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Central bank seeks details of all employees who were dismissed or forced to resign after March 2020
The central bank has directed commercial banks to reappoint the employees they laid off or forced to resign during the coronavirus pandemic.
Necessary steps have to be taken to reappoint all officers and employees of a bank, who were dismissed or forced to resign from April 1 last year to September 15 this year despite having no specific and proven allegations, said a Bangladesh Bank circular issued on Thursday.
The banks have also been instructed to provide information on all laid off employees between that period by September 30.
According to the circular, banks cannot lay off employees without any proven complaints.
The circular was issued in compliance with Section 45 of Bank Company Law 1991, effective immediately, said the Bangladesh Bank
According to it, laid-off employees complained that they were fired or forced to resign without any evidence-based complaints.
The central bank said that the move to lay off employees is likely to make bankers lose confidence in the profession and discourage talented people from joining banks, making the sector suffer in the future.
Bangladesh Bank also issued directives that no one can be fired or forced to resign only because of failing to meet a target.
According to central bank sources, a total of 3,313 employees from six private banks resigned between January 1, 2020, and August 9 this year.
Of them, 3,070 resigned voluntarily, even though they had not reached their retirement age and another 201 people were removed, 30 officers were sacked and 12 others were laid off.
Meanwhile, Association of Bankers, Bangladesh (ABB), an organization of banks’ managing directors, claimed that they laid off some employees in compliance with the rules, in spite of the face that Bangladesh Bank found the number of resignations and dismissals within a span of 19 months unusual.
Earlier, the central bank heard allegations that banks began layoff of employees in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Later BB sent investigation team to six banks to verify the allegation.
(DT)
