The Minimum Wage Board has sought the authority to enforce its wage recommendations through mobile courts in the country's industrial sectors.
In a proposal submitted to the labour and employment ministry on November 6, the board called for incorporating new provisions into the labour law to facilitate this.
The proposals signed by Mamunur Rashid, chairman of the board, highlighted the need for amending the labour act and labour rules in order to strengthen the wage board and ensure effective implementation of workers' wages.
In its labour law amendment proposal, the board has recommended that its chairman might conduct mobile courts to ensure minimum wages fixed by the government through gazette notifications or adjudicate offenses specified in Sections 289, 294, 295 and 296 of the labour law.
Based on complaints received by the board or during mobile court proceedings, if crimes related to wages, benefits or gratuities are found, such offenses may be addressed immediately.
According to the proposal, if the accused is found guilty based on confession, examination and evidence, the prescribed punishment under labour law may be imposed on the spot.
It also proposed that the basic payment of worker should not be less than 50 per cent and a five per cent annual increment for all private industries.
Other proposals included that before appointing any worker and owner representatives to any formal sector, their true representation of the sector must be ensured.
Earlier in a roundtable held last month, labour leaders and experts stressed the need for research based minimum wage fixation for the country's 42 formal industrial sectors.
They also recommended enhancing the capacity of the minimum wage board in this regard.
They also called for the establishment of a national minimum wage, a democratic process for selecting wage board representatives and regular review of minimum wages based on comprehensive assessments to ensure a dignified standard of living for workers.
According to a recent study, out of 42 formal sectors across the country, some 20 or 47.6 per cent sectors have not seen any regular wage increase in the last six to forty years.
Without clear calculations and economic justifications, the wage-setting process may lack transparency and fairness, which could lead to dissatisfaction from both workers and employers, it said.
Labour secretary AHM Shafiquzzaman has recently said Bangladesh has pledged at the 352nd session of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Governing Body held from October 28 to November 7 in Geneva that it would make required amendments to the labour law by March next year.
Munni_fe@yahoo.com