Guidance under Recent Amendment of the Labour Code

December 16, 2025, by Junayed Chowdhury

The Labour Act, 2006 went through a transformational change after the recent Labour
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2025 dated 17.11.2025 (the “Ordinance”). In the said amendment,
changes were made to definitions and important provisions, which prompted a widespread
discussion and public commentary among workers, business owners and organizations in the
country.

The amendment added the definition of agriculture farm¹ as any area which is used in order to produce crops, flowers, fruits, fishes, poultry and dairy products and a minimum number of five workers are engaged in return of wages would be considered as agricultural farm. This inclusion is a result of a 2019 survey whereby it was stated that, a total number of 16.88 million households were engaged in agriculture; also, 46% of the labour force of the county was engaged in agriculture at that time.²

In the said Ordinance, domestic worker³ are defined, as nowadays, almost every household hire domestic workers to do household chores and there are about 1.65 million domestic workers in Bangladesh.⁴ Therefore, all these workers will fall under the purview of the labour regime which could be proven essential in the Bangladeshi workforce.

Before this amendment, workforce sexual harassment was regulated by the landmark case of
Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) V Bangladesh & Ors. However,
due to the recent amendment, regulation of workplace sexual harassment received a legislative
identity. In the said definition ⁵ , several behaviors were included as “sexual harassment” such as any form of physical touch which are not consensual, any invitation to do acts which are sexual in nature, showing pornographic films, unwanted physical gestures and so on. The aforementioned provision may be considered as a necessary and well-timed towards the safety of all genders in their workplace.

Interestingly, from the plain reading of the said definition, it can be seen that it only covers Men and Women, however, it does not confer the said rights for people of the transgender community.Accordingly, amendments have been made in section 332 and new 332A has been added which
sets out the procedures of forming a committee relating to the complaints in relation to
discrimination, violence and harassment.

One of the most significant amendments which sparked an extensive discussion and public
interest is regarding the definition of “Worker”. Several types of workers were included in this
new definition, however, the most prominent one would be the inclusion of those people who
work on digital platforms.

Bangladesh is the second largest supplier of online labourers with a labour share of 16%.⁶
According to the past estimates of ICT Ministry of Bangladesh, freelancers are earning almost $1
Billion annually.⁷ By including these people in the amended legislation may be a revolutionary
step as the freelance market in Bangladesh is increasing rapidly and it can be a great initiative
towards the betterment of the country’s economy.

The Ordinance made the creation of a trade union more accessible. As per the newly amended
section 179, a minimum of 20 workers in a factory can apply to form a trade union. The number
of workers needed to form a trade union depends on the number of workers working in an
organization.

Therefore, as per the amended provision- if the number of the workers are between 20 to 300,
only 20 workers would be needed in order to form a trade union. If the number is between 301 to
500, 40 of them can form a trade union. Similarly, if the number of the workers is between 501
to 1500, 100 workers can apply to form a union. Furthermore, if the number is between 1501 to
3000, 300 can form a union and if the number is 3001 and above, the requirement to form a
union would be 400.

It should be noted that the businesses and corporations are against this policy as they suggest that it will create instability, however, trade union leaders do not agree with it and they tend to support the new amendment regarding the formation of trade union.⁸

Additionally, new provision regarding discrimination has been added e.g., section 345A
regarding prohibition of discrimination amongst workers, which specifically defines
discrimination “as conduct that discriminates against, or treats a person less favorably on the
basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, political opinion, nationality, social status, ancestry, or disability, and that results in the loss of equal opportunity and treatment in employment or occupation”.

Additionally, under section 345B both direct and indirect discrimination has been included as
discrimination and that indirect discrimination includes, when a person imposes a condition or
rule which from the outset may look neutral or impartial but the prohibitive nature of the rule
places some people at a greater disadvantage than others and is not practically necessary for the
job. The burden of proof however shall be on the employer to prove that the less favorable
treatment is not discriminatory and the conditions or rules imposed are reasonable. As a result,
new punishments have been added in the Ordinance for the violation of the forgoing and other
newly added provisions of the Ordinance.

The Ordinance also introduces three Government bodies in order to promote transparency and
structured dialogue. Firstly, in Section 348 (a), a national tripartite council is introduced which also includes sector specific councils. The function of this body would be to advice the
Government on law, order and labour related issues.

Secondly, a national social dialogue forum is introduced in Section 348 (b) in order to ensure a
balance between social and labour related issues. And lastly, Section 348 (c) introduces an
Alternative Dispute Resolution authority and the main function of this authority would be to
resolve the disputes arising from personal and labour related affairs by following and
implementing labour law impartially.

Additionally, changes are also made to the provisions regulating maternity, ensuring safe
working facilities for the worker under section 61A ,establishment of employment injury scheme
fund under section 151A, collective bargaining at sectorial, national and other levels; also, the
whole of 1^st , 2^nd and 3^rd schedule of the Labour Act has been replaced with the introduction of the Ordinance.

It is a likely outcome of the changes that workers around the country will welcome this
reformation. Also, as per Taslima Akhter, President, Garment Workers Solidarity, the
amendments would be a significant step towards ensuring worker rights. However, Mohammad
Hatem, President, BKMEA, stated that the expansion of the definition of worker may create
confusion which could cause unrest among labours.⁹

Written by Managing Partner: Junayed Chowdhury and Associate: Md Shafiuddin, Jihad Pupil: Galib Khan Samin