January was the busiest month of the year so far for the garment workers in Bangladesh. Workers spent 295 hours on an average in the factory during the 27 working days in January, which is usually higher than other months.
This information was revealed on Monday in a research of South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (SANEM), in collaboration with a USA-based non-profit organization, Microfinance Opportunities (MFO), on the quality of life of garment workers in Bangladesh.
Around 1,300 selected garment workers have been surveyed on a weekly basis since April 2020 under the project “Garment Worker Diaries”.
These workers are employed in factories spread across the five main industrial areas of Bangladesh (Chittagong, Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj and Savar). According to the survey data collected in January and February of 2022, January was the busiest month for garment workers since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Excluding the one-hour lunch break, the workers worked 268 hours on an average in January. Female workers worked 267 hours on an average in January, while male workers worked 270 hours on an average, excluding the one-hour lunch break.
It was further informed that in the 24 working days of February, the workers spent 259 hours on an average in the factory. Workers worked 235 hours on an average in February, excluding the one-hour lunch break.
Among them, female workers worked 234 hours on an average and male workers worked 235 hours on an average. In both January and February, half of the surveyed workers worked more than the legally allowed 10 hours per day which accounts 8 regular hours and 2 overtime hours.
For the work in December, female workers got salary of Tk 12,000 on an average in January, while male workers got salary of Tk 12,500 on an average. For the work in January, female workers got salary of Tk 12,000 on an average in February, the same as in January. Male workers got salary of Tk 13,000 on an average, a Tk 500 increase over the January amount.
In February, 54 percent of workers were paid through mobile financial services (bKash, Nagad, Rocket, etc.) and 46 percent were paid in cash in hand.
About 20 percent of the garment workers reported that at least one member of their household was ill during February.
This illness rate was 26 percent in January.
