Why bank officials who lost jobs during Covid won't be reinstated: High Court
As per the central bank, 3,313 officials of the 11 banks lost their jobs between January 2020 and August 2021
The High Court on Tuesday asked the managing directors of 11 banks to explain why the employees who were laid off on the pretext of cost cutting during the Covid-19 pandemic will not be reappointed despite the instructions of the Bangladesh Bank.
The managing directors have been asked to respond in this regard within four weeks.
The banks mentioned in the rule are the Mutual Trust Bank, Jamuna Bank, Prime Bank, Social Islami Bank, Mercantile Bank, Union Bank, Premier Bank, City Bank, Padma Bank, AB Bank and Eastern Bank.
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The High Court bench of Justice Zafar Ahmed and Justice Md Bashir Ullah issued the rule based on a petition filed by Mahbub Alam, former senior vice president of the Mutual Trust Bank, who was forced to resign during the pandemic.
He filed the petition on behalf of the other laid-off bankers who suffered the same fate during that period.
Recently, the Bangladesh Bank conducted a special inspection in six private banks based on the complaints of laid-off bankers.
The central bank later found that some 3,313 officials of the 11 banks lost their jobs between January 2020 and August 2021. Among them 3,070 officials "resigned" and 243 officials were removed or dismissed.
However, most of the officers who "resigned" from their posts said they were given time verbally to submit their resignation. They were also threatened that they will get no benefits from the banks if they do not resign by that date.
On 16 September 2021, the Bangladesh Bank issued a notification to the banks to stop laying off employees to keep the spirit of the sector intact.
According to the central bank notification, no employee should be dismissed if there is no specific and proven complaint.
It also instructed the banks not to dismiss employees or force them to resign just because of the failure to achieve the target or showing inefficiency.
The Bangladesh Bank asked the banks to take necessary measures regarding the reinstatement of employees who have been fired or forced to resign from their jobs despite having no specific and proven complaint from 1 April 2020 to 15 September 2021. The reinstatement will be subject to receiving applications from the employees concerned.
However, most of the banks have not implemented the BB instructions in more than one year.
