CONDITIONS OF

EMPLOYMENT

Farzana Yeasmin Mehanaz

Faculty of Law
Eastern University
I. Conditions of Employment

■ “Conditions of employment” mean the terms of

employment as between the employer and the
employees. It denotes the rights and obligations of the
employee and the employer.
■ In the case of I.N.S. Reddy vs. Andhra University the
court defines, “Conditions of service”, as all those
conditions which regulate the holding of a post by a
person, right from the time of his appointment till his
retirement and even beyond retirement in matters like
pension etc.
Cont…
■ The conditions of employment is described in S.3(1),
Chapter-II of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006 which
states, in every establishment employment of workers
and other matters incidental thereto shall be regulated
in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.
■ The expression “condition of service” includes
everything from the stage of appointment and to the
stage of termination of service and even beyond and
relates to matters pertaining to disciplinary action
(Lilliy Kurian v SR. Lewine 1979 SC 52).
Cont…

■ Brigadier Chowdhury Khalequzzaman v. Sk.

Shahabuddin (1990)42 DLR 293
Held: The corporation has the right to
frame its own rules concerning the
condition of employment of workers as
provided under the provision of S.3 of the
Act.
Section 3
 Conditions of employment : (1) In every establishment employment of
workers and other matters incidental thereto shall be regulated in
accordance with the provisions of this chapter:
Provided that any establishment may have its own rules regulating
employment of workers, but no such rules shall be less favourable to any
worker than the provisions of this chapter.
(2) The service rules in any establishment as mentioned in the proviso to sub-
section (1) shall be submitted for approval by the employer of such
establishment to the chief inspector who shall, within six months of the
receipt thereof make such order therein as he deems fit.
(3) No service rules as mentioned in sub-section (2) shall be put into effect
except with the approval of the chief Inspector.
II. Contracts of Employment
■ Art. 29 of the Constitution provides every citizen
with the right to enter into any lawful profession of
occupation and to conduct any lawful trade or
business.
■ Employer is required of issue a formal appointment
letter at the time of employment.
■ The obligatory content of each labour contract, if
written, are main terms and conditions of employment,
namely nature & tenure of appointment, pay
allowances and other benefits etc.
III. Definitions of Employer & Employee

■ Employer:
S.2(49) of the Act defines ‘employer’ in relation to an
establishment, means any person who employs workers
in the establishment and includes-
(a) a heir, successor, assign, guardian or legal representative, as the
case may be, or such person;
(b) any manager or person responsible for the management and
control of the establishment.
(c) in relation to an establishment run by or under the authority of
the Government, the authority appointed in this behalf or where
on authority is so appointed, the head of the Ministry or Division
concerned ,
Cont…
(d) in relation to an establishment run by or on behalf of a local authority, the
officer appointed in this behalf or where no officer is so appointed, the chief
executive officer of that authority,
(e) in relation to any other establishment, the owner of such establishment any
director, manager, secretary, agent or other officer or person concerned with the
management of the affairs therefore, and
(f) in relation to an establishment under the occupation of any person other than
the owner, the person in occupation of that establishment or in ultimate control
over the affairs of the establishment and the manager or other person concerned
with the management of the affairs.
According to Arun Kumar Sen, ‘Employer’ means any person who
employs, either directly or through any other person, or whether on behalf of
himself or any other person one or more employees in a scheduled employment
where minimum wages have been fixed.
Cont…
■ Employee/Worker:
According to S.2(65) of the Act, ‘worker’ means any
person including an apprentice employed directly or
by a contractor in any establishment of industry 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 doesn’t include any such person who is
employed mainly in a managerial or administrative
capacity.
The Workmen of Bata Shoe Co. v
Bata Shoe Co. Ltd. 23 DLR 62

It was held that a Foreman who supervises and

controls the work of his staff is not a worker. Fact that
he is to do something with his own hand by way of
checking or testing works done by others, doesn’t
make his work manual within the meaning of the
definition of worker.
IV. Classification of Workers
■ S.4 of the Act classified the workers according to
the nature and condition of work into the following
six types:
i) Apprentices;
ii) Badli;
iii) Casual;
iv) Temporary;
v) Probationer; and
vi) Permanent.
Cont…
i) Apprentices (trainee): S.4(2) of the Act Considers
a person to be apprentice if he is appointed as an
apprentice and paid an allowance during the period
of his training.
ii) Badli: S.4(3) of the Act enunciates that a worker
shall be called Badli if he is appointed in the post of
a permanent or a probationer worker who is
temporarily absent.

if he continues one year as such he shall be

considered as permanent employee. S.16(3) of the
Act.
Cont…
iii) Casual: S.4(4) of the Act provides that a
worker shall be called casual worker if the
nature of his work is irregular or uncertain or of
casual nature. He is called whenever needed.
iv) Temporary: S.4(5) of the Act states, a
temporary worker is one who has been engaged
for work which is essentially temporary in
nature and is likely to be finished within a
limited period.
Cont…
■ v) Probationer: S.4(6) of the Act provides that a
probationer is the one who is provisionally employed
to fill a permanent vacancy in a post and has not
completed the period of his probation in the
establishment.
vi) Permanent: S. 4(7) of the Act provides that a
permanent workers is the one who has been engaged
in a permanent basis or who has satisfactorily
completed the period of his probation in the
establishment.
Period of Probation
 According to S. 4(8) of the Act, The period of
probation for a worker whose function is of clerical
nature shall be six months and for other workers such
period shall be three month:
Provided that in the case of a skilled worker, the period of
probation may be extended by an additional period of
three months if, for any circumstances, it has not been
possible to determine the quality of his work within the
first three months’ period of his probation.
V. Grounds for Stoppage of
Work
■ S.12(1) of the Act states in the event of fire,
catastrophe (disaster), machinery breakdown, power
outage, epidemic, civil commotion (turmoil) –
strike/riot or other causes beyond the employer’s
control the employer may stop work.
■ Stoppage of power supply is a valid ground for
stoppage of work, even it is not beyond the control of
the employer.
Cont…
■ The right of an employer to stop or discontinue
the industry at any time if it is satisfied that
there is no prospect to continue the industry is
available to the employer.
■ And the workers for that matter have no say in
this regard and are not entitled to seek a
direction from the labour court to reopen the
industry by institution a case.
Section 12

S. 12(2) In the event of such stoppage occurring at any time beyond working
hours, the employer shall notify the workers affected, by notice posted on the
notice board in the section or department concerned or at a conspicuous place
in such establishment before the work is due to begin next.
S. 12(3) In the notice mentioned in sub-section (2) direction shall be given
indication as to when the work will be resumed and whether such workers are
to remain at their place of work at any time before the actual resumption.
S. 12(4) In the event of such stoppage occurring at any time during working
hours, the workers affected shall be notified, as soon as practicable, in the
manner specified in sub-section (2) indicating as to when the work will be
resumed and whether such workers are to leave or remain at their place of
work.
VI. Wages for Stoppage of
Work
■ S.12(6) of the Act provides that a worker may
not be paid any wages unless entitled to wages
under sub-section (5) of the Act if the period of
stoppage of work does not exceed one working
day.
■ If the period of stoppage of work continues for
more than a working day, a worker affected
shall be paid wages for the day or days by
which it will exceed one working day.
VII. Go-slow
■ It is a deliberate delaying of production by
workmen. It delays production and thereby
reduces the output, although the workmen will
be entitled to get full wages.
■ It is considered a professional misconduct
under the concept of labour law. Such
employee can be dismissed if go-slow is
proven.
■ S.2(18) of the Act deals with this matter.
Cont…

S. 2(xviii) provides that

‘Go-slow’ means an organized, 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
material and spare parts of machinery.
VIII. Lay-off
■ S.2(58) of the Act defines ‘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 breakdown of machinery,
to give employment of a worker.
■ It was held in the case of SK Hosiery Factory Case
(1995) 45 DLR 233 that lay-off means the employee is
temporally unemployed and would not be entitled to
wages, a person ‘laid off’ would be entitled to
preference when the working of the factory is
resumed.
IX. Retrenchment
■ S.2(11) of the Act defines ‘retrenchment’ as the
termination by the employer of the services of
workers not as a measure of punishment but on the
ground of redundancy (idleness).
 Whether retrenchment is termination?
■ It was held in the case of the Workmen of the
Banglalore Woolen Cottone & Silk Mills Co. Ltd.
1962 that a service cannot be said to be a termination
unless it was capable of being continued. If it is
capable of being continued in the same manner in
which it had been going on before, and it is, therefore,
brought to an end, that is not a termination of service.
Cont…
■ In Hariprasad Shrivshankar Shukla v. A.D.
Divelkar 1957 AIR. the word ‘retrenchment’
means the discharged of surplus labour or stuff
by the employer for any reason whatsoever,
otherwise than as a punishment inflicted by
way of disciplinary action, and it has no
application where the services of all workmen
have been terminated by the employer on a rail
and bonafide closer of business or where the
services of all workmen have been terminated
by the employer on the business or undertaking
being taken over by another employer.
Procedure of Retrenchment
S. 20(1) A worker employed in an establishment may be retrenched from
service on the ground of redundancy.
(2) No worker who has been in continuous service for not less than one year
under an employer shall be retrenched by the employer unless-
(a) The worker has been given one month’s notice in writing, indicating the
reasons forretrenchment, or the worker has been paid in lieu of such notice,
wages for the period of notice;
(b) a copy of the notice is sent to the chief Inspector or any other officer
authorized by him and also to the collective bargaining agent in the
establishment, if any; and
(c) he has been paid, compensation which shall be equivalent to thirty days
wages or gratuity for every completed year of service if any, whichever is
higher.
Cont…
(3) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (2), in the
case of retrenchment of a worker under section 16(7), no notice as
mentioned in sub-section (2) (a) shall be necessary; but the
workerso retrenched, shall be paid fifteen days wages in addition to
the compensation or gratuity, as thecase may be, which may be
payable to him under sub-section (2) (c).
Re-employment of Retrenched
Workers
■ Sec. 21 provides that
where any number of workers are retrenched, and the employer
proposes to take into his employ any worker within a period of
one year from the date of such retrenchment, he shall give an
opportunity to the retrenched workers belonging to the
particular category concerned by sending a notice to their last
known addresses, to offer themselves for employment, and the
retrenched workers who so offer themselves for re-employment
shall have preference over other retrenched workers, each
having priority according to the length of his service under the
employer.
X. Lock-out
■ When an establishment is stopped due to
an industrial dispute between the
employer and employee to pressurize the
workers to accept employer’s demand is
said to be lock-out.
■ In case of lock-out there is no statutory
liability to pay wages to the workers
locked-out.
XI. Distinction between stoppage of work & Lay-off

■ S.2(58) lay-off can be occurred for the failure,

refusal or inability of an employer to give
employment of worker on account of shortage of coal,
power or raw material of the accumulation of stock or
the breakdown of machinery.
■ Stoppage of work can be occurred for stopping any
section of sections of the establishment wholly or
partly by the employer may on account of the event of
fire, catastrophe, breakdown of machinery, stoppage
of power supply, epidemics, civil commotion or other
causes beyond control of employment.
XII. Discharge
■ S.2(17) of the Act defines ‘discharge’ as the
termination of services of worker by the
employer for reasons of physical or mental
incapacity or continued ill health of the worker
which are certified by a registered medical
practitioner.
■ The employer has the power to end the
services of an employee after a period of
notice and compensation enumerated in S.22
of the Act.
Karim Jute Mills Ltd. Vs. Chairman, 2nd
Labour Court Dhaka, 2 MLR 1997

■ It was held in this case that in the case of ‘continued

ill health’, the employee may recover the power to
work but the case of physical and mental incapacity
may not to be recouped (recover). The interpretation
of the terms of ‘continued ill health’ should not be
put to any rigid formula rather it should be left for
consideration of the employer depending on the
circumstances of individual case so that the exercise
of the power of the employer does not become too
difficult or impossible.
XIII. Dismissal
■ S. 2(39) of the Act defines the term
‘dismissal’ as the termination of services of a
worker by the employer for misconduct.
■ S. 23 of the same Act outlines the categories of
misconduct including willful disobedience,
theft, fraud, dishonesty, bribery, habitual late
attendance, habitual negligence of work,
damaging or causing loss of employer’s
official records.
Cont…
■ Misconduct may be happened the following three
ways:
i. Technical misconduct;
ii. Damaging or causing loss of employer’s resources;
and
iii. Misbehave with other employees.
■ S.2(39) and 23(1) of the Act stipulates that a worker
may be dismissed without prior notice or pay in the
following grounds:
i. Convicted for any criminal offence; or
ii. Is found guilty of misconduct under S.24 (procedure
for punishment).
XIV. Punishment for Misconduct
■ Workers may be dismissed for misconduct without
prior notice or pay if he is convicted for an offence or
is found guilty of misconduct under S.24 of the Act.
■ According to S.23(2) of the Act, a worker guilty of
misconduct may instead of dismissal be given
following penalties considering special situations:
Penalties instead of Dismissal
a) Removal;
b) Bringing to lower grade of the job, not more than
year down to salary scale;
c) Stopping promotion for not more than one year;
d) Stopping salary rise for not more than one year;
e) Fine;
f) Temporary dismissal for not more than seven days
without pay; and
g) Censure and caution.
Cont…

S. 23(3) A worker who is dismissed under sub-section

(1) or removed as a measure of punishment under sub-
section (2) (a) shall, if his continuous service is not less
than one year, be paid by the employer compensation at
the rate of fourteen days wages for every completed year
of service, or gratuity, if any, whichever is higher;
Provided that no compensation shall be payable if the
worker is dismissed for misconduct as specified in sub-
section (4) (b) [theft, fraud or dishonesty]
Cont…
S. 23(4) The following acts and omissions shall be treated as misconduct -
(a) willful insubordination or disobedience, whether alone or in combination
with others to any lawful or reasonable order of a superior;
(b) theft, fraud or dishonesty in connection with the employer’s business or
property;
(c) taking for giving bribe in connection with his or any other worker’s
employment under the employer;
(d) habitual late attendance;
(e) habitual breach of any law or rule or regulation applicable to the
establishment;
Cont…

(f) riotous or disorderly behavior in the establishment, or any act

subversive of discipline;
(g) habitual negligence work;
(h) habitual breach of any rule of employment, including conduct or
discipline, approved by the chief Inspector;
(i) falsifying, tampering with, damaging or causing loss of
employers official records.
Procedure of Punishment for
Misconduct
■ S.24 of the Act deals with the procedure of
punishment for misconduct. According to S.24(1) no
order for punishment shall be made against a worker
under S.23 unless:
a) The allegation against him are recorded in writing;
b) He is given a copy there of and not less than seven days
time to explain;
c) he is given an opportunity of being heard;
d) After inquiry he is proven guilty; and
e) The employer or the manager approves of such order.
XV. Termination
■ S.26 of the Act provides the method of termination of
a worker.
■ Termination with Notice for a Permanent Worker:
Written notice to be served 120 days earlier for a
monthly rate worker; 60 days for other types of
workers.
■ Termination with Notice for a Temporary
Worker: For a monthly rate worker, notice to be
served 30 days earlier and 14 days notice for other
types of workers.
XVI. Retirement of a
Worker
S. 28(1) of the Act provides if a worker reached 60/62
years he go for retirement from his service.
S. 28(2) states that the date of birth of the worker in the
service book will the conclusive proof to determine his
age.
S. 28(3) Every retiring worker under the provisions of
section 26(4) or under own service rule of the
establishment, shall be paid his benefits due to him.
S. 28(4) enumerates a retired worker may be, if the
authority thinks proper, appointed on contract basis.
Cont…
S. 30 Time limit of final payment of worker : Where the
employment of a worker has been ceased due to a retirement,
discharge, retrenchment, dismissal and termination etc. all amounts
due to him shall be paid within maximum thirty working days by
the employer.
S. 31 Certificate of service : Every worker other than a casual or
badli worker shall be entitled to a certificate of service from his
employer at the time of his retrenchment, discharge dismissal,
removal, retirement or termination of service.