Assignment

On

Labor Force of

Teliapara Tea Estate

Submitted to :

Dr. Ireen Akhter

Course Instructor of

Industrial Relations.

Submitted by :

Khusbun Nahar Kheya (ID-1876)

Sujana Ahmed (ID-1877)

Fariha Murtaza (ID –1884)

Rifat Hossain Mahmud Rizvi (ID-1899)

Masud Rana (ID-1919)

Batch – 25th

Institute of Business Administration,

Jahangirnagar University.

Date of Submission : 12th September, 2019.

 Tea Industry in Bangladesh
Bangladesh is an important tea-producing country. It is the 10th largest tea producer in the world. Its tea
industry dates back to British rule, when the East India Company initiated the tea trade in the hills of
the Sylhet region.

The area around Sylhet is traditional tea growing area. The picturesque Surma Valley is covered with
terraces of tea gardens and lush green tropical forests. Srimangal is known as the tea capital of Bangladesh
and for miles around one can see the green carpet of tea gardens on the hill slopes. The area has over 150 tea
gardens including three of the largest tea gardens in the world both in area and production. Nearly 300,000
workers are employed on the tea estates of which over 75% are women. Employers prefer to engage women
for plucking tea leaves since they do a better job and are paid less than the men. The plantations were
started by the British and the manager still live in white timber homes as they did in those days. The
bungalows stand on huge beautifully maintained lawns and the service and lifestyle is pretty much
unchanged.

A visit to the tea plantation in Sylhet is a memorable experience which we had in our previous industrial
tour which was at Teliapara Tea Estate on 15th July, 2019.
 Teliapara Tea Estate
It was 4th of April 1971 when Bengali army officials had held the first strategic meeting for the liberation
war at the Dak Bungalow of Habiganj's Teliapara tea garden. The bungalow had served as a temporary
headquarters for sector-2 and 4 commanders from 1st April 1971. According to cited documentation,
Colonel MAG Osmani had crossed the border through Teliapara tea garden and had reached Agartala on
1st April for the historic meeting to take place.

The whole estate of the Teliapara tea garden is being now, after long overdue time, turned into a tourist
destination and a memorial complex for the War of Liberation.

Tea Making Process

Tea a popular beverage made from the leaves of evergreen shrub or tree Camellia sinensis, family Theaceae.
It is predominantly an agro-based export-oriented evergreen crop in Bangladesh and a perennial crop grown
as a monoculture on large contiguous areas. Under natural conditions, a tea plant grows to a small tree but
it is configured into a bush by sequential pruning and other silvicultural practices, viz tipping, plucking and
by harvesting the optimum vegetative produce.

Some steps included at tea making process :

Growth and cultivation Pruning is a vital operation for tea management to limit the top growth and to
stimulate the growth of the bush. There are two types of pruning cycle, which are adopted in Bangladesh
tea viz the three year cycle and the four year cycle. The tea plant requires a warm and humid climate. Tea
soils in Bangladesh are highly weathered, extremely acidic and of low fertility status. The use of shade trees
in tea cultivation is a vital and integral component. Forests also play a useful role in the successful and
productive growth of tea in Bangladesh.

Processing The leaves of tea are processed in the tea factories to produce an acceptable product for human
consumption. Black tea is the most popular and widely acceptable beverage in Bangladesh. The salient
feature of black tea manufacture involves following operations: plucking and handling of tea shoots,
withering, processing/rolling, fermentation, drying/firing, sorting and packaging. The making of high
quality tea depends very largely on the fineness of the plucked tea leaf i.e. two leaves and a bud.

Pests and diseases Tea production in Bangladesh is greatly hindered due to a number of pests and diseases.
Various insects, mites, nematodes, algae, fungi, and weeds are major yield depressants. However, these
pests become epidemic in certain year, season or in some gardens. The pest status as major or minor often
depends upon the prevailing climatic and ecological conditions. More than one pest or disease may invade
conjointly or simultaneously to the same bush or same garden in a particular season or time.

Labor Force of Tea Industry

In the discussion on tea, its production, consumption and trade those who remain least attended are the tea
plantation workers. The tea industry is very different from other industries. The production process of tea
involves agriculture and industry. What is unique about labour distribution in these two areas is that the
maximum of the labour force is engaged in agriculture -- the tea gardens or the field. The labour force that
keeps the tea industry alive is not local. The British companies brought them from Bihar, Madras, Orissa,
Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and other places in India to work in the tea
gardens in the Sylhet region. The misfortune of these indentured laborers started with their journey to the
tea gardens. According to one account, in the early years, a third of the tea plantation workers died during
their long journey to the tea gardens and due to the tough work and living condition. Upon arrival to the tea
gardens these laborers got a new identity, coolie and were turned into property of the tea companies. These
coolies belonging to many ethnic identities cleared jungles, planted and tended tea seedlings and saplings,
planted shade trees, and built luxurious bungalows for tea planters. But they had their destiny tied to their
huts in the "labour lines" that they built themselves.
 Overview of the Working Conditions at Tea Estates and Law
Enforcement
According to the interview, the tea plantation industry is dominated by female workers. Approximately
64% of all workers are female. It is observed that many tea plantation workers start work at their early age.
In a number of instances, children are engaged in the tea gardens as relievers or helper of their parents. And
once they grow up, they become the permanent workers. Workers who start working at an early age do not
get access to education. In addition, child marriage, poverty and lack of consciousness are identified as
major reasons for the low rate of education in the community. Most of the workers had a large family and
they are the breadwinner of their families.

Working conditions, Labor benefits and Law

1: Employment status and tasks: According to the interview most of the workers had been working on a
specific tea plantation for more than 40 years. Most of the tea plantation workers interviewed are engaged
as permanent workers and others are casual, daily or seasonal workers. Types of work vary seasonally.
Between 80% and 85% of workers get engaged in plucking tea and 5% get engaged in dry season activities,
which include weeding, dressing tea plants, applying fertilizer, clearing the forest land for the extension of
plantation areas, pruning vulnerable tea trees, repairing canals and roads and domestic chores at the
households of the managers.

Law enforcement- According to the labor act,2006 workers can be classified into apprentice, substitute,
casual, temporary, probationer, permanent and seasonal workers and based on this status their status of
work , responsibility and benefits vary.

2) A worker shall be called an apprentice if he is employed in an establishment as a learner, and is paid an

allowance during the period of his training.

(3) A worker shall be called a badli if he is employed in an establishment in the post of a permanent worker
or of a probationer during the period who is temporarily absent.

(4) A worker shall be called a casual worker if his employment in an establishment is of casual nature.

(5) A worker shall be called a temporary worker if he is employed in an establishment for work which is
essentially of temporary nature, and is likely to be finished within a limited period.
(6) A worker shall be called a probationer if he is provisionally employed in an establishment to fill a
permanent vacancy in a post and has not completed the period of his probation in the establishment.

(7) A worker shall be called a permanent worker if he is employed in an establishment on a permanent basis
or if he has satisfactory completed the period of his probation in the establishment.

(8) The period of probation for a worker whose function is of clerical nature shall be six months and for
other workers such period shall be three month:

Provided that in the case of a skilled worker, the period of probation may be extended by an additional
period of three months if, for any circumstances, it has not been possible to determine the quality of his
work within the first three months’ period of his probation.

(9) If any worker, whose service has been terminated during his probationary period, including the extended
period, is again appointed by the same employer within a period of three years, he shall, unless appointed
on a permanent basis, be deemed to a probationer and the period or periods of his earlier probation shall be
counted for determining his total period of probation.

(10) If a permanent worker is employed as a probationer in a new post, he may at any time during the
probationary period, be reverted to his old permanent post.

2: Recruitment and contract: A number of the respondents had more than one reason to work in a tea
plantation. The majority of respondents decided to work in the tea gardens due to ancestral connections,
whereas others claimed they had no other alternative . A negligible number of workers is engaged in the
tea plantation industry due to their personal interest in the tea industry. Tea garden workers are like ancestral
contract labour as their employment also secures their accommodation. The recruitment process for workers
is carried out by the tea plantation authority mostly in an informal manner and in most cases (93%) without
written contract and appointment letter. Further, workers also feel they are not consulted when working
hours or the nature of work is changed. In Bangladesh, housing or labour lines are located inside the tea
plantation. Workers stated that they walk to their workplace.

Law Enforcement - According to the labor act no employer shall employ any worker without giving such
worker an appointment letter and every such employed worker shall be provided with an identity card with
his photograph.

Service book : (1) Every employer shall, at his own cost, provide a service book for every worker employed
by him.

(2) Such service book shall be kept in the custody of the employer.
(3) Before employing a worker, the employer shall require from him the previous service book if the worker
claims that he has been previously in employment under any other employer

(4) If such worker has any service book, it shall be handed over to the new employer by him and shall be
kept in the custody of the employer, for which a receipt shall be given to him.

(5) If such worker has no service book, a service book shall be provided under sub-section (1

(6) If the worker desires to keep and maintain a duplicate copy of his service book, he may do it at his own
cost.

(7) The employer shall hand over the service book to the worker on the termination of the workers’ service
with him.

(8) If the service book handed over to the worker or the duplicate thereof maintained by him is lost by the
worker, the employer shall provide him with a duplicate service book at the cost of the worker.

(9) Nothing in this section shall apply to an apprentice, badli or casual worker.

3: Wages: The cash remuneration of tea plantation workers is calculated weekly based on daily
performance the permanent worker get 102 tk per day. Ninety nine per cent of respondents opined that they
get remuneration weekly. A plucking worker is required to pluck 23 kg (varies from 18 kg to 24 kg) of
leaves a day and if they fail to achieve the target or Nirik, remuneration may be cut proportionately. If the
performance is higher than target, additional remuneration (2 to 3 taka (BDT) per kg) is paid for additional
plucking. Other work is also target based and remuneration depends upon the performance except factory
work, security and domestic work in managers’ residences. Respondents reported that they don’t have
complicacies in payment and their employers pay them in time. In addition to the wages respondents opined
that they receive support like 3 kg of rice or flour as ration per week, free accommodation, and medical
services. However, most respondents had complaints against the tea garden authority. They were of the
view that they were being exploited by their employers as their income was not sufficient for their
livelihood. Most of the workers stated that their income was insufficient to fulfil their family needs.

Law Enforcement - According to the labor act,2006-

 Responsibility for payment of wages : Every employer shall be responsible for the payment to
workers employed by him of all wages required to be paid under this act:

Provided that, except in the case of a worker employed by a contractor, the chief executive officer, the
manager or any other person responsible to the employer for the supervision and control of an establishment
shall also be responsible for such payment.
Provided further that when the wages of a worker employed by the contractor is not paid by the contractor,
the wages shall be paid by the employer of the establishment and the same shall be adjusted from the
contractor.

 Fixation of wage-periods :

(1) Every person responsible for the payment of wages under section 121 shall fix periods, to be called
wage periods, in respect of which such wages shall be payable.

(2) No wage period shall exceed one month.

 Time of payment of wages :

(1) The wages of every worker shall be paid before the expiry of the seventh day after the last day of the
wage period in respect of which the wages are payable.

(2) Where the employment of any worker is terminated by retirement or by the employer, whether by way
of retrenchment, discharge, removal, dismissal or otherwise, the wages payable to him shall be paid before
the expiry of the seventh working day from the day on which his employment is so terminated.

(3) All payment of wages shall be made on a working day.

5: Working hours and leave:

Tea plantation workers usually work six days a week and are not entitled to receive wages for the weekend.
The working hours are fixed at eight hours per day starting at 9 am. During peak months most workers have
to work additional hours or seven days a week. They usually do it willingly as additional income comes
from those additional hours. It was found that almost all of the workers take one break during a full day of
work. The length and time of the break depends upon the pressure of work. Most plantations have a specific
time to take a mid time break to weigh their plucked leaves. This break time is also utilized for midday
meal and refreshment. Leave is generally allowed but few workers enjoy casual leave due to lack of
knowledge about the provisions of leave. Recipients of annual leave were found to be very low . Sick leave
and festival leave are commonly enjoyed by respondents . In order to obtain permission for sick leave,
workers are required to stay long hours at the plantation.

Law Enforcement - According to the labor act,2006-

 Daily hours : No adult worker shall ordinarily be required or allowed to work in an establishment
for more than eight hours in any day:
 Provided that, subject to the provisions of section 108, any such worker may work in an
establishment not exceeding ten hours in any day.
 Interval for rest or meal : Any worker in any establishment shall not be liable to work either-
(a) for more than six hours in any day unless he has been allowed an interval of at least one hour
during that day for rest or meal;
(b) for more than five hours in any one day unless he has been allowed an interval of at least half
an hour during that day for rest or meal; or
(c) for more than eight hours unless he has had an interval under clause (a) or two such intervals
under clause (b) during that day for rest or meal.
 Weekly hours : (1) No adult worker shall ordinarily be required or allowed to work in an
establishment for more than forty-eight hours in any week.
(2) Subject to the provisions of section 108, an adult worker may work for more than forty-eight
hours in a week:
Provided that the total hours of work of an adult worker shall not exceed sixty hours in any week
and on the average fifty-six hours per week in any year:
Provided further that in the case of a worker employed in an establishment which is a road transport
service, the total hours or overtime work in any year shall not exceed one hundred and fifty hours.
Provided further that the government, if satisfied that in public interest or in the interest of economic
development such exemption or relaxation is necessary, in certain industries, by order in writing
under specific terms and conditions, may relax the provision of this section or exempt, for a
maximum period of six months, from the provision of this section at a time.
 Weekly holiday: An adult worker employed in an establishment-
(a) which is a shop or commercial establishment, or industrial establishment, shall be allowed in
each week one and half days holiday and in factory and establishment one day in a week
Casual leave : Every worker shall be entitled to casual leave the full wages for ten days in a calendar
year, and such leave shall not be accumulated and carried forward to the succeeding year:
Provided that noting in this section shall apply to a worker employed in a tea plantation.
Sick leave : (1) Every worker other than a newspaper worker, shall be entitled to sick leave with
full wages for fourteen days in a calendar year.
(2) Every newspaper worker shall be entitled to sick leave with half wages for not less than one-
eighteenth of the period of services.
(3) No such leave shall be allowed unless a registered medical practitioner appointed by the
employer or, if no such medical practitioner is appointed by the employer, any other registered
 medical practitioner, after examination, certifies that the worker is ill and requires sick leave for
cure or treatment for such period as may be specified by him.
(4) Such leave shall not be accumulated and carried forward to the succeeding year.

6: Maternity protection and child care:

Female workers are entitled to maternity leave with their daily wages for their first two pregnancies. They
were found to have poor access to other services including medical visits and special allowances during
pregnancy. Although employers do not impose laborious work during pregnancy, most pregnant workers
could not work as they did before their pregnancy. Pregnant workers failed to meet their targets and were
at risk of wage cuts by the management. There is no provision of paternity leave in the tea industry.

Law Enforcement - According to the labor act –

 Right to, and liability for, payment of maternity benefit : (1) every woman employed in an
establishment shall be entitled to and her employer shall be liable for, the payment of maternity
benefit in respect of the period of eight weeks preceding the expected day of her delivery and eight
weeks immediately following the day of her delivery :
Provided that a woman shall not be entitled to such maternity benefit unless she has worked under
the employer, for a period of not less than six month immediately preceding the day of her delivery.
(2) No maternity benefit shall be payable to any woman if at the time of her confinement she has
two or more surviving children, but in that case she shall be entitled to the leave to which she would
otherwise be entitled.
 Amount of maternity benefit : (1) The maternity benefit which is payable under this act shall be
payable at the rate of daily, weekly or monthly average wages, as the case may be, calculated in
the manner laid down in sub-section (2), and such payment shall be made wholly in cash.
(2) For the purpose of sub-section (1) the daily, weekly or monthly average wages, as the case may
be, shall be calculated by dividing the total wages earned by the woman during the three months
immediately preceding the date on which she gives notice under this act by the number oif day she
actually worked during the period.
 Working environment, occupational safety and health: In tea plantation sector, workers’ safety and
security issues are ignored widely. Respondent stated that his health and safety was at risk because
of the work. He identified multiple reasons including having no shelter close to the workplace, no
safety kits, no toilet facility, long working hours in a harsh environment, risk of snake bites and
poisonous chemicals. Another respondent working in the factory with dust, long working hours and
handle machinery without safety measures. Injuries are also a common problem among both tea
garden and factory workers. Fatigue and job stress are also experienced by tea plantation workers.
Treatment expenses are arranged by tea garden authority however respondents noted that expenses
are not fully paid by their employers. According to key informants, once an accident occurs, the
injured worker receives treatment and full wages and ration during the whole period of their
treatment. If the injury causes a disability, the injured worker can deploy any family member to
work in their position. While one of respondents had experience in receiving compensation due to
accidents during work, another respondent did not receive compensation.