Employee benefitsin Bangladesh

Some software and health-technology employers provide medical insurance. A policy can cover an employee and, where explicitly included, family members. The employer’s chosen insurance terms determine treatment covered, annual limits, excluded conditions, waiting periods and any employee premium or claim contribution. Family access does not by itself mean the employer pays every family member’s premium.

Some software and health-technology employers provide wellbeing programmes alongside medical insurance. These programmes support employee wellbeing through the employer’s chosen activities or services. They do not by themselves establish an employee cash wellness budget or a fixed number of counselling sessions.

An establishment employing at least 100 permanent workers must arrange group insurance under the applicable insurance law. A death-insurance payment is additional to other statutory amounts due to the worker’s dependants. The employer is responsible for obtaining the claim and arranging payment to the dependants; employer and insurer jointly settle the claim within 120 days.

An industrial sector covered by a government central fund under section 232(3) can use the statutory central-fund insurance arrangement instead. This conditional protection is distinct from an employer’s optional supplementary life-insurance policy.

A provident fund is a workplace retirement-savings fund financed by worker and employer contributions. Where a fund exists, permanent workers join after one year of service and contribute 7–8% of monthly basic wages unless a different agreement applies; the employer contributes at the same rate.

An establishment with at least 100 permanent workers must establish a fund if at least two-thirds of its workers submit a written demand. The employer must create the rules and start the fund within six months of that application. The employer can instead meet the statutory alternative through the government’s Progoti retirement-pension scheme for workers who opt in writing: employer and worker each pay 50% of that scheme’s subscription. Employer funding is not owed for a worker who declines that scheme in writing. These conditions are important when budgeting retirement costs.

A permanent worker whose employment ends through ordinary employer termination under section 26 receives thirty days’ wages for each completed year of service, or any payable gratuity if higher. Gratuity is an employer’s service-related lump-sum scheme; its existence and terms must be checked. Statutory termination compensation is additional to other benefits and to any wages paid instead of notice. Other separation grounds have their own rules.

Private employers can establish a provident fund to build retirement savings for their workers. This is a jointly governed fund rather than an unrestricted cash allowance. Fund rules set the operational terms, and statutory contribution rules apply to eligible permanent members once the fund is established.

After one year of continuous service, adult workers covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act earn paid annual leave for the next twelve months from days worked in the preceding year. The accrual rate is one day for every 18 days worked in shops, commercial or industrial establishments, factories and road transport; one for every 22 days in tea plantations; and one for every 11 days for newspaper workers. These are accrual formulas rather than a flat 10- or 15-day entitlement.

Unused entitlement carries forward. Adult accrual stops at 40 days in factories and road transport and 60 days in tea plantations, shops and commercial or industrial establishments. Leave refused by the employer is added beyond those ceilings. Holidays falling within an annual-leave period are included in that period. Statutory continuity rules protect specified interruptions, including up to 120 days of maternity leave.

Workers covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act other than newspaper workers receive fourteen days of sick leave at full wages per calendar year. A registered medical practitioner must certify the illness and the period needed for treatment or recovery. Unused sick leave does not carry forward.

Newspaper workers have a separate rule: sick leave at half wages for at least one-eighteenth of their period of service. This sector rule must not be replaced with the general fourteen-day package.

Workers covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act receive ten days of casual leave at full wages in each calendar year for short personal absences. Unused days do not accumulate or carry into the next year. The Labour Act excludes tea plantation workers from this particular entitlement. Casual leave is separate from earned annual leave and medically certified sick leave.

The maternity entitlement for women workers covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act is 120 days, with the statutory benefit covering 60 days before the expected birth and 60 days after birth. Employers must not require or permit work during the 60 days immediately following childbirth. Paid maternity benefit requires at least six months of service immediately before delivery. A woman with two or more living children at delivery is excluded from this cash benefit, while retaining leave to which she is otherwise entitled.

The employee can notify the employer orally or in writing that birth is expected within 60 days and name the person who should receive payment if she dies. If no advance notice was given, she must notify the employer within seven days after birth. The law provides alternative payment schedules tied to medical certification and proof of birth.

The daily cash-benefit rate is the worker’s latest assessed monthly total wages divided by 26, paid by the employer. Proof of birth must be submitted within three months where payment depends on that proof.

Maternity benefit for an eligible worker covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act is employer-funded and calculated at the statutory average-wage rate. The daily average is the worker’s latest assessed monthly total wages divided by 26. Payment can be made in cash, to a bank account or by electronic funds transfer. This calculation uses total wages rather than basic pay alone.

The employee chooses among the statutory payment methods. With a doctor’s certificate confirming an expected birth within 60 days, the pre-birth amount is payable within three working days and the balance within three working days after proof of birth. Another option pays the entire entitlement within three working days after proof of birth. A staged option pays the pre-birth amount within three working days of proof and the remainder within 60 days. Proof of birth must be supplied within three months of delivery. Acceptable proof includes a certified birth-register extract, a doctor’s certificate or other proof accepted by the employer.

Some health-technology employers provide paternity leave as part of their family-support policies. Eligibility, the leave period, pay and notice are set by the employer’s terms. It is distinct from maternity protection for the birth parent.

Workers covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act receive thirteen days of paid festival holidays each calendar year. The employer determines the dates through the prescribed process; the government-office calendar does not automatically define every private employer’s paid holiday schedule. Work on a festival holiday attracts one alternative day off and two days of compensatory wages under the amended rule. Festival holidays are distinct from annual leave and from festival cash bonuses.

The statutory profit-participation rules generally apply to a company with at least BDT 10 million in paid-up capital or BDT 20 million in fixed assets at the accounting-year end. Either threshold is sufficient; the government can extend coverage by official notification. For a foreign-incorporated company, the relevant capital or assets are those deployed in its Bangladesh branch.

A qualifying company establishes worker participation and welfare funds within one month of becoming subject to the rules. It contributes five per cent of the previous year’s net profit, divided 80% to the participation fund, 10% to the welfare fund and 10% to the Workers Welfare Foundation fund. This is profit-based funding, not a five per cent payroll tax.

Some software employers supplement salary with performance bonuses. The employer’s incentive rules define the performance assessment and award calculation. A performance bonus is separate from a statutory festival bonus and an annual salary increment.

Some health-technology employers subsidize lunch for employees. A subsidy reduces the worker’s meal cost; it does not necessarily provide all meals free of charge or create an unrestricted cash food allowance. Workplace attendance and the employer’s meal arrangements determine access.

Some software employers offer flexible hours and hybrid working, combining work away from the office with agreed office attendance. The employer sets which roles qualify, expected availability and attendance arrangements. Flexible scheduling and permission to work remotely are separate terms; a supportive workplace culture alone does not establish either one.

Some technology employers support employee development through online courses, certifications, workshops and conferences. Support can take the form of access to training rather than a cash allowance. The employer’s policy sets eligible learning, approval and reimbursement terms.

An employer cannot engage a worker covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act without an appointment letter. Each engaged worker also receives a photo-bearing identity card. The employer pays for and keeps the worker’s statutory service book, which records employment information. These requirements support a documented employment relationship.

The wage period for a worker covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act cannot exceed one month. The employer must pay wages within seven working days after that period ends, and wages must be paid on a working day. Monthly payroll therefore has a statutory settlement deadline rather than an unrestricted payment date.

Wages are paid in circulating currency, banknotes or bank cheque. At the worker’s request, payment can also be transferred electronically to the worker’s bank account or another digital payment method.

A worker must receive a half-hour rest or meal break when work exceeds five hours, or a one-hour break when work exceeds six hours. Work exceeding eight hours requires the applicable one-hour break or two half-hour breaks. Weekly paid rest is one day for factories and industrial establishments, one and a half days for shops and establishments, and a continuous 24 hours for road transport. Special working-time and night-shift rules apply to particular activities.

Overtime covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act is paid at twice the ordinary rate of basic wages plus dearness allowance and any ad hoc or interim wages. Dearness allowance is a wage supplement for living costs. The statutory calculation uses these wage components; twice gross remuneration should not be assumed.

The ordinary statutory limits for adult workers covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act are eight hours a day and 48 hours a week. With overtime, work can reach ten hours a day and 60 hours in a week, while average weekly hours over a year must not exceed 56. Road transport has an additional ceiling of 150 overtime hours a year. Government exemptions for specified industries can modify the general limits. These rules are legal ceilings, rather than a promise that every office uses a six-day schedule.

Bangladesh distinguishes apprentices, substitutes, casual workers, temporary workers, probationers, permanent workers and seasonal workers according to the work and engagement. Probation lasts six months for clerical work and three months for other workers covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act. Skilled-worker probation can be extended by three months if performance could not be assessed during the initial period. A worker becomes permanent on satisfactory completion under the statutory rule; absence of a confirmation letter does not by itself extend probation.

For ordinary termination of a permanent worker covered by Bangladesh’s Labour Act under section 26, the employer gives 120 days’ written notice for a monthly-paid worker and 60 days for other workers. A temporary worker generally receives 30 days if monthly paid or fourteen days otherwise, except where the temporary work itself has been completed, stopped, abolished or abandoned. The employer can pay wages for the notice period instead of requiring the employee to work it. Separate rules govern redundancy, incapacity, misconduct and resignation.

When employment governed by Bangladesh’s Labour Act ends, the employer must settle all amounts due within thirty working days. The rule covers retirement, discharge, retrenchment, dismissal, termination and other cessation of employment; the wage-payment rule also expressly covers worker resignation. This deadline is separate from the ordinary seven-working-day payroll deadline and from the calculation of notice pay or termination compensation.

Some technology employers review salaries annually and award merit-based increments. The review considers performance under the employer’s process; an annual review does not guarantee a particular percentage increase.