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Steps to lay off not followed

Refayet Ullah Mirdha
Garment factory owners are violating labour and industrial laws by closing down factories on the excuse of a slump in work orders from international buyers, labour leaders and legal experts said yesterday.
The decision to close a factory temporarily requires a consensus of workers, but owners are not following this standard procedure and shutting down factories even without giving workers any time.
Supreme Court lawyer barrister Tanjib-ul Alam told The Daily Star that a company must follow three steps before it declares a lay off: giving its workers at least one month's notice, publishing that notice in newspapers, and sending it to the inspector of labour.
He said Nippon Garments Industries Ltd followed none of the steps.
Moshrefa Mishu, president of Garment Sramik Oikya Forum, a platform of garment workers, toldThe Daily Star that Nippon Garments was shut down without following the industry laws.
She said according to the rules, factory authorities must talk with workers and their representatives before closing a factory, but the authorities of Nippon Garments closed the factory all of a sudden.
She said owners often announce closure of their factories under the excuse of shortfall in orders from international buyers, which is not right.
A compliance officer of an internationally renowned garment factory, who deals with the legal affairs of the company, said, "A notice of closure of factory should be given in time so that workers are not deprived." .Asking not to be named. the official told The Daily Star that according to the latest amended labour laws of 2006, owners must give workers a certain period of time before closing a factory.
Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said Nippon Garments had wry few work orders from its international clients in the last three months. "The authorities were still running the factory with the hope of getting orders from buyers. But, there were no work orders at all in October and the factory incurred losses." he said.
As per labour laws, owners can announce closure of their factories for a short period if there are no work orders, Murshedy said.
Moreover, Nippon Garments could not release its imported woven fabrics worth $1,00.000 through the C and F agent because of shortage of fund, he said. If they could release the cloths in time, the factory authorities could run the factory this month, he added.
Murshedy claimed that the Nippon Garments authorities discussed with the workers and the local police station before closing die factory.
He said a negative growth is continuing in issuance of utilisation of declaration (UD) certificates for exporting apparel items following the global economic recession.
"The growth of UD certificate issuance declined in September and October by more titan 5 percent." he said, adding that there might be an improvement in orders at the end of November.
Following global economic recession exports of apparel items from Bangladesh declined by more than 3 percent in the first two months of die current fiscal year.
Shahab Uddin, commercial manager of Abedin Group that owns Nippon Garments, said the closure of the factory is a temporary measure and the authorities will resume production if it receives orders from buyers.
Nippon Garments announced the closure of the factory on Saturday, citing shortfall in orders from international buyers because of die global recession.
The sudden closure sparked a labour unrest, causing clashes between law enforcers and the workers that left two dead and over 100 injured.