Robi, the country’s third largest mobile phone operator, has decided to share 5% of its profit with its employees in a bid to establish “right to have profit” in the company. Robi is the first telecom operator to introduce this practice in line with the labour law.
On the other hand, Grameenphone, the largest operator, has gone to court to challenge the 2010 Statutory Rules and Order (SRO) which dictates the profit sharing.
“As Robi is making profits, why should we deprive our employees? It will be a positive motivational key for them,” Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, chief financial officer of Robi, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday on the profit sharing decision.
In 2012, Robi made Tk911m net profit. The 1,800 employees of Robi will get an equal share of 5% of this profit.
Robi officials said except for a few management officials, every permanent employee will get the profit share, which is approximately Tk300,000 for each. The company will disburse the amount before September.
Robi was not profitable in 2011 and made a loss of Tk87.5m.
Earlier, on November 2010, the government issued the SRO directing 18 categories of industries to disburse 5% of its profit to their employees. GP immediately filed a writ petition to challenge it. The petition is still in court.
GP lawyer Tanjib-ul Alam said that the petition had claimed that the SRO was not applicable for the company.
Later, a GP employee filed an application to become a party in this legal fight.
A GP spokesperson said, “Since this matter is still pending at the court, we are not in a position to decide on this before it’s resolved.”
“Grameenphone has always respected the law of the land and will comply with the court’s decision on this matter,” the spokesperson said.
GP made a profit of TK17.5bn in 2012 and TK18.89bn in 2011. If the company has to comply with the SRO, it will have to distribute Tk875m and Tk944.5m for these years. The company already deposit this money to their accounts if they need to disburse the money, sources informed.
Sources in GP said the company’s management did not introduce profit sharing with its employees despite repeated protests.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune an employee said GP’s human resource does not have any consistent human resource policy. The employee said the company provides discriminatory salary structures and promotions to employees without following any standard. “Only top officials are taking benefits from here,” the employee said.
Such discriminatory policies have forced the best of its employees to switch to other companies, which has ultimately hit the company's performance in the last few months, sources said.
Sources also said a good number of employees have left GP and joined Robi due to the company’s policies. “We did not get what we deserved for our performance in GP,” said an official of Robi who recently left GP.