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The Minimum Wage Board has identified a total of 67 additional industrial sectors and proposed that the government take necessary measures to bring them under the formal wage regulation system, sources said.
The move aims to formalise employment practices in sectors that employ thousands of workers by expanding labour protections.
Minimum Wage Board Chairman Mamunur Rashid in a recent letter to the Ministry of Labour and Employment made the proposal to bring a wide range of manufacturing, service and transport industries under the country's minimum wage framework.
Speaking to the Financial Express, Wage Board Secretary Raisa Afroze said they have identified the sectors based on the Bangladesh Standard Industrial Classification 2020 published by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and the Survey of Manufacturing Industries 2019 report published in July 2020.
She said the board also considered requests received over time from both workers and employers, as well as discussions held at board meetings.
"The board has formally sent the list of 67 private and individually owned industrial sectors to the labour ministry on February 17 for further action," she added.
The newly identified sectors include shipbuilding, super shops, private television channels, bicycle manufacturing, real estate, care services, private insurance, private kindergartens and coaching centres, amusement parks, travel agencies and tour management, Bangladesh river and sea ports, gas and oxygen cylinder processing, paper and paperboard manufacturing, foam and mattress manufacturing, privately owned power generation, diaper and sanitary napkin manufacturing, melamine products manufacturing, juice and soft drinks manufacturing, multi-product distribution and dealerships, courier services, medical equipment manufacturing and sericulture and silk, drama and cinema production houses, prayer cap and prayer mat manufacturing, bookbinding, mining and stone quarrying, mobile network operators, circus and fine arts, decorators and catering services, international and domestic organisations, drinking water purification and bottling.
Other newly identified sectors are shell product manufacturing, jewellery manufacturing and marketing, musical instruments and sports goods marketing, medical equipment manufacturing, roads and highways construction, demolition and dismantling enterprises, automobile showrooms and spare parts sales, sound recording and FM radio, reinsurance and pension funds, air freight services, floriculture, tobacco and betel leaf production, livestock breeding farms and sugar and confectionery manufacturing.
The rest include rope and fishing net production, pulp and paper production, bamboo and cane products, paper processing and stationery manufacturing, refined petroleum and chemical manufacturing, agro-chemical production, tyre and tube manufacturing, computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing, distilleries, yarn spinning and fabric weaving and handloom and textile finishing, electrical motors and transformer manufacturing, electrical wire and cable manufacturing, electrical wiring accessories, automobile and auto-rickshaw manufacturing, lift and manual machinery manufacturing, agricultural and forestry machinery manufacturing, sports goods and toy manufacturing, motor vehicle sales, wholesale trade, cattle feed production, manufacturing of mobile phones and accessories, and inland and maritime passenger and cargo transport services.
When contacted, labour ministry officials said the government in two phases asked the Department of Labour to nominate representatives of employers and workers to form wage board for 15 newly identified sectors to fix minimum monthly wages.
The sectors include shipbuilding, paper and paperboard manufacturing, foam and mattress manufacturing, melamine product manufacturing and the super shops sector. The rest are privately owned clinics, hospitals and diagnostic centres, dairy product production and dairy farms, fertiliser factories, electrical and electronic product manufacturers, brick kilns, commercially operated amusement parks, dried fish producers, stone crushing units, privately owned air transport services and IT parks.
At present, minimum wages have already been fixed in 44 sectors out of 47, while wage negotiations are going on for three newly included sectors-- ceramic, battery manufacturing, and dyes and chemicals.
Welcoming the move, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies Executive Director Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed said it is a positive step to bring more sectors under formal wage structure and broader labour protection.
He, however, called for the introduction of a national minimum wage standard based on indicators like inflation trends, household expenditure, per capita income so that workers are guaranteed a living wage to lead a decent life.
According to Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics' Labour Force Survey 2024, about 84 per cent of the workforce or over 58 million people are employed in informal sectors without formal protections.
Informal employment refers to jobs that are not regulated, registered or protected under national labour laws-- typically lack standard employment guarantees such as minimum wages, paid leave, termination notice, pensions or health benefits.
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