Home ›› 11 Nov 2022 ›› Front
Even though a new labour market system has been created by the huge involvement of the country’s youth in information technology-enabled services (ITES) and app-based economic activities, the labour rights of these workers are not protected by the existing labour law.
Industry people have suggested including the workers of gig-based services, like the companies of the e-commerce sector, in the definition of workers by amending the law to protect their rights of a living wage and social safety.
They have also demanded the inclusion of a new chapter on ITES with several amendments in the existing law to protect specific labour rights to help the sector grow faster.
The government formulated the Bangladesh Labour Act in 2006 depicting the rights and regulatory aspects of commercial labourers. But the relatively new job market is yet to come under its purview.
The gig economy is a free market system in which temporary positions are common and organisations hire independent workers for short-term commitments which include freelancers, independent contractors, project-based workers, and temporary or part-time hires.
With online habituations and digitisation increasing mostly after 2009, online orders for a wide range of services — from ride-sharing to repairing tasks or house help — had caused a mushrooming growth of relevant online platforms in the country.
The gig workers and online platform workers are not conceptually recognised as workers under the Labour Act despite their huge numbers in companies because they have no union to express their grievances and move for remedies collectively.
The country currently has around 6.5 lakh freelancers and/or ITES exporters, who have taken the size of the local ITES market to around Tk 1,000 crore, according to the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS).
Bangladesh is also currently earning around $1.4 billion annually by exporting ITES and software, said BASIS.
Rights unprotected
According to a recent study, in 2021, Bangladesh’s location-based gig workforce grew to around 3 lakh, while around 5 lakh cloud workers made the country the world’s second-largest online outsourcing destination.
The platform economy is expanding without adequate protection of the gig workers’ interests as there is no separate recognition for e-commerce workers under Bangladesh’s labour laws.
As a result, they are not getting fair wages, reveals the report by Oxford Internet Institute’s Fairwork project conducted in partnership with local social enterprise iSocial and research firm DataSense.
The survey, titled “Fairwork Bangladesh Ratings 2022: Labour Standards in the Platform Economy,” revealed how organisations are evaluating the performance of their employees and the extent to which their rights are being protected.
According to the report, only three companies, out of nine that participated in the survey, are paying their employees fairly. The remaining companies are paying very less.
As Bangladesh has no national minimum or living wage policies for these workers, platforms have no legal obligation to ensure a wage floor.
The majority of these workers in Bangladesh’s informal economy do not receive fair pay, benefits, or even a contract from online platforms, the study said.
A painful lack of safety net has been reported by workers, as many platforms do not provide sick leave, insurance, or other mechanisms of coverage for income loss.
In addition, no platform shared any contract details, so it could not be evaluated for fairness, said the report, adding that “worker termination is sometimes done through an automated system without human consultation.”
Nazma Yasmin, research director at Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, told The Business Post, “E-commerce workers have made our lives easier. But in return, their rights are not protected and they are getting a fair salary.”
“We are trying to bring them under the labour law’s purview. But it requires collective efforts from all,” she said.
Recommendations
“The government should ensure registration of e-commerce workers so that they have a separate identity. They should have insurance to help them in case of any emergency,” said Rajekuzzaman Ratan, a member of the National Coordination Committee for Workers’ Education.
“A separate wage structure should also be created for the e-commerce workers and they should get paid based on that structure,” he added.
Bangladesh Association of Contact Center and Outsourcing (BACCO) President Wahid Sharif said the current labour law is more about and addresses the needs of formal workers from the manufacturing sector.
“Workers of the IT or knowledge-based industry don’t fall under the act’s purview since it came into being before this industry existed. And no amendment since 2013 means the law is not keeping up with the industry and not counting these workers under the category of physical labour.
“These workers are giving intellectual labour but that’s not yet mentioned in the definition of workers that is in the law,” said Wahid.
“We have been demanding a separate chapter on IT and ITES-related jobs with some amendments in the existing act. Until then, the IT industry should be exempted from the purview of the current law which cripples the rights of these workers sometimes,” he argued.
For example, the law should be amended with a provision that will allow a freelancer or IT worker to provide their services to multiple service seekers simultaneously, he said.
Section 110 of the current law has a restriction on double employment and does not allow anyone to work in more than one establishment without permission.
“We provide consultancy or part-time jobs facilities to different IT and ITES firms at the same time. We need this. This should be allowed through the amended law,” said Wahid.
“At least five-six amendments, including updating the definition of workers and adding a new chapter on this sector, are needed to the law to address the issues that are affecting our industry,” he added.
He said the chapter on the IT and ITES industry should highlight this sector as a specialised one and must include the types of labours and workers and the job requirements because these are different from other manufacturing sectors. IT farms should need only one licence to avoid any kind of harassment.
Moreover, the unions or associations of IT and ITES industry workers should be brought under the purview of Section 33 of the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority Act of 2010, he said.
“We have recently sent a proposal to the Labour and Employment Ministry in this regard. I don’t know why the ministry is not sitting with the industry people or taking it seriously. This is why the complications are becoming more acute as our industry is expanding,” Wahid vented.
The chapter and other amendments should be given special priority since the government is moving towards a knowledge-based “Smart Bangladesh,” he stressed.
What could go wrong?
BASIS, the national trade body for the country’s software and ITES industry, has already given its input to the government for the formulation of the “Intellectual Labour Law” for IT professionals.
Talking to The Business Post, Bdjobs.com Founder and CEO Fahim Mashroor said at the moment, the labour law is implementable for those who work in the formal sector, be it banks, garment, or any IT farms.
“But I think that if a law is made for the gig workers, which will already be tough, it will rather harm them more than help them,” he said.
“People started becoming gig workers after losing their jobs in the formal sector during the Covid-19 pandemic. They now independently work for companies depending on their scopes and likings. The companies also hire them when they feel the need. This matter should be left to the market for now,” he stressed.
Instead of new laws, these workers should be given other benefits, he said. “For example, there are now proper parking spaces for motorcycle riders who work for ride-sharing companies. They should get some help regarding that.
“Also, loans to such riders for buying motorbikes should be approved without any hassle so that instant employment can be created. The government should do something to ensure better working conditions for these people.”
Fahim said that if any policy is formulated, it should be done so considering the future gig workers, not only those who are already working in the IT and ITES industry or the e-commerce sector.
