The Council of advisers on Thursday approved the draft of the Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 expanding the Act鈥檚 scope to include non-profit institutions and extending protections to more workers.
The meeting was presided over by the interim government chief adviser, Professor Muhammad Yunus, at the Chief Adviser鈥檚 Office in Tejgaon.
Following the meeting, law adviser Asif Nazrul briefed the media at the Bangladesh Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka, stating that the amendments touch 90 sections and three schedules of the existing Labour Act.
He explained that the changes were drafted in accordance with Bangladesh鈥檚 National Action Plan, adopted in response to the International Labour Organization鈥檚 (ILO) Article 26 complaint.
They also align with the National Action Plan agreed with the European Union, the United States鈥� 11-point recommendations, the Bangladesh Labour Law Reform Commission鈥檚 report, and guidance from the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations at its Geneva headquarters.
The revised provisions include updated definitions for domestic workers (Section 2(10k)), seafarers (2(23)), and workers (2(65)), as well as new clauses on blacklisting (2(78)), violence and harassment (2(79)), and sexual harassment (2(81)).
The amendments also enhanced maternity welfare benefits (Sections 45鈥�50), establish an accident compensation fund (151k), and introduce a special definition of workers (175).
Additional reforms aimed to simplify trade union formation and registration (179), make participation in a provident fund or universal pension scheme mandatory for private-sector employees (264), ensure confidentiality in complaints (319k), and assign responsibility to all individuals to prevent workplace violence and harassment (332).
The amendment also provided for the creation of an anti-discrimination and harassment complaints committee (332k), prohibits discrimination against workers (345k), defines different forms of discrimination (345kh), and bans forced labour (345g).
Moreover, the changes established a National Social Dialogue Forum (348kh) and an alternative dispute resolution authority (348g), while introducing stronger deterrent penalties and punishments across multiple sections.
The law adviser said that the amendments aimed to align Bangladesh鈥檚 labour laws with international standards, enhance workers鈥� rights, strengthen workplace protections, and promote constructive dialogue among employers, workers, and the government.
