The government has issued an ordinance, amending the labour law to widen the definition of workers and bring digital platform-based workers, household workers and several previously excluded categories under legal protection for the first time.
The ordinance was issued through a gazette on Monday.
Earlier, on October 23, the council of advisers of the interim government approved the draft of the Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Ordinance, 2025, expanding the scope of the Labour Act.
Bangladesh Labour Act was passed in 2006 and the law was amended in 2013 and 2018.
Labour rights activists and trade union leaders welcomed the latest amendment as a step forward but stressed that significant gaps still remained in ensuring workers鈥� rights and safety.
Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies executive director Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmed said that the amendment carried many positive elements but required sustained improvement.
He noted that although digital platform workers, household workers and several other categories were now included, a large portion of informal-sector workers remained outside legal coverage.
The number of digital platform-based workers has increased in the country sharply, with ride-sharing apps like Uber and Pathao and digital market places like Foodpanda, Chal-Dal, Bikroy.com and Daraz, getting popular.
Recent studies indicate that there are over 1 million workers in Bangladesh鈥檚 digital platform economy.
Bangladesh is the world鈥檚 second-largest supplier of online labour, accounting for 16 per cent of the global market, trailing only India.
Though the workers have been earning foreign currency and contributing to the local economy for over a decade, they were not under any legal protection, which resulted in violations of their rights without access to justice.
Khairul Mamun Mintu, secretary for law and collective bargaining affairs at the Bangladesh Garment and Sweaters Workers Trade Union Centre, said that workers in small-scale industries would still struggle to form trade unions and that compensation for workers had not been increased.
He added that banning blacklisting in the law was a positive step.
Trade union leaders have long alleged that workers dismissed from one garment factory were routinely blacklisted 鈥� effectively barred from securing employment at other factories.
Labour law expert Zafrul Hasan said that the amended law could significantly expand worker protections if implemented with genuine intent. He noted that the law explicitly bans forced labour and mandates the formation of anti-sexual harassment committees at workplaces.
However, maternity leave provisions remain inadequate, and union formation would become even more challenging for small-scale factories.
Under the amendment, workers seeking to form a trade union must meet new minimum thresholds: 20 workers for establishments with 20鈥�300 employees, 40 workers for 301鈥�500 employees, 100 workers for 501鈥�1,500 employees, 300 workers for 1,501鈥�3,000 employees, and 400 workers for any establishment above 3,000 workers.
Trade union leaders argued that these requirements would further restrict unionisation in smaller factories.
The amendments modify 90 sections and three schedules of the previous Labour Act. Additional reforms make participation in a provident fund or universal pension scheme mandatory for private-sector employees, strengthen confidentiality in complaints, and assign responsibility to all individuals to prevent workplace violence and harassment.
The ordinance also mandates the creation of anti-discrimination and harassment committees, prohibits discrimination, and defines its various forms.
It establishes a National Social Dialogue Forum and an alternative dispute resolution authority, while introducing stronger penalties across multiple labour law provisions.
Law adviser Asif Nazrul said that the amendments aimed to align Bangladesh鈥檚 labour regulations with international standards, enhance workers鈥� rights, strengthen workplace protections, and promote constructive dialogue among employers, workers and the government.
