Bankers of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC on Sunday were in a state of shock as several employees, who declined to sit for a mandatory “special competency assessment” on Saturday, received termination papers as a result of their insubordination.
Seeking anonymity, a protesting official told Dhaka Tribune: “The bank recently issued a circular instructing about 5,500 to participate in the test. But as far as we are concerned, only 157 attended Saturday's assessment.”
In a press conference on Sunday, SM Amdad Hossain, an officer at Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC’s Rangamati branch, said: “Many of us who did not participate in this exam were not allowed to enter the bank today (Sunday). Their attendance was not recorded, their official employee IDs were disabled, and various passwords required by the bank were revoked.”
“In our current situation, we could receive a termination letter, an explanation letter, or be transferred to a remote area at any time,” he further said.
True to his suspicions, Amdad Hossain got his termination letter after the press conference was over.
Dhaka Tribune was able to confirm that 4 employees, most of whom were leading the protests, received their termination letters, with more to follow. The protestors, although, claimed the figure to be 17.
Sources also informed that Islami Banks was preparing to announce vacancies for the said posts and publish a circular against those posts.
Asked about the volatile situation that arose, including entry restriction to branches on Sunday of employees who had boycotted the previous day’s exam, an official, seeking anonymity, told Dhaka Tribune: “This is not correct. To my knowledge, no such incident has taken place at any of our branches.”
Asked how many officials participated in the exam on Saturday, he said he did not know the exact number.
Official response
In an official statement, Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC on Sunday said that the bank arranged the special competency evaluation examination through the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) of the University of Dhaka on Saturday.
In this regard, there was no contempt of court or violation of law, it also said.
The bank further clarified by stating that “after Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC took the initiative to hold a special competency assessment examination to evaluate the competency of its officials, a few officials filed a writ petition in the High Court against the examination. The High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh instructed Bangladesh Bank to resolve the matter. Bangladesh Bank’s Banking Regulation and Policy Department (Division-2) subsequently resolved the issue and informed both the petitioners and Islami Bank authorities.”
As Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC is a privately owned, profit-oriented institution, the jobs of its officers and employees are governed by prevailing laws, rules, and the terms of their appointments.
Since the employment and performance of officers and employees are closely linked to the bank’s profit and loss, the bank may independently make decisions in accordance with the country’s laws and regulations. Therefore, the decision to hold a special competency assessment examination, and whether to retain or release any employee, falls within the bank’s own jurisdiction, the statement added.
Regarding the termination issue, M Kamal Uddin Jasim, additional managing director (AMD) of Islami Bank Bangladesh PLC, told Dhaka Tribune that after S Alam Group took over the bank, almost all subsequent recruitments about 10,000 people were made without proper competitive examinations.
“Nevertheless, instead of terminating them outright, we offered about 5,500 of them an opportunity through a special competency assessment to retain those who are qualified. However, the majority of the said 5,500 rejected the proposal and did not participate in Saturday’s examination.”
Asked about the High Court’s ruling, he said: “I must clarify that the court did not give any stay order or suspension order of the examination. That is misinformation. The court asked Bangladesh Bank to resolve the matter, and Bangladesh Bank’s Banking Regulation and Policy Department (Division-2) settled the issue and informed both the petitioners and Islami Bank authorities. It stated that holding a special competency assessment and deciding whether to retain or release employees was entirely within the jurisdiction of Islami Bank.”
As to whether employees who boycotted the exam were already being laid off, he told this reporter: “It is possible. In fact, we could have been even stricter, given their insubordination. Furthermore, under our service rules, the bank has the authority to release any employee from service without issuing a show-cause notice. This also applies to employees who may resign from the bank at any time following the prescribed procedures. We will, of course, comply with all applicable rules in this process.”
Asked about how many officials participate the exam on Saturday, he said most of them not participated in the exam.
However, protesters at the press conference alleged that although the High Court, in response to a writ petition, had earlier directed the bank to conduct regular promotional tests instead of the special competency assessment exam.
Defying that order, the bank authorities again announced the exam date, they claimed.