No Incentive If Lay-Off Is Announced: Ministry of Finance

No incentive if lay-off is announced: Ministry of Finance.In the current situation, the finance ministry has issued a circular stating that no financial assistance will be given under the incentive package if a lay-off is announced in any industry.

The circular, signed by Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Finance Mohammad Anisuzzaman Khan on Sunday, said, “If an industrial organization announces lay-off, they will not receive any financial assistance under the package.”

The circular said, “Loans can be disbursed from a fund of Tk. 5,000 crore set up to pay salaries and allowances of workers or employees only subject to L / C or debit test of industries which export more than 80 percent of their products directly.”

Demanded or covert exporters will be able to avail of working capital loan from Tk. 20,000 crore incentive package for SMEs, which will allow them to pay salaries to workers or employees.

The latest directive in the circular said, “If any industry organization announces a lay-off, they will not receive any financial assistance under the package.”

It is learned that after the announcement of general holiday on March 26, when the industrial production activities were stopped, some factories were announcing lay-off.

Under the prevailing labor law, industrial owners were taking this step by applying sections 12 and 16. These include export-oriented industries as well as multinational companies providing goods and services in the local market. Again the factory owners of export processing zones of the country were also adopting lay-off techniques.

Labor representatives said that despite the law, industry owners were announcing lay-off as a strategy to deprive workers. Following the clause 16, workers have the opportunity to declare factory layoffs by paying 50 percent of their basic wages and paying rent and allowances.

Although the government has declared a general holiday, the owners of the industrial factories have taken initiative to deprive the workers of fair wages in the name of take-off. A large number of industrial factories have already announced lay-offs in this series. As a result, the workers have expressed their dissatisfaction in the face of the blockade in the face of the corona outbreak.

Dhaka Bureau Chief, April 21,2020