Banks asked to reinstate employees laid off during pandemic

Bangladesh Bank has ordered all scheduled banks to reinstate the employees who were laid off or forced to resign without a valid ground between April 1, 2020 and September 15, 2021.

But to avail the reinstatement those employees have to apply to their respective banks.

The central bank issued a circular in this regard on Thursday and said it will be effective immediately.

The BB also asked the banks to give a list of employees who were terminated and resigned during the period.

The central bank also said bankers have been playing a crucial role in implementing the stimulus packages announced by the government and the central bank to tackle the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bankers have been providing services risking their lives and many of them got Covid-19 infected and some of them died, said the circular. So, it was not a wise decision to terminate them in the name of poor performance during the pandemic, the BB said.

Earlier on Monday a team of the Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB), a forum of banks’ managing directors, led by its chairman Ali Reza Iftekhar met Fazle Kabir, the BB governor, to explain the issue of laying off employees during the pandemic.

Later, some media outlets reported that MDs said ‘sorry’ to the governor. But on Wednesday, the ABB in a letter dismissed the news reports saying those are ‘fake and distorted news’.

The ABB also said there was no question of saying ‘sorry’ by MDs to the governor as the meeting was held in a congenial manner.

MDs of four banks explained to the governor that some bankers resigned or were terminated because of their poor performance and disciplinary ground and many left for better opportunities in other banks, the ABB said.

According to a Bangladesh Bank report, BRAC Bank, City Bank, EBL, MTB, DBBL and Standard Bank laid off some 3,313 employees during the pandemic.

Some 3,070 of the laid off staff of those banks admitted to the central bank that they were forced to tender their resignation as they were not willing to do that.

The highest number of layoffs happened in BRAC Bank with 1,260 employees, followed by City Bank (1,102), Dutch-Bangla Bank (448), Eastern Bank (201), Standard Bank (152) and Mutual Trust Bank (150).