Under the labor law of Bangladesh, a badli or casual worker who
has at least one year of continuous employment with the employer
and whose name appears on the muster-rolls of the establishment
gets laid off and he or she shall be entitled to get compensation
from the employer. Here, at first we need to understand what is
being ‘laid-off’ before understanding the procedural and
conceptual aspects of being laid off. A worker may be laid off in
accordance with section 16, if their employment is suspended for
longer than three working days, according to section 12 of the Act.
A layoff described in subsection (8) is effective as of the day
that work is halted. The first three days of a worker’s pay may
be deducted from the compensation due for a subsequent layoff.

Mainly, to combat the business loss, usually the employers try
to cut off the labor cost by terminating the employees from the
designated work. However, the law has put some restrictions on it
as well that has ascertained in which specific circumstances an
employer is bound to pay this compensation or not. Also, the law
cutbacks the amount that an employee shall be paid under these
circumstances. To get access to such compensation the employee
needs to pass some eligibility checks first. These are: either
their name is on the factory muster-rolls or they have completed at
least one year of service under the employer which is one year of
continuous service for substitute workers or they are not a casual
worker who has not completed one year of employment. Basically,
under section 16 of the Bangladesh Labor Act, 2006 the right to
have such compensation has been established which is demonstrated
as “he shall be paid compensation by the employer for all days
during which he is so laid-off, except for such weekly holidays as
may intervene” in the sub-section 1 of this section. But the
amount will not be equal to his or her full payment. In fact, it
shall be half of his or her total amount. Here, the payment refers
to either the basic wages and dearness allowance along with ad-hoc
or interim pay. Even the payment for house allowance shall be
included in this, if it is payable in full by the employer during
this employee’s employment period.

In spite of that, a worker is entitled to compensation under
Section 20 of this Act and the retrenchment rule for every term of
layoff lasting fifteen days or longer, barring any other
arrangement between the employee and the employer. The compensation
is equal to one-fourth of the sum of the basic earnings, dearness
allowance, any ad hoc or temporary pay, and housing allowance, if
applicable. Nevertheless, this right to laid-off compensation is
not an absolute right, actually laid-off workers are not entitled
to compensation in uncertain cases. No compensation shall be paid
to a laid-off employee who refuses to accept any alternative
employment in the same establishment for which he has been laid off
that does not require any special skill or prior experience on the
basis of the same pay. Any laid-off employee who shows up for work
at the establishment at the time designated for that purpose during
regular business hours on any given day and is not hired within two
hours of doing so is presumed to have been fired on that day.
Additionally, the employee’s right to receive this layoff
benefit may be restricted if they failed to show up at least once
daily during regular business hours. Hither, the shift of the
employees can also be considered prior to imposing the compensation
liability on the employers. Every laid-off employee who reports to
an employer for work and is not hired within two hours of his or
her arrival is judged to have been laid-off for the day. If a
person who has been laid off is asked to report for duty during the
second half of the shift and does so, he will be off the job for
one-half of the day while the other half is treated as on duty.

Also, during any calendar year, no employee may receive payment
of compensation under this section for a period longer than
forty-five days. But after these forty-five days, an employee shall
get a quarter of the total basic which is bound to be paid by the
employer. Apart from this, there are more reservations as well for
the employers that need to be maintained before imposing the
compensation, since the labor law is enshrined for the benefit of
both employers and employees. During either calendar year, no
employee may receive payment of compensation under this section for
a period longer than forty-five days. Substantially, it is a
protection mechanism for the employers to tackle the business loss
by cutting off some expenses. On the other hand, the employees are
getting a minimum amount at least, even in the period of employment
crisis, if the employee has done one continuous year of the service
under the employment.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.

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