Labour Law (Sections 33, 41, 42, 55, 56, 63, 64)

1. CONTENTS
 INTRODUCTION
 SECTION 2 (Definitions)
 SECTION 33
 SECTION 41
 SECTION 42
 SECTION 55
 SECTION 56
 SECTION 63
 SECTION 64
 CONCLUSION

2.  INTRODUCTION
The labour law system is more than a century old in Bangladesh. The first
labour law has been enacted in the Indian sub-continent during the British
period in 1881. Subsequently, the British Government introduced several laws
concerning different labour issues, e.g., working hour, employment of
children, maternity benefit, trade union activities, wage, etc. The Factories Act
(1881), Workmen's Compensation Act (1923), Trade Unions Act (1926),
Trade Disputes Act(1929), Payment of Wages Act (1936), Maternity Benefit
Act (1939), and the Employment of Children Act (1938) are remarkable
labour laws enacted during the British period (Jabber, 2003). After the
separation of the Indian sub-continent in 1947, almost all the laws during the
pre-partition period have been kept in force with some modifications and
amendments, in the form of administrative rules, by the government of
Pakistan. After the independence in 1971, the government of Bangladesh
retained the previous laws through the Bangladesh Laws Order (President's
Order No. 48). It also enacted additional laws in response to the changing
circumstances and needs of the working class and the country. In 2006, the
country adopted the revised Bangladesh Labour Law (BLL) of 2006.The BLL
(Bangladesh Labour Laws) is fairly comprehensive and progressive.
Labour law arose due to the demands for workers for better conditions, the
right to organize, and the simultaneous demands of employers to restrict the
powers of workers’ many organizations and to keep labour costs low.
Employers’ costs can increase due to workers organizing to win higher wages,
or by laws imposing costly requirements, such as health and safety or equal
opportunities conditions. Workers’ organizations, such as trade unions, can
also transcend purely industrial disputes, and gain political power – which
some employers may oppose. The state of labour law at any one time is

3. therefore both the product of, and a component of, struggles between different
interests in society.
 SECTION 2 (Definitions)
 In this Act, unless there is anything repugnant in the subject or context –
 Commercial establishment’ means an establishment in which the business of
advertising, commission or forwarding is conducted, or which is a commercial
agency, and includes a clerical department of a factory or of any industrial or
commercial undertaking, the office establishment of a person who for the
purpose of fulfilling a contract with the owner of any commercial
establishment or industrial establishment employs workers, a unit of a joint-
stock company, an insurance company, a banking company or a bank, a
broker’s office or stock exchange, a club, a hotel or a restaurant or an eating
house, cinema or theatre, or such other establishment or class thereof as the
Government may, by notification in the official Gazette, declare to be a
commercial establishment for the purpose of this Act;
 ‘Director of Labour’ means an officer so appointed by the Government;
 ‘Discharge’ means the termination of services of a worker by the employer for
reasons of physical or mental incapacity or continued ill health of the worker
or such other similar reasons not amounting to misconduct;
 ‘dismissal’ means the termination of services of a worker by the employer for
misconduct;

4.  ’employer’ means a person, a body of persons or body corporate, company or
institutions owning or managing a shop, commercial establishment or
industrial establishment, or their heirs, successors or assigns, as the case may
be, and includes;
i. in a factory, any person working as manager of the factory,
ii. in any shop, commercial establishment or industrial establishment, carried
on by or behalf on a local authority, the officer appointed, the chief
executive officer of that authority, and
iii. in relation to any other shop, commercial establishment or industrial
establishment, every Director, Manager, Secretary, Agent or other officer
or person concerned with management thereof and responsible to the
owner for the supervision and control of such shop, commercial
establishment or industrial establishment;
iv. ‘go-slow’ means an organised deliberate and purposeful slowing down of
normal output of work by a body of workers in a concerted manner, and
which is not due to any mechanical defect, breakdown of machinery,
failure or defect in power supply or in the supply of normal materials and
spare parts of machinery.
 ‘Industrial establishment’ means any workshop or other establishment in
which articles are produced, adapted or manufactured or where the work of
making, altering, repairing, ornamenting, finishing or packing or otherwise
treating any article or substance, with a view to their use, transport, sale,
delivery or disposal, is carried on or such other class of establishments

5. including water transport vessels or any class thereof which the Government
may, by notification in official Gazette, declare to be an industrial
establishment for the purpose of this Act and includes –
i. any motor omnibus service, any dock, wharf or jetty.
ii. any mine, quarry, gas-field or oil-field,
iii. any plantation, or
iv. a factory as defined in the Factories Act, 1965;
 ‘Labour Court’ means a Court constituted under the Industrial Relations
Ordinance, 1969.
 ‘lay-off’ means the failure, refusal or inability of an employer on account of
shortage of coal, power or raw material or the accumulation of stock or the
break-down of machinery or for any other reason, to give employment to a
worker whose name is borne on the muster rolls of his shop, commercial
establishment or industrial establishment;
 ‘plantation’ means any estate which is maintained for the purpose of growing
cinchona, rubber, coffee or tea and includes agricultural farms under sugar
mill for growing sugar cane, employing twenty-five or more persons for that
purpose;
 ‘public servant’ shall have the same meaning as in section 21 of the Penal
Code, 1860;
 ‘retrenchment’ means the termination by the employer of services of workers,
not as a measure of punishment inflicted by way of disciplinary action, but on
the ground of redundancy;

6.  ‘shop’ means a shop as defined in the Shops and Establishments Act, 1965;
 ‘trade union’ means a trade union registered under the Industrial Relations
Ordinance, 1969;
 ‘wage’ means wages as defined in the payment of wages Act, 1936;
 ‘worker’ means any person including any apprentice employed in any shop,
commercial establishment or industrial establishment to do any skilled,
unskilled, manual, technical, trade promotional or clerical work for hire or
reward, whether the terms of employment be expressed or implied, but does
not include any such person –
i. Who is employed mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity; or
ii. Who, being employed in a supervisory capacity, exercises, either by
nature of the duties attached to office or by reason of power vested in
him, functions mainly of managerial or administrative nature.
 SECTION 33
 Procedure of making complaint/grievance:
(1)Any worker, including a worker who has been laid-off, retrenched,
discharged, dismissed, removed, or otherwise removed from employment,
who has grievance in respect of any matter covered under this chapter, and
intends to seek redress thereof under this section, shall submit his grievance

7. to his employer, in writing, by registered post within thirty days of being
informed of the cause of such grievance. Provided that if the employer
acknowledges receipt of the grievance, in that case the service by registered
post shall not be essential.
(2)The employer shall within fifteen days of receipt of such grievance, enquire
into the matter, give the worker an opportunity of being heard and
communicate his decision, in writing to him.
(3)If the employer fails to give a decision under sub-section (2) or if the worker
is dissatisfied with such decision, he may make a comp lain in writing to the
Labour court within thirty days from the last date under sub-section (2) or
within thirty days from the date of the decision, as the case may be.
(4)The Labour court shall, on receipt of the complaint hear the parties after giving
notice to them and make such orders as it may deem just and proper.
(5)The Labour court, may amongst other relief, direct reinstatement of the
complainant in service, either with or without back wage s and convert the
order of dismissal, removal or discharge to any other Lesser punishment
specified in section 23(2).
(6)Any person aggrieved by an order of the Labour court, may, within thirty days
of the order, prefer an appeal to the tribunal, and the decision of the Tribunal
on such appeal shall be final.
(7)No court-fees shall be payable for lodging complaint or appeal under this
section.
(8)No complaint under this section shall amount to prosecution under this Act.

8. (9)Notwithstanding anything contained in this section, no complaint shall lie
against an order of termination of employment of a worker under section 26,
unless such order is alleged to have been made for his trade union activities or
passed motivated or unless the worker concerned has been deprived of the
benefits specified in that section.
 Relevant Case Laws:
 In the case of Abdul Karim Khan vs. Mujibur Rahman (1979) 3 DLR 269
the High Court division held that if a grievance petition is sent by registered
post within the period mentioned in the section it would be treated as having
been filed within the period.
 In another case under section 33 to the Labour Court (Karim Jute Mills vs.
Chairman, 2nd
Labour Court, 42 DLR 255) & in BRTC vs. Esken Mollick
and Another 9 MLR (AD) (2004) 161 it was held by the Appellate Division
that sending grievance to the employer by registered post is not always
necessary.
Steps of grievance procedure shows in diagram

9.  SECTION 41
Before we dive into the section 41 let’s take a look on the adolescent in Labour
law of Bangladesh –
 As per section 2(8) of BLA an adolescent means a person who is between the
age of 14 to 18 years, and anyone below the age of 14 years is deemed to be a
child as per section 2(63) of BLA. Under section 34 no child (below the age
of 14) shall be employed or permitted to work in any occupation or
establishment. However, as provided under section 44 a child who has
completed 12 years of age, may be employed in such a light work which is not
dangerous to his health and development or shall not interfere with his
Departmental Action
Grievance Procedure
Judicial Action
(Filing a case straight way
in the Labour Court under
section 33)
Quasi-Judicial Action
(Conciliation, mediation,
arbitration- through the route of
a 'labour dispute' under sec. 210)
Judicial Action
After exhaustion of quasi-judicial
procedure the dispute will go to
the Labour Court

10. education. In light of such, it is submitted that labour by the children, who are
between the age of 12 and 14 years in certain circumstances are allowed. The
laws related to engaging adolescent has to be followed.
 Working hour for adolescent:
(1)No adolescent shall be allowed to work in any factory or mine for more
than 5 hours in any day and 30 hours in any week.
(2)No adolescent shall be allowed to work in any other establishment for more
than 7 hours in any day and 42 hours in a week.
(3)No adolescent shall be allowed to work in any establishment from 7 pm to
7am.
(4)If an adolescent works overtime, the total number of hours worked
including overtime shall not exceed (a) in any factory or mine, 36 hours in
a week; (b) in any other establishment, 48 hours in a week.
(5)The period of work of an adolescent employed in an establishment shall be
limited to 2 shifts, and the period of any shift shall not exceed more than
7.5 hours.
(6)An adolescent may be employed in one relay only and this shall not, except
with the previous permission, in writing, of the Inspector, be changed more
than once in a period of 30 days.

11. (7)The provisions relating to weekly holidays under this Act shall apply also
to the adolescent workers and the operation of this provision shall not be
suspended in respect of the adolescent workers.
(8)No adolescent shall be allowed to work in more than one establishment in
a day.
 The Factories Act, 1965 also states that,
(1)No child or adolescent shall be required or allowed to work in any factory-
a) for more than five hours in any day; and
b) between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.
(2)The period of work of all children employed in a factory shall be limited
to two shifts which shall not overlap or spread over more than seven and a
half hours each.
(3)A child shall be employed in only one of the relays which shall not, except
with the previous permission in writing of the Chief Inspector, be changed
more frequently than once in a period of thirty days.
(4)The provisions of section 51 shall apply also to child workers; no
exemption from the provisions of that section shall be granted in respect of
any child.
(1)No child shall be required or allowed to work in any factory on any day on
which he has already been working in another factory.

12.  SECTION 42
 Prohibition of employment of adolescent in underground and under
water:
No adolescent shall be employed in any work in the underground or
underwater.
 SECTION 55
 Artificial Humidification:
Section 55 of the Bangladesh Labor Act, 2006 provides for rules relating to
artificial humidification which are as follows:
(1) If the humidity of air is artificially increased in any establishment, the
water used for the purpose shall be taken from a public water supply system
or other source of drinking water, or shall be effectively purified before it is
so used.
(2) If it appears to the Inspector that the water used for such purpose is not
effectively purified as required under sub-section (1), he may serve on the
employer an order in writing to adopt measures specified therein in that order
the time specified therein.
 The Factories Act, 1965 also states about artificial humidification that:

13. (1)The Government may, in respect of all factories in which humidity of the air
is artificially increased, make rules -
a) prescribing standards of humidification;
b) regulating the methods used for artificially increasing the humidity of the air;
c) directing prescribed tests determining the humidity of the air to be correctly
carried out and recorded; and
d) Prescribing methods to be adopted for securing adequate ventilation and
cooling of the air in the work-rooms.
(2)In any factory in which the humidity of the air is artificially increased, the
water used for the purpose shall be taken from a public supply, or other source
of drinking water, or shall be effectively purified before it is so used.
(3)If it appears to an Inspector that the water used in a factory for increasing
humidity which is required to be effectively purified under sub-section (2) is
not effectively purified, he may serve on the Manager of the factory an order
in writing, specifying the measures which in his opinion should be adopted,
and requiring them to be carried out before a specified date.
 SECTION 56
 Overcrowding:
Section 56 of the Bangladesh Labor Act, 2006 provides for rules relating to
overcrowding which are as follows:

14. (1)No work-room in any establishment shall be overcrowded to an extent
injurious to the health of the workers employed therein.
(2)Without prejudice to the generality of the above provisions at least 9.5 cubic
metres of space shall be provided for every worker employed in a work-room.
Explanation: For the purpose of this sub-section, if the height of any room is
more than 4.25 meters above the floor level it shall not be taken into account.
(3)If the Chief Inspector by order in writing requests any employer, a notice shall
be posted in each work-room of the establishment specifying the maximum
number of workers who may, in compliance with the provisions of this
section, be employed in that room.
(4)The Chief Inspector may, by order in writing, exempt any work-room from
the provision of this section if he is satisfied that compliance therewith in
respect of such room is not necessary for the purpose of health of the workers
employed therein.
 SECTION 63
 Fencing of Machinery:
(1)In every establishment the following machinery, while in motion or in use,
shall be securely fenced by the safeguards of substantial construction, namely:
a) Every moving part of a prime mover, and every fly wheel connected therewith;

15. b) Both face of every water wheel and water turbine;
c) Every part of a stock-bar which projects beyond the head stock of a lathe; and
d) Unless the following machinery are in such position or of such construction
as to be safe to every person employed in the establishment as they would be
if they were securely fenced-
i. Every part of an electric generator, a motor or rotary converter,
ii. Every part of transmission machinery,
iii. every dangerous part of any machinery:
Provided that for the purpose of determining whether any part of machinery is
safe as aforesaid, any occasion of examination or operation made or carried
out in accordance with the provisions of section 64 shall not be taken into
account.
(2)Without prejudice to any other provision of this Act relating to the fencing of
machinery, every revolving shaft, spindle wheel or every set screw, bolt and
key on any pinion and all spur, worm and other toothed or friction gearing in
motion with which any worker generally comes into contact such appliances
shall be securely fenced to prevent such contact.
 SECTION 64
 Work on near machinery in motion:

16. (1) Where it becomes necessary to examine any part of machinery while the
machinery is in motion, such examination or operation shall be made or
carried out only by a specially trained adult male worker, wearing tight-fitting
clothing whose name has been recorded in the register,
(2) While he is so engaged such worker shall not handle a belt at a moving pulley
unless the belt is less than 15 centimeters in width and unless the belt-join is
either laced or flush with the belt.
 The Factories Act, 1965 also prohibits women and children in any factory to
clean, lubricate or adjust in part of the machinery in motion, or to work
between moving parts or between fixed and moving parts, of any machinery
in motion (Sec. 24).
 Prohibition of Employment of Women and Children Near Cotton Openers :
 The Factories Act, 1965 also prohibits the employment of women and children
in any part of a factory for pressing cotton in which cotton-opener is at work.
 CONCLUSION
Bangladesh being a member of International Labor Organization has
been trying to maintain international standard in enacting laws
relating to labor rights. The Bangladesh Labor Law 2006 is a
complete code to protect the rights of labor in Bangladesh working

17. in various factories and industries with maintaining the requirements
of International Conventions of ILO. As a third World County it has
been ratified most of conventions of ILO and assisting to promote
more efficient operation of those treaties with implementing the laws
relating to labor. Though it is not possible to maintain highest
standard through its enactment and practical implementation of
labor laws due to many social and economic restriction but the
continuing process is somehow demands a lot of gratitude from
international community.