Govt fixes wage structure for expat workers

The government has launched a wage structure for the country's outbound workers to ensure their desired income, and help boost the country's foreign-exchange earnings.
The wages have been fixed under three categories - less-skilled, semi-skilled and skilled - for 11 manpower-receiving countries.
From now on, the recruiters will have to bring demand for jobs from abroad following the salary structure. The government will not accept any job offers below the wage structure, officials said.
"We will not send workers abroad with salaries lower than this structure," said Ahmed Munirus Saleheen, Senior Secretary at the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment (MoEWOE).
He also said the minimum wages have been fixed in line with the wages of other labour-sending countries and following discussions with the offices concerned and Bangladesh embassies.
"We want our workers to get standard salaries abroad. The wages have been fixed keeping this objective in view," he added.
The pay structure has been formulated following decisions of the second meeting of the Steering Committee on Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, held under the Prime Minister's chairmanship in April.
The meeting opined that a uniform salary structure should be formed for the expatriate workers from Bangladesh, as they are often employed in job destination countries with lower than standard wages.
In that case, their salaries can be fixed according to the standard salary structure of those countries as per the workers' qualifications.
Besides, in the countries where minimum wages are not fixed for foreign workers, minimum salaries can be fixed for the Bangladeshi workers.
The meeting also opined that job demands for the workers would not be allowed with salaries lower than the prescribed salaries.
Currently, Bangladeshi workers staying in different Middle-Eastern countries receive a minimum salary of Tk 29,000 each per month, officials and manpower recruiters said.
As per the government's wage structure, each Saudi-bound less-skilled worker will get Saudi Riyal (SAR) 1,200-1,900 (Tk 35,000-55,000) per month - depending on which region they will be employed in along with their food and accommodation arrangements. The wage will vary from SAR 1,500 to 2,400 for a semi-skilled worker and SAR 1,800 to 3,200 for a skilled worker.
The government-fixed wages for Bangladeshi people working in the United Arab Emirates are UAE Dirham (AED) 1,200-1,900 for a less-skilled worker, AED 1,400-2,100 for semi-skilled, and AED 1,800-2,700 for skilled.
For a Bahrain-bound less-skilled worker, the wage should be Bahraini Dinar (BHD) 100-160, semi-skilled BHD 120-180, and skilled BHD 180-250.
For a less-skilled worker in Libya, the wage is Libyan Dinar (LYD) 1,200-1,800, LYD 1,500-2,100 for a semi-skilled worker, and LYD 1,800-2,400 for a skilled worker.
For a Maldives-bound less-skilled worker, the wage is around US$250-450, for semi-skilled $350-550, and for skilled worker $500-800.
Kuwait-bound workers will get Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD) 100-220 each - based on their skill levels, while Jordan-bound workers will get Jordanian Dinar (JOD) 177-250, and Brunei-bound workers will get Brunei Dollar (BND) 470-800.
Besides, the ministry has fixed $1,200-1,300 for each of the Japan-bound workers based on their skill levels, and Russian Ruble (RUB) 15,000-38,000 each for the Russia-bound workers.
The amounts vary depending on whether or not the employers concerned will cover the costs of food and lodging as well as the areas where the workers will work.
According to the steering committee's decision, a committee was formed in the MoEWOE, headed by its additional secretary Md Khairul Alam.
The committee chief said the salary structure will be sent to the Bangladesh embassies and recruiters soon, so that they consider these wages while negotiating for and bringing job demands.
The salary structure will gradually include rest of the key manpower receiving countries.
"We will give the structure it to the recruiters, so that they will not bring any job demands beyond it," he added.
However, an analysis shows that the government-fixed wages are still lower than those of the workers of many other labour-sending countries.
According to the International Organization for Migration's (IOM) Migration Report 2019, per capita average monthly income of Filipino migrants was $564.1, that of Chinese migrants $532.71, Indian $395.71, Pakistani $275.74, and Bangladeshi $203.33.
On the other hand, a study of the same organisation revealed that workers' migration cost is the highest in Bangladesh across the world.
The cost for male migrants can potentially shoot up to Tk 700,000 each and for female migrants to Tk 95,000 each. In contrast, the promised monthly salaries of Bangladeshi migrant workers range from Tk 25,000 to Tk 100,000 each, although they sometimes get Tk 15,000 to Tk 30,000 each.
Some 70-80 per cent Bangladeshi workers go abroad as less-skilled workers. Bangladesh sent 1.1 million workers in 2022, of whom, 74 per cent were less-skilled workers.
The Bangladesh Bank data showed that the Bangladeshi workers sent home US$21.61 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2022-23, $21.03 billion in FY 2021-22, $24.77 billion in FY 2020-21, and $18.20 billion in FY 2019-20.
Shakirul Islam, chairman at the Ovibashi Karmi Unnayan Programme (OKUP), said introducing the salary structure for expatriate workers is a good initiative. But the initiative should be properly implemented.
He noted that the recruiters send most of the workers abroad in the name of free visa. Some 60-70 per cent of the workers go the Middle-East countries in this way.
As a result, they do not get the jobs and salaries mentioned in their contracts after going to those countries. Often they lose their jobs and are forced to return home empty-handed.
Therefore, unless such labour migration is stopped, most of the workers will not be able to enjoy benefits of the wage structure.
He also suggested sector-wise salary fixation to decide the employees' payments according to their types of work.

[email protected]