The government has handed over Tk 525.46 crore cheques to pay the dues of workers and employees of completely closed 14 factories at the Beximco Industrial Park.
The cheques were handed over to the managing director of Beximco Limited, Osman Kaiser Chowdhury, and the dues will be paid in phases from March 9, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said in a statement on Thursday, March 6.
Earlier, all 14 factories under the textiles and apparel division of Beximco Industrial Park, located in the Sarabo area of Gazipur, were declared fully closed effective from February 28.
Concurrently, the company decided to lay off all workers employed at these facilities. The decision was announced in a notice signed by the managing director on February 26.
The notice said, due to a lack of work, layoffs were first initiated on December 16 of the previous year and again on February 5 this year, in line with the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 (last amended in 2018).
Due to a persistent shortage of work, all workers are now being laid off as of February 28, under Section 16(7) and Section 20(3) of the Act.
As a result, all operations at these facilities have been officially terminated. The laid-off workers will receive their dues in accordance with legal provisions, with payments to be made in phases starting March 9.