Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association has extended deadline to January 31 for its member factories to complete workers’ database using bio-metric system.
The apex trade body of the country’s export-oriented clothing industry made the extension in a circular posted on the web page on December26, 2015.
The government is putting pressure on the BGMEA to complete the bio-metric database, and those that have failed to complete database are directed to complete the task by January 31, the circular said.
In October last year, the BGMEA board of directors decided to make biometric database of workers mandatory at a meeting. It said the database will store workers’ records including their curriculum vitae, information related to their employment and identities.
As per the rules under Labour Act, the export-oriented factories have to contribute 0.3% of their respective export earnings to the Workers’ Welfare Fund.
To utilise the fund, BGMEA will require to know the exact number of workers employed in the factories and their detail identifications, the rules states.
The factories that will introduce biometric database will have information of the workers through AFIS client software, scanning fingers and capturing photos of workers through webcam.
A factory owner will have to pay the fixed costs ranging from Tk45,000 to Tk1.5 lakh based on the workers employed, according to the rate fixed in the BGMEA board meeting.
The BGMEA first took the initiative of introducing biometric database after the Rana Plaza incident in 2013 which killed over 1,135 workers.