Outsourcing workers of different government and semi-government organisations are facing severe exploitation as contractors are depriving them of regular payment of their salaries and other service facilities.
Despite having government-set wage structure for the outsourcing workers, many alleged that they do not get regular payment of their salaries, and at the end of their contract period, they are forced to pay bribes to retain their jobs.
In many cases, the contracting companies make delay of several months in paying their monthly salaries and even the workers are not provided with basic facilities like bank check books for drawing salaries.
“We were getting our salary regularly. We are also being deprived of getting service benefits after arbitrary dismissal, and forced to work for very meager wages under difficult conditions,” an aggrieved employee said.
Allegations are also rife that outsourcing employees are frequently subjected to various forms of exploitation by contractors.
The outsourcing employees and workers from different parts of the country, including the capital city of Dhaka, have been staging demonstrations for the last several weeks, demanding the nationalisation of their jobs.
They said many lose their jobs due to tender complications, and at the end of every fiscal year, a large sum of money are demanded from them to renew job contracts. If bribes are not paid, workers are dismissed.
It is learnt that delay in paying salary payments are common. Some employees are not getting salary for five to six months while some for one or two years. Skilled employees are dismissed without any reasons.
Sources said according to government policies, contractors are entitled to deduct 5 percent to 10 percent of the total wage bill for supplying manpower. But despite this provision, contractors still deduct a significant amount from the workers.
Moreover, contractors are failing to comply with overtime payment policies. Section 7(1) of the 2018 Outsourcing Policy stipulates that if a service provider works additional hours, they should be compensated accordingly. However, despite working overtime, employees are not receiving any payment for the extra hours. Workers do not get festival bonuses for religious holidays like Eid or Puja.
When the contract with an outsourcing firm expires, a new tender is supposed to be issued, and advertisements should be published in newspapers to invite bids. However, contractors allegedly use illegal means in these processes. Instead of publishing advertisements in the leading national dailies, they are published in little-known newspapers, allowing some contractors to continue renewing their job contracts. As a result, there is little competition in the tendering process, and only a few selective contractors dominate manpower supply.
In response to mounting complaints, the Ministry of Housing and Public Works formed a seven-member committee on September 18 to look into the irregularities of these contractors. The committee, chaired by Additional Secretary of the Administration Division-2, Shakila Zerin Ahmed, has yet to submit its report.
When asked about the progress of the investigation, Shakila Zerin Ahmed said, “Investigation is underway. After getting the final report, everything will be clear.”
Executive Engineer of the Secretariat, Niaz Mohammad Tanvir Alam, said that the ministry has been informed about the irregular payment of wages to the workers. Contractors have been summoned and given warning.
“If they continue such offenses, their contracts will be terminated,” he added.
