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A total of eight fresh cases have been filed with the third Labour Court in Dhaka against Grameen Telecom, over a claim of getting five per cent of net profit of the company under the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006.
Former eight workers of the company filed the cases on November 9 demanding proportionate benefits from the workers’ profit participation fund, said their lawyer HM Shanjid Siddique.
The labour court already issued a notice upon the authorities of the Grameen Telecom to explain their position over the claims of the former employees, said the lawyer.
Earlier he sent a legal notice to the authorities of the Grameen Telecom demanding to pay proportionate benefits to 47 former employees from the workers’ profit participation fund as per the Labour Law within seven days.
Earlier 176 Grameen Telecom’s former officials withdrew all 110 cases filed against the organisation and its founder Professor Yunus in May 2022. The cases were withdrawn after a settlement over the claim of the employees for the payment of the dividends.
The lawyer said his clients are workers as per the definition embodied in section 233(1)(h) of the Bangladesh Labour Act, 2006, whereas the Grameen Telecom is a company according to section 233(1)(c) of the said Act.
In spite of its legal obligations, Grameen Telecom did not establish any Participation Fund from October 2006 by complying with section 232 of the Act and contribute its net profit for the financial years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 to the Participation Fund.
As a result, the employees did not receive the proportionate benefits of the Participation Fund for the said financial years, read the legal notice.
The total amount of contribution which Grameen Telecom was mandated by law to contribute to the Participation Fund and workers’ welfare fund for the years 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 is Tk. 85.73 million.
The Grameen Telecom authorities have already paid benefits of the Participation Fund to the workers for the years 2010 to 2021, but they have ignored the workers who have worked for the period from 2006 to 2010.
The organisation paid Tk 4.37 billion to its 176 former employees as their dues through an out of court settlement.