited Simco Dresses Limited Fashion apparles Ltd. Hazrat Amanat Shah Spinning Mills Ltd 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. Sinha Textile Ltd. Findings About Leave and holiday Policy Statistical Analysis Recommendation Workers Opinion Conclusion Appendix Reference 21 23 25 28 29 30 34 5 6 7 8 8 9 11

Name of the topic

Page No.

Letter of Transmittal

12th April, 2011 Sabnam Jahan Lecturer Course Instructor Industrial Relation Department of Management Studies University of Dhaka.

Subject: Submission of the assignment on the leave and holidays with or without wages in RMG sectors.

Dear Madam, With great respect, we inform you that we have finally completed our report assignment. We have prepared this assignment on the basis of the Labor Law Act-2006 in RMG sectors. In preparing this assignment we faced some problematic situations and handled them carefully because we believe these experiences will help in our future life. We want to thank you for having been given this report assignment and for giving us such opportunity of facing such practical situations. Finally we assure you that we tried our level best to make this assignment. Our assignment will be successful if you give us any kind of advice about this assignment. For any more information please see the references or for more details please call us. We noted that we would be available anytime for any assistant in interpreting this report.

Sincerely yours Group-06 B.B.A. 16th batch, Section B Department of Management Studies University of Dhaka.

Executive summary
The Ready Made Garments (RMG) sector is perhaps the most important component of the industrial segment of the economy of Bangladesh. At present, there are about 5,300 (4,250) from woven garments and 1,050 from knitwear) factories in operation, employing approximately 2.2 million people in two divisions. The sector also supports various other allied sectors and sub-sectors like accessories suppliers, and buying houses. Of the 2.2 million employees, the bulk happens to be factory workers of various levels and virtually close to 10 million people of Bangladesh depend directly and indirectly on the RMG Sector for their livelihoods. The lucrative investment opportunity in RMG sector has propelled the overall industrial development of Bangladesh with positive impact on other sectors like various service providers, manufacturing elements, and banking/financing houses. To have a practical idea, we make a visit on 10 garment industries. The labor law act 2006 provides us with the laws and provisions that a RMG sector must follow in order to ensure better workability and proficiency. We tried to prepare our report by following the provisions of leave and holidays in the labor act-2006. Prior to the promulgation of the Bangladesh Labor Law 2006, the total number of Acts and Ordinances in this field was fifty, of which : 15 were enacted during the British regime 23 were enacted during the Pakistan regime, and 12 were passed after the independence of Bangladesh Maternity benefits have been increased to 16 weeks and the qualifying service length has been decreased to six months, but this benefit is limited only up to the birth of two living infants. A total of 10 garment and dyeing factories, all situated in the Tongi and Uttara industrial estate, formed the sample for this study, in an effort to better understand the labor law act they are following as well as those environmental aspects that are particularly relevant for the garment and dyeing industry. Above all, garment workers are deprived of the basic rights of getting leave and holidays. From this study we also know are they following the labor law or are they abiding it. Also are the workers satisfied with this labor law.

1. Introductory part Introduction:The RMG industry of Bangladesh has expanded dramatically over the last three decades. Traditionally, the jute industry dominated the industrial sector of the country until the 1970s. Since the early 1980s, the RMG industry has emerged as an important player in the economy of the country and has gradually replaced the jute industry. The export-quota system1 in trading garment products played a significant role in the success of the 1 Unilateral restriction, short-term arrangement (STA), long-term arrangement (LTA), Multi fibre Arrangement(MFA) and finally the WTO Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC) are the chronological steps. Although Bangladesh is not developed in industry, it has been enriched in Garment industries in the recent past years. In the field of Industrialization garment industry is a promising step. It has given the opportunity of employment to millions of unemployed, specially innumerable uneducated women of the country. It is making significant contribution in the field of our export income. That is why the Labor Law Act 2006 was introduced, which described all the rules and regulation to protect the rights of Labors and workers in Bangladesh. The Ready Made Garments sector has more potential than any other sector to contribute to the reduction of of poverty. Despite the phenomenal success of the RMG sector the working conditions and leave and holidays with or without wages of workers in the industry are cause for serious concern. Bangladeshs current position as a leading garments exporting nation needs to be consolidated. The economy-wide reverberations of failure would be disastrous. We believe it is in everybodys interest to sustain this industry an industry which changed the lives of so many people, particularly women, in Bangladesh. Although Bangladesh is not developed in industry, it has been enriched in Garment industries in the recent past years. In the field of Industrialization garment industry is a promising step. The sector now dominates the modern economy in export earnings, secondary impact and employment generated. It has given the opportunity of employment to millions of unemployed, especially innumerable uneducated women of the country. It is making significant contribution in the field of our export income. The Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 contains provisions regarding the rights of the employees. From those provisions Section 103,104,116,117,118 contains the rules regarding the leave and holiday policy of the workers. This report will discuss the condition of this specific sight, that is, the condition of leave and holiday policy of the RMG sectors of Bangladesh.

Objective of the study

The goal of the project is to ensure adherence to (internationally accepted) Labor Law Act 2006. The impact envisaged is an overall improvement of the lives of the RMG workers through improved workers-employers relationships and increased awareness of workers rights, and globally accepted social and environmental standards and Laws. It is premised that the workers need to be aware about their rights so that they can claim their dues properly and are not exploited. The employers need to be aware of providing good working environment, adequate and timely compensation, and structured employment conditions, and to claim their rights to about leave and holidays with or without wages to sustain and motivate their work force. Both, on the other hand, need to be responsible to the environment and the community at large. Keeping these goals in mind, the objectives of this study are (i) To better understand the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006 (ii) To find out the major areas of compliance issues in which the workers are not aware (iii) To understand the provisions regarding the leave and holiday Act. (iv) To better, understand the working condition of the workers of RMG sector of Bangladesh. (v) To analyze the implementation of the acts in the sector. (vi) To get practical knowledge on the subject matter (vii) To experience practical situation of the industries (viii) To develop better strategies to disseminate information amongst employers and employees in an effective manner. (ix) To aware the workers about their rights and claim from the organization such as proper leave and holiday for the workers. (x) To find out the current status of the RMG sector workers, such as how they are doing in the society. (xi) To make them aware about the Labor Law Act, that there is a law that can protect their rights.

Methodology
This paper examines Labor Law Act 2006 in Bangladesh regarding the leave and holiday policy with or without wages and their importance and current condition from two perspectives. Firstly, a comparative analysis Labor Law Act 2006 in Bangladesh regarding the leave and holiday policy and secondly, how the RMG sectors are applying or following these laws in order to protect the rights of their workers. The paper focuses not on the overall status of Labor Law Act rather it focuses only a small segment, consists of workers Leave and holiday policy in Bangladesh .We also described how it is a protective device used by the economically weaker sections against the exploitation and oppression of the economically strong and also we can get a proper idea about the Labor Law in our Country and its objectives.

Data collection for the Project has employed both primary and secondary sources, which includes:

Primary sources:Review of the Labor Law Act-2006 in Bangladesh. From the internet and other sources. Discussion between group members.

Secondary Source: Help from various text books

But most of all the important part of the method is by conducting field work and taking interviews of the worker and talking with them face to face is another kind of experience for us. We have conducted field work in the Savar DEPZ , Uttara and Tongi. In order to collect information of primary sources from visiting 10 garment industries. We take three steps for collecting the information from the sources. The steps are:

Step 1:- Taking information from workers Step 2:- Taking information from the supervisor or manager Step 3:- Taking information from observation

Scope of the Study

The scope of this research is limited. Attempts have not been made to elaborate on the suffering and plight of the workers; rather efforts have been made to identify (i) areas where workers feel that they have insufficient knowledge or inadequate exposure to the Labor Law; and (ii) develop ways which could be effective in communicating with the workers. The report covers an introduction on The Bangladesh Labor Law Act 2006, provisions regarding Leave and holidays from the Act, a practical study on the implementation of the Act, analysis of the study and at last, a brief comment of the study.

Limitations of the Study

Time had been the major limitation in preparing this report. It was mostly impossible to interview the staff or management of the RMG manufacturing units, as they were apprehensive of speaking with others asking about such questions. However, it was also difficult to assemble workers after or during their working hours because they were tired and did not want to spend the evening after a hard days work in answering questions. For the purpose of this paper, the primary study is limited to depth interviews. No extensive rating/scoring/model has been used for reducing the length and procedural details of the study. Results from samples of 10 garments or so participants have been generalized for the entire industry on grounds that similar. We have, however, made an attempt to make this report a comprehensive one so that the information-dissemination need assessment can be carried out from one control point, i.e., this report. The report has some limitations because of some methodological problem and confidentiality of the different organizations. As we collected informations and data from primary sources, we have to go through some confidential matters. We have to take most of the information from the workers of the organizations and they take a policy of giving everything positively. Because each company has some issue with providing data rather them ask directly they like to do this formally by taking permission form their higher authorities.

2. Provisions Of Labor Act according to Bangladesh Labor Act :The Bangladesh Labor Code, 2006 is one of the very recent laws with major overhauling changes in the field of labor legislation. The laws, which this code has replaced, were mostly during the British Colonial regime and Pakistan period and they were as many as 50 in number. Some words like worker, employee, owner, employer etc had different meaning under different laws previously. In this translation, we used worker and employer commonly throughout the work.

Workers Leave And Holidays

Daily Hours:
Section 100 makes a provision of 8 working hours a day for an adult worker, but an adult worker may work 10 hours a day provided all the conditions of section 108 have been fulfilled. According to that section, the employer is required to pay the worker, overtime, double the rate of her/his usual wages. i.e. basic & dearness allowance, if any. The employer is also required to maintain an overtime register as per the law. Changes in the present law: Daily hours has been reduced to 8 hours-a-day from previous 9 hours-a-day Provisions of the new labor code: Interval for rest is provided in the following manner: 1. One hour interval for rest or meal for six hours of work; 2. Half an hour interval for rest or meal for 5 hours of work. Changes in the present law: No change has been made. Weekly hours** Provisions of the new labor code: The new law makes a provision of total 48 (forty eight) working hours for a worker, but it can be extended up to sixty hours, subject to the payment of overtime allowances as per section 108 of the law. However, an average of 56 working hours per week in a year for a labour must not be exceeded under any circumstances. But the new law makes a provision for exemption approved by the government if it thinks so fit.

Changes in present law: Exemption clause has been inserted in the new law, by which the government is empowered to exempt any of the factories for the purpose of this rule for a maximum period of six months at a time.

Holidays for workers

Holidays are generally dealt with in collective agreement, while custom and practice and statute have a subordinate role. A provision or a stipulation as to leave and holidays would necessarily include a construction would be consistent with the meaning of the world condition as employed in the preamble to the act. The Bangladesh labor act, 2006 makes provisions for the compulsory weekly holiday or compensatory holidays and festival holiday. Sections 103,104 and 118 stipulate the provisions regarding above kinds of holidays in any establishment under the Bangladesh labor act.

Weekly Holiday :
Provisions of the new labor code: Section 103 of the act ensures for provision of weekly holiday for the workers in any factory. The section clearly lays down that every worker working in any establishment shall get one and half days in case of shop, commercial or industrial establishment ;shall get one day of twenty four consecutive hours of weekly holiday in the case of road transport establishment and no deduction from wages is allowed for such leave. The weekly holiday act of 1942 prescribes one paid holiday a week for persons employed in any shop, restaurant or theatre. The government is empowered to grant additional half-day holiday with pay in a week.

Compensatory weekly holiday:

Section 104 of the act ensures for provision of compensatory weekly holiday for the workers in lieu of weekly holiday in any factory, industrial and commercial establishment . The section clearly lays down that where a worker is deprived of any of the weekly holidays provided for in section 103, he shall be allowed as soon as circumstances permit compensatory holidays of equal number to the holidays so deprived of.

* Section 101 of the Labor Law, 2006 ** Section 102 of the Labor Law, 2006 *** Section 103 of the Labor Law, 2006

Changes in the new law: No change.

Procedure of leave :Section 10 of the act enunciates that a worker who desires to obtain leave of absence shall apply to the employer for the same, in writing, stating his leave- address there in. The employer or his authorized officer shall issue orders on the application within a week of its submission to two days prior to the commencement of leave applied for, which ever is earlier. Provided that if, due to emergent reasons the leave applied for the order shall be given on the same day. If the leave asked for is granted, a leave pass shall be issued to the worker. If the leave is refused or postponed, the fact of such refusal or postponement and the reasons thereof shall be recorder in writing in a register to be maintained by the employer for the purpose. If the worker, after proceeding on leave, desires an extension there of, he shall, if such leave is due to him, apply sufficiently n advance before the expiry of the leave to the employer who shall, as far as practicable, send a written reply either granting or refusing extension of leave to the worker to his leave-address.

Provisions regarding leaves of workers :

Plain grammatical meaning of the word leave in relation to an employee is voluntarily leaving of the service by him. The labor act makes provisions for annual leave, casual and sick leave and as per the maternity benefit act of 1939 the law provides the full pay maternity leave for the women workers. On completing one year of continuous service, every adult worker shall be entitled to one day of leave with pay for every 18 days of work in case of shop or commercial or industry or factory or road transport agency. And one day of leave with pay for every 22 days of work in case of tea estate and one day of leave with pay for every 11 days of work in case of newspaper employees. On completing one year of continuous service, every young person worker shall be entitled to one day leave with pay for every 15 days of work in case of factory, one day of leave with pay for every 18 days of work in case of

tea estate and one day of leave with pay for every 14 days of work in case of shop or commercial or industry. Every worker shall be entitled to 10 days of casual leave with full wages in a year. Every worker shall be entitled to 14 days of sick leave with full wages in year.

Casual leave:
Provisions of the new labor law: Section 115 of the act ensures the right of casual leave which is granted upon contingent situations such as sudden illness or any other urgent purpose. It should be obtained on prior application unless the urgency prevents the making pf such application. As a customary practice, casual leave is approved in most cases. Section 115 of the new labor law deals with the provisions for casual leave of a worker. It makes a provision for 10 days casual leave with full wages.

Sick leave:
Provisions of the new labor law: Sick leave, on the other hand, may be availed of on support of a medical certificate. Management should not refuse the leave asked for if it is supported by a medical certificate. No such leave shall be allowed unless a registered practitioner appointed by the employer, and in the absence of such practitioner, any other registered practitioner certifies on examination that the concerned employee is sick and needs leave as mentioned an the certificate for his treatment. According to section 116 of the act, every worker except newspaper employees shall be entitled to sick leave with full wages for a total period of 14 days in a year. All workers employed in a factory shall be entitled to get 14 (fourteen) days sick leave with full average wages. Provided, such a leave shall not be granted unless a Registered Physician employed by the employer or any other Registered Physician has certified her/his illness. Changes in the present law: Earlier laws provided for the same period of leave with half average wages, whereas, the new law makes provisions for the sick leave to be one with full average wages. The requirement for certification by a Registered Physician does not exist in the earlier laws. However, it has been added to the new law.
* Section 118 of the Labor Law, 2006 ** Section 116 of the Labor Law, 2006

Annual leave with wages:

Provisions of the new labor law: Entitlement of annual leave with pay for any adult worker under the Bangladesh labour act of 2006 is in the case of a shop, commercial or industrial establishment or factory, or transport establishment, one day for every eighteen days of work, in the case of a worker in a tea plantation, one day for every 22 days of work and in the case of newspaper employee, one day for every 11 days of work actually performed by him during the previous period of 12 months continually. According to section 117(2) of the act, new labor law deals with the provisions for annual leave with wages. The section provides as follows: 1) Each worker, who has completed one year of continuous service in a factory, shall be allowed during the subsequent period of twelve months leave with wages for a number of days calculated at the rate of :i) for adult workers, one day for every 18 (eighteen) days of work performed by her/him during the previous twelve months; ii) For adolescent worker, one day for every 15 (fifteen) days of work performed by her/him during the previous twelve months. 2) An adult worker shall cease to earn any such leave when the leave due to her/him amounts to 40 (forty) days and an adolescent worker shall cease to earn the said leave when the leave due to her/him amounts to 60 (sixty) days.

Festival holiday :
Provisions of the new labor law: 1) Every worker shall be entitled to eleven days festival-leave for every calendar year. The employer shall, at the beginning of the year, fix the day and date of such leaves. 2) The employer may require any worker to work on a festival holiday provided that two days additional compensatory holidays with full pay and one alternative holiday should be given to her/him under section 103.

Changes in the present law:

Festival holiday has been increased by a day in the new labor law 2006.

Maternity leave :
Provisions of the new labor code: In section 46 of the new labor law 2006 provisions have been created for maternity leave of 16 weeks (8 weeks before and 8 weeks after the delivery). But the law also makes a provision that no worker shall be entitled to receive the benefit unless she has served under the owner for a minimum period of six months prior to the notice of the probability of the delivery. Provisions of the previous labor laws: Section 3 of the Maternity Benefits Act, 1939 provides maternity leave of 12 weeks (6 weeks before and 6 weeks after the delivery). Changes in present law: The new law increases the maternity leaves to sixteen weeks from twelve weeks and decreases the duration of the qualifying service period - for availing the benefit - to six months from 9 months. Also, no maternity benefit shall be payable to any woman if at the time of her confinement she has two or more surviving children.

3. Company Profiles :-

In order to perform this report we went to 10 different garments to collect data about a workers leave and holidays with or without wages. The profile of these garment sectors and our findings regarding workers leave and holidays are given below :

a) Dada Garments Ltd:Name: Dada Garments Limited Location: Uttara, Dhaka Number of Employees: 1187
Address: Plot-23, Sect.6, Uttara C/A. City: Dhaka Phone: 8913042, 8813784, 8914825 Fax: 880-2-8913052 Establishment Settings regarding Leave and Holiday Policy : Weekly Holidays Sick Leave Maternity leave Casual leave Earned Leave Festival Holiday 1 day 14 days 112 days 10 days 1 days within 18 days 11 days

b) Simco Bangladesh Limited :Name: Simco Bangladesh Limited Location: Uttara, Dhaka Number of Employees: 600 Phone : 880-2-8921604, 8923829 Fax : 880-2-8923831 E-mail : simco@simcocorrp.com
Establishment Settings regarding Leave and Holiday Policy :

Weekly Holidays Sick Leave Maternity leave Casual leave Earned Leave/ Annual Leave Festival Holiday

1 day 14 days 16 weeks 10 days (ANYTIME) 20 days (1 day within 18 work days) 11 days (per year)

i) If anyone is absent for 10 days without notice then wages is deducted. ii) If anyone does not take any leave then his/her leave is carry forward to next year and one can enjoy up to 40 days of leave. iii) Service benefit is given for this leaves.

c) The Rose Garments Limited :Name: The Rose Garments Ltd. Location: Uttarkhan adarsha Para, Mazar Road Number of Employees: 1200 (approximately) Establishment Settings regarding Leave and Holiday Policy : Weekly Holidays Sick Leave Maternity leave Casual leave Earned Leave/ Annual Leave Festival Holiday 1 day According to doctors orders (10-12days) 3 Months 03 days 5 days 06 days (per year)

i) Only work days wage is given, No wage is given for weekly holiday. ii) Wage is deducted if anyone is absent from work . (per day 100 tk) iii) Earned leave is not provided to the workers. iv) No festival holiday is given to the workers with different religion, rather they get only 6 days of festival holiday for Eid. v) When there is no orders or work then the garments remain close and the work is done in weekly holidays and festive holidays.

d) Kins collections Limited :-

Name: Kins Collections Limited Location: Uttara, Dhaka Number of Employees: 550 (approximately)
Establishment Settings regarding Leave and Holiday Policy : Weekly Holidays Sick Leave Maternity leave Casual leave Earned Leave/ Annual Leave Festival Holiday 1 day 14 days 16 weeks 10 days (ANYTIME) 28 days (1 day within 18 work days) 11 days (per year)

e) Chaity Group Limited :Name: Chaity Group Limited Location: Ashique Complex, 43, Chalabon, AzampurUttara Number of Employees: 723 (proxiametely) Phone: 880 2 8923670 Fax: 880 2 8913701 Web: http://chaity.sigmabd.com Establishment Settings regarding Leave and Holiday Policy : Weekly Holidays Sick Leave Maternity leave Casual leave Earned Leave/ Annual Leave Festival Holiday 1 day According to doctors orders (10-12days) 14 weeks 10 days 28 days (1 day within 18 work days) 11 days (per year)

i) If anyone gets sick then he/she is relieved from duty immediately. ii) Wage is deducted if anyone is absent from work willingly. (per day)

f) Nimmi Apparels Limited :-

Name: Nimmi Apparels Limited Location: Uttara, Dhaka Number of Employees: 600 (Approximately)
Establishment Settings regarding Leave and Holiday Policy : Weekly Holidays Sick Leave Maternity leave Casual leave Earned Leave/ Annual Leave Festival Holiday 1 day 14 days 16 weeks 10 days 28 days (1 day within 18 work days) 11 days (per year)

g) Simco Dresses Limited :Name: Simco Dresses Limited Location: Uttara, Gazipur Number of Employees: 670 (Approximately)
Establishment Settings regarding Leave and Holiday Policy : Weekly Holidays Sick Leave Maternity leave Casual leave Earned Leave/ Annual Leave Festival Holiday 1 day 14 days 16 weeks 10 days (ANYTIME) 28 days (1 day within 18 work days) 11 days (per year)

i) Only work days wage is given, No wage is given for weekly holiday. ii) Wage is deducted if anyone is absent from work . (per day 100 tk)

h) Fashion Apparels Ltd :-

Name: Fashion apparles Ltd. Location: Razzak Tower, Purba tek, Mazar Road Number of Employees: 800 (approximately) Establishment Settings regarding Leave and Holiday Policy : Weekly Holidays Sick Leave Maternity leave Casual leave Earned Leave/ Annual Leave Festival Holiday 1 day 9 days 3 Months ------6 days 05 days (per year)

i) Only work days wage is given, No wage is given for weekly holiday. ii) Wage is deducted if anyone is absent from work . (per day 100 tk)

i) Hazrat Amanat Shah Spinning Mills Ltd :Name: Hazrat Amanat Shah Spinning Mills Ltd Address: Ali Bhaban (5th Floor) , 9, Rajuk Avenue, Motijheel C/A. City: Dhaka-1000 Phone: 880-2- 7170674, 7176213, Cell: 0174435235 Fax: 880-2-7176130 Factory: Vatpara, Narsingdi. Number of Employees: 1000 (approximately) Establishment Settings regarding Leave and Holiday Policy : Weekly Holidays Sick Leave Maternity leave Casual leave Earned Leave/ Annual Leave Festival Holiday 1 day 14 days 16 weeks 10 days (ANYTIME) 20 days (1 day within 18 work days) 11 days (per year)

j) Sinha Textile Ltd :-

Name: Sinha Textile Ltd. Address: Kachpur, Narayangong. Number of Employees: 2000 (approxiametely) Establishment Settings regarding Leave and Holiday Policy : Weekly Holidays Sick Leave Maternity leave Casual leave Earned Leave/ Annual Leave Festival Holiday 1 day 14 days 16 weeks 10 days (ANYTIME) 20 days (1 day within 18 work days) 11 days (per year)

These are the 10 garment industry we visited. After visiting these Garment factory we collect the data. We asked Questions to the authority about their leave and holiday policy. They all said that abide the law. But in reality the picture is different. We also asked some straight question to the workers regarding their leave and holiday policy. And they all disagree with the managements answer. They may get some benefits like sick leave, festival leave but in case of annual leave, casual leave and weekly holiday they do not get enough facilities.

4. Findings about the Study :-

After conducting our interview we find some drawbacks that helps us to understand the why the Labor Law Act is not abided by the RMG sectors. These findings are as follows :1. Lack of Government Policy :- The government of our country does not pay much attention to these sector. Because of that the Labor law policy is not followed by everyone. Not only the Leave and Holiday Policy but also all other provisions are needed to modified. 2. Trade union does not pay much attention : The trade union of RMG Sectors does not pay much attention towards Leave and holiday policy. Their main attention is toward wage an bonus. They ignore it because as long as they get paid nothing else matter. 3. Authorities does not follow the Labor Law Act . The authorities does not follow the Labor Law Act Because they think there is no one to blame him and also the authorities think that the worker are illiterate, so they would not understand a thing . 4. Low awareness of the workers. The workers who are working in the RMG industry are Not aware about the Labor Law Act or any other act that protect their rights. Because of their lack of awareness the authorities take the opportunity to make them work as a puppet. 5. Lack of education : More than 74% of the workers are illiterate. So they have little or no Knowledge at all about the importance of education.. If they have education then they can gain their right . 6. The Labor Law Act is Backdated. The labor law we use for RMG sectors are Backdated and not modified at all. The labor law act we use are not suitable compare to the modern world. The Bangladesh Labour Code, 2006 is one of the very recent laws with major overhauling changes in the field of labour legislation. The laws, which this code has replaced, were mostly during the British Colonial regime and Pakistan period and they were as many as 50 in number. So the change and modification of the Labor Law Act is a crying need. Factory law of 1965 should be enforced with slight modification in all the garments
industries. This modification should consider the present situation of the county as well as changing global environment.

7. The Government does not monitor the RMG Sector. Because of that many garments are doing as they please with workers. The workers are suffering with low wages, no leave and maternity benefits because there is no one to monitor them about their conditions. 8. Deduction of wages . According to the Labor Law Act the provision for wage with leave is allowed. But in many Garment factory this rule is not followed. The wage is deducted from the salary if anyone take leave. Even weekly holiday is not added. 9. Festival Holiday. Festival holiday is for 11 days according to the law. But for other worker who have different religion does not get any holiday for their festivals. The festival holiday they get is Eid Day. 10. Maternity Leave. Maternity leave is not allowed in many Factories. Some may follow the rule about paying the maternity benefit with wages but some take it too far. A maternal leave means a less worker and wage is given for free. Because of this many workers are suspended or released from their jobs. 11. Casual Leave. Casual leave is not allowed to the workers at all. Because it is bad for the authorities. Moreover the wage is deducted. For Example : Wage 3000/= Per month. So the wage is :- (3000/30)=100 per day. So for absent or leave the wage is deducted by :- (3000-100)=2900/=. 12. Compensation for weekly holiday. No compensation is given for weekly holiday. The workers get their wages based on work days. In one month there are four weekly holidays and the workers get only 26 days of wages. If anyone do work on holidays then it count as overtime not as wage. 72% of workers dont get entitled leave. According to workers, processing of leave is a hassle. However, 96% of workers said that leaves were granted without wage. 13. Working in Holidays. When there is no work or orders the Garments remain close. But no wage is given to the workers for closing days. Rather they have to work in holidays or festival holiday to make up for the loss time. But do not get any compensation for working in holidays.

5. Statistical Analysis Of the Study :-

The statistical analysis for the study is depend on the Questionnaire we made for conducting the research. The answer of the questions are statistically analyzed.
Here we divided the Garments Factory according to their answer and Knowledge.

4.5

DADA

Chaity Group

The Rose

1.5

Simco Dresses

Nimmi Appreals

2.5

0.5

0 DADA Simco Bangladesh Kins Collection Chaity Group Simco Dresses Nimmi Appreals The Rose Fashion Amant Shah Sinha

Figure :- Level Of Awareness

Level of Awareness
Level of Awareness about the provisions of Holidays and Leave of the Bangladesh Labor Law Act, 2006 ? A. Very Low Here, 5 Stands for Very High 4 Stands for High 3 Stands for No Comment 2 Stands for Low 1 Stands for Very Low B Low. C. No Comment D. High E. Very High

Fashion

Amant Shah

3.5

Simco Bangladesh

Kins Collection

Sinha

The following data Provides the percentage of dismissal in a Garment Industry :-

Respondent Factory closure Absence without notice Absence for sickness Factory relocation Conflict with management Total

Percentage (%) 1 3.7 6 22.2 16 59.3 3 11.1 1 3.7 27 100.0

Figure: Reason for dismissal by factory

6. Recommendations:After analyzing the Act, experiencing the real fact from the organizations visited we can say that the leave and holiday System of RMG sector should be organized with more industrial settings and by the effort of both the owner and worker community. 1. Government must take necessary initiatives like upgrading the technical structure of the RMG Sector. Beside these government must take necessary steps to improve the condition of the workers leave and holiday policy. 2. Trade union can play a significant role in this provision. Because the main aim of a trade union is to se that the members are getting their rights according to what they deserve. 3. The authorities who run the RMG sector can also improve this system by abiding the Labor Law Act. So the workers can be benefited from this. Beside this can also reduce the cause of future conflict between the Labor and authorities. 4. The workers, often did not know what kind of leave/rest they were entitled to and therefore, could not claim for leave/other rest and recreation emoluments properly. So by creating awareness among the workers can help the leave and holiday policy to male sure that the workers are getting it. 5. The laws, which this code has replaced, were mostly during the British Colonial regime and Pakistan period and they were as many as 50 in number. So the change and modification of the Labor Law Act is a crying need. Factory law of 1965 should be enforced with slight modification in all the garments industries. This modification should consider the present situation of the country as well as changing global environment. Modification of the current law can change the course of the Labor Industry. 6. Maternity benefits, rest and recreation amenities, child care facilities, hygiene facilities, leave plans, etc should be provided to the female workers. 7. Government should create a monitoring team to monitor all the RMG sector, and see that the workers are getting the leave and holiday that they deserve. Beside this monitoring team can also make sure that the authorities are abiding the Law.

8. A open discussion can help the workers to understand the Labor Law Act, that the government created for them. A discussion can clear all the doubts and make them understand. 9. Education is another way to make them aware of their rights. Workers should be made aware of their responsibilities alongside privileges/dues. 10. Information could be disseminated amongst the workers by posters, pocket books, training materials, leaflets, programmes on the electronic media/TV spots, video shows, seminars, workshops, training programs, etc. 11. Workers need to know the core information of national Labour laws related to basic rights of workers. 12. The core learning areas and information cycle for workers could be concentrated to: o Leaves and holidays o Working hours o Minimum wages and other benefits o Appointment Letter o On time payment o Occupational Health o Occupational safety o Working Environment o Grievance procedure, etc.

7. Workers Opinion :
In order to understand the whole procedure we asked the workers opinion what hey think. On asking what problems they felt they had and where they felt they lacked knowledge or information, the workers stressed on the following issues: 1. Leaves and holidays: Almost all of them confessed knowing very little about leave structures and complained being given almost no leaves across the year often 2. Misbehaviour: Many of them complained of having suffered misbehavior from the supervisors and sometimes the owners or their family members who visit the factories sometimes. 3. Timely payment and other payment related issues: They were explaining that it has become a regular phenomena in many factories across Uttara and tongi that the salaries are withheld for sometimes even 2 weeks to a month beyond the scheduled date of payment and sometimes that these are only paid after the workers go on strike or create a chaotic protest. They also wanted to know about how they should calculate their payment as many of them said that they feel that they are getting paid less than what they should be getting. In general they also protested that the salary scales were still too low. 4. Maternity benefits and welfare facilities: The workers confessed to not knowing about the updated maternity leave structures and other benefits and also did not know what welfare facilities they are entitled to anyway. When asked about how they felt information about these should be communicated the workers responded: 5. The workers argued that they demand that owners and management officials of the factories should be convinced to change their ways of working and their perceptions about their workers

8. Conclusion :

The Ready Made Garments industry of Bangladesh has been playing an important role in our economy in terms of employment and export earnings. This sector accounts for 76% of total foreign exchange earnings of the country. It employs about 180,000 managers and 1.8 Million workers, of whom 1.4 Million are women. In Bangladesh, the RMG industry has emerged as a major economic sector and has had its impact on the financial services sector, communications, transportation, and on other related industries. Above all, we can go for a conclusion that, the workers of the industries are now underprivileged. The Ready Made Garments sector has more potential than any other sector to contribute to the reduction of of poverty. Despite the phenomenal success of the RMG sector the working conditions and wages of workers in the industry are cause for serious concern. The Labor Law act should provide the guide line about how a garment factory should work, What are the garment workers rights etc. Moerover the it determines the how a worker should be treated. Today the garment workers are suffering from leave and holiday policy. They does not get their leave and holiday, money is deducted from their main wages. They do not get suffuicient festival Leave. Sometime they have to work in a holiday. It is high time we realise the importance of the labor law. So necessary steps muct be taken to improve the labor law so the workers of the RMG sectors can get their rights. Above all we can say that the leave and holiday policy is important for the workers. The LLAbor Law Act is Important also, but it needeed tobe modified.

Appendix

Demographic Characteristics of the respondent Age . Institutional Data No. of employees: Gender: A. Male B. Female

1. Does your industry follow the Labor Law Act 2006? A. Yes B. No 2. There are three provisions 103.104 and 118 about the leave and holidays. Does your industry or you are aware of that ? A. Yes B. No 3. What is the Working hour of an adult worker working in your industry ? Ans:4. What is the break system for an adult worker working in your industry ? Ans:-

5. There are different provision by the government in a Labor Law Act, Does your industry follow these provisions while giving break to the worker? Ans:6. Do you get any Weekly holiday ? If not then do you get any overtime for that day ? Ans :-

7. If anyone fall sick during working hours, does he/she get to leave ? Ans :8. What is the Compensatory weekly holiday for a worker ? Ans :-

9. How much day a worker can take leave from work ? Ans :10. Do you know that your industry is obliged to pay you during the leave and holidays? Ans:-

11. Do you get overtime during working in a holiday ? (exp : Weekly Holiday) Ans:12. What is the Festival holiday for a worker ? Ans :13. Is the Festival holiday is appropriate for other religions too ? Ans :14. a) What about the rules of casual leave and sick leave ? Ans :b) Does your company allow you to take any casual leave during working hours ? Ans :15. a) What about the rules of annual leave ? Ans :b) Did you get paid while you are on leave ? Ans :16. What about the rules of Maternity leave for female workers and how much day? Ans :-

17. What is the procedure of leave policy in your industry ? Ans :-

18. If anyone stop coming to work without noticing the authority then what happens ?

Ans :-

19. a) Do you think that the holidays and leave policy is appropriate for you and your co-workers ? If not please explain ? Ans :-

b) What are the reasons that you think holidays and leave policy is not appropriate ? Ans :-

20. What are the holidays you get ? Ans :-

21. Beside the Statutory and government holiday did you get any other types of holidays? If yes please explain ? Ans:-

22. Does your company encourage you or discourage you to take a leave or holiday ? Ans :-

23. What is your opinion or suggestion regarding the Holiday and leave policy in our country ? Ans :24. Do you think that the wages/overtime should increase for working in a Holiday or working after the period of the working hours? Ans :-

25. Does your Industry pay you for taking a leave without their concern ? Ans:26. What are results/punishments for taking a day off without the authorities concern ? Ans:-

Level of Awareness
Level of Awareness about the provisions of Holidays and Leave of the Bangladesh Labor Law Act,2006 ? A. Very High B. High C. No Comment D. Low E. Very Low

Questionnaire-2 1. Do you get your Weekly holiday ? A. yes A. yes Ans:3. Did you get paid for you weekly holiday ? A. yes A. yes Ans:5. a) Did you get any annual leave ? A. yes Ans:6. Does the female workers get the maternity leave? B. no b) How much day do you get for Annual Leave ? B. no B. no 4. a) Is sick leave available for you worker ? b) How much day do you get for sick Leave ? B. no B. no 2. a) Do you get your Festival holiday ? b) How much day you get for festival holiday ?

A. yes

B. no

7. Do you get any maternity benefits ? A. yes B. no c. Sometimes

8. What are the waging procedure of your industry? Ans:9. Does your industry allow you to have casual leave ? A. yes B. no c. Sometimes

10. Are you satisfied with the leave and holiday policy of your industry ? A. Yes B. No c. No comment

11. Are you aware of the Labor Law Act in our country ? A. Yes B. No

References :
1. Bangladesh Labor Act-2006. By Dr. Zulfiquar Ahmed. 2. The Labor Law Act-2006. 3. Bangladesh Labor Law (amendment) 2010. 4. Labor Policy -2010 (Draft)