Informal Employment
BY LIMANA SOLAIMAN MRIDHA
We take some services for granted. For example, we send our clothes to the local laundry and get them back on time, all ironed and ready to wear. But do we ever wonder about the workers who make that happen and their working conditions?
An average laundryman works approximately 83 hours a week, and earns Tk14,000 to Tk15,000. They do not have a fixed minimum wage or reasonable working hours. A shop owner needs to have a trade licence for running a business. But the workers or shop assistants usually do not have any sort of registration or contract, thus, they are deprived of protection under our labour laws. The same goes for workers in other informal sectors, such as agriculture or construction.
Talking about his working conditions, Mohammad Shahjahan Chowdhury, aged 40, who works at a local laundry in the Eskaton Garden area of the capital, told this correspondent:
I have been working in this shop for about two years and I work on an average 12 to 13 hours every day as I get paid only Tk2.50 for every piece of clothing I press. We have to work seven days a week, but we do get half-a-day off on Fridays. During festivals, like Eid, we go off to our hometowns and the shop is closed. You see I dont have the luxury to complain about my working hours as the owner of this shop can easily replace me. I am glad that I have work and I can provide for my family.
Although the informal sector dominates our labour market, informal workers do not get the same benefits guaranteed under our labour laws, such as regular holidays, allowances, bonuses, gratuity, pension, etc; nor do they get any termination notice or compensation compared to that of a formal worker. Usually, individuals with few marketable skills in both rural and urban areas work in the informal sector.
Some common informal workers include hawkers, street vendors, shop assistants, day-labourers or self-employed in agriculture and non-agriculture sectors, rickshaw or rickshaw van pullers, domestic workers, security guards, private car drivers, construction workers, workers in small enterprises like tailoring shops, bakeries, motor garages, metal shops, etc, casual or irregular workers, and unpaid workers, including trainees or family members.
I work seven days a week in three households. My earning has increased to Tk10,000 and I work from 7 in the morning till 5pm every day. Sometimes, when I feel unwell, I do not come to work but I try not to skip my duties. I also get leave during Eid, but I have to work on other holidays, said Parul Begum, a part-time domestic worker.
According to the Labour Force Survey of 2013 (Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics), an estimated 86.9 percent employed persons are working in the informal sector. Rural areas dominate in terms of informal work with 38.4 million workers, compared to 12 million workers in the urban areas. The reason behind this is that most workers in rural areas work employed in the agriculture sector and small business-related services and sales.
The study also revealed that informal employment among women is much higher than that of men. Of the 50.8 million workers in the informal sector, 38.8 percent are aged between 15-29 years, and 55.9 percent are 30-64 years old. Only 5.3 percent workers are aged 65 and above. Another indication of the findings reveals that the incidence of informal employment is far higher among less-educated people than the more-educated ones.
Selim Mia, a 46-year-old day-labourer who recently moved to Dhaka from Dinajpur in the hope of earning more money as wages are higher in the capital compared to other places, told this correspondent, I sit here (in Moghbazar) every morning from 6am since I moved here three months back. We get hired for a variety of work, such as removing garbage or waste materials from construction sites. I can choose to go to Azimpur area tomorrow or some other place the next day as there are certain spots where day-labourers gather for work in different areas. I work till sundown, but there are many who work night shifts. I work as much as I can because I wont be fit for this kind of work in a few years and I hardly have any savings.
Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed, executive director of Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) said: Although the agriculture sector is not under any formal regulations, they do have a set minimum wage. In case of other work, if you consider the beauty (parlour) industry, the workers can claim minimum wage and an appointment letter. Workers at small local shops and other shops can also claim a set minimum wage under the law for their designated sector. The law doesnt restrain their right to form a union and claim their privileges. What we need for protecting the rights of workers in the informal sector is a regulatory body to ensure that whatever existing laws are there for their protection and rights are implemented properly. For those who are not covered by any law, new laws should be introduced for their welfare. There should also be a national code of conduct and set rules such as a fixed national minimum wage and these should be implemented for protection of basic labour rights.
Bangladesh Labour Rules, 2015, does offer protection to workers, but in most cases, the rules are ignored in the informal sector. Some key points of the labour rules include:
If any establishment wants to have its own employment policy or service rules, it must obtain approval from the Chief Inspector of Labour.
Under the labour act, an appointment letter must be issued for hiring any labourer. It is mandatory for the appointment letter to contain certain information such as salary, other financial benefits, applicable rules, etc.
Various registers, such as service book, labour register, leave register, etc, must be maintained.
The rules clarify the provisions related to compensatory weekly holiday.
About the future of informal workers, Aminul Islam, joint secretary of the governments labour department, said: Work is underway to bring these labourers under a provident fund scheme. These people have inadequate legal scope to organise to protect their rights, therefore, we are trying to implement regulation to ensure work place safety as well. The provident fund tenure would be 5, 25 or 30 years. This would ensure that at the end of his or her work life, they will have some sort of financial security.
An estimated 80 percent of workers in Bangladesh work for more than eight hours a day, which is in violation of the countrys labour laws, according to a recent report released by BILS ahead of International Workers Day on May 1. The study examined five most labour intensive sectors in Dhaka city, including transport, restaurant, re-rolling, security and private hospitals and clinics. According to the report, 100 percent of transport workers work over eight hours a day, while it is 92 percent in re-rolling mills, 98 percent in restaurants, 80 percent in security services and 42 percent in the medical sector.
I work from 6:40am till 8pm everyday. Sometimes, my employers let me go early. But most days, I stay beyond 8pm, and then I get paid for overtime. It is a tough job. I am supposed to get Saturdays off, but for the last three weeks, I have been working for seven days a week. I do get extra payment for working on my days off, said Nurun Nabi, a private car driver, has been in the job for over three years.
Another driver, Mehdi Alam, added: I work from 7am to 10pm and most weeks, I go to work seven days a week. I do get paid for the extra days, as I am supposed to work six days a week. The extra payment helps me a lot, so I do not mind the extra work.
An ILO (International Labour Organisation) report from their Bangladesh country office reads: According to the constitution of Bangladesh under the Directive Principles for State, some of its articles assign a number of rights for the working people. Article 14 urges the state to emancipate peasants and workers from all forms of exploitation and Article 15 holds the state responsible to ensure right to work such as guaranteed employment at areasonable wage, reasonable rest, recreation and leisure. Article 20(1) recognises work as aright and Article 34 prohibits all forms of forced labour and declares it a punishable offence.Article 38 guarantees the right to freedom of association and right to form trade unions.
These set of principles are surely strong enough for ensuring workplace rights of labourers, be it formal or informal. We just need to get the information out there and come up with a plan to organise and assist this huge body of informal workers _whose contributions are very significant to our economy _ for claiming their basic rights.
Photos: File
