BUFT Journal of Business and Economics

The Rights of Women Employees under Bangladesh Labor Act: The Case of Ready-Made Garment Industry in Bangladesh

Royal University, University of Rajshahi,
Email: samirbhadra92@gmail.com

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the reality of practices of BangladeshLabor Act (BLA) in protecting the rights of women employees in the Ready-Made Garment(RMG) industry in Bangladesh. Moreover, this study finds the barriers in promoting genderequality in the workplace particularly in the sector under study.Methodology: This study follows interpretative paradigm, qualitative in nature and cross-sectional in data collection. Using convenient sampling technique 20 women employees fromdifferent RMG factories are interviewed in Mirpur, Dhaka. Through the content analysis of thedata obtained from the interviews, the reality and accuracy of constructs, sub-variables, anditems are examined.Findings: The findings of the study depicted that most of women workers have limitededucational qualification and they also have the limitations in the knowledge regardingdifferent provisions of BLA. All provisions specially related to women rights in the workingplace are not fully applied in RMG sectors. Gender discrimination is very common here incase of supervision, wages, and overtime facilities. Maternity leave, which is not enforcedaccording to the law, was one of the major violations of rights mentioned by all of the womenworkers interviewed.Practical Implications: The practical implication of this study is to make awareness amongthe women employees regarding their rights according to the BLA and fill up theirdiscrepancies by the stakeholders (i.e. management, owner, government agents). This studyfills the gap in the literature regarding the reality of gender inequality practices in the workingplace particularly in the RMG sector in Bangladesh.Originality: The researchers focus on the provisions of BLA, 2006 and their practices inwomen employees’ rights protection in Bangladesh in workplace particularly in the context ofRMG industry in Bangladesh along with the barriers hindering the practicing of suchprovisions which are not earlier studied so far.Limitations: The implicit assumption that the study’s conclusions would not be applicable toall industries because data were collected solely from small RMG industrial zone. In this studyonly women employees were included its sample. Moreover, quantitative or mixed-methods isabsent in this study.