The Mass Media Employees (services and conditions) Bill-2022 was placed in parliament on Monday with the provision of paying salaries within the first seven working days of the next month.
Information and Broadcasting Minister
Hasan Mahmud tabled the bill in parliament. It was then sent to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to examine and report to parliament within 60 days.
The bill states that a minimum wage board for media employees will be formed every five years. The Wage Board will determine the individual pay structure as required for newspapers, news agencies, private television, radio and registered online media.
Earlier, this wage board was formed only for newspapers and news agencies. The bill also mentions 15 days of leisure leave for three consecutive years.
The bill further states that full-time journalists working in the media, employees and employees engaged in various activities in the registered online media, including the printing press owned by the registered newspaper, will be called 'media employees'.
The bill divides the media employees into three categories. They are - temporary, apprentice and permanent.
The bill also stipulates that media employees must work at least 48 hours a week. "If you want to do more work, you have to pay overtime allowance."
Earlier, the media employees were operating under The Newspaper Employees (Terms of Service) Act-1974. Some issues of labor law were in conflict with it.
Journalists were later brought under the Labor Act and defined as workers.
If this bill is passed, the media employees will no longer be workers, they will be called as media employees.
The 'The Newspaper Employees' Act set out the conditions of employment, finances and other benefits for journalists, press workers and press employees.
The government repealed the law and enacted a 'labor law' in 2006 for all workers, covering journalists, press workers and press employees.
In 2018, the cabinet approved the bill in principle. According to the proposed law, a media worker will get 15 days casual leave in a year.
In addition, every 11 days he/she will get one day earned leave. If he/she does not enjoy this leave, it will be credited and he/she will get maximum 100 days' cash payment at the end of the job.
The bill states that, in consultation with the authorities, a media employee may be entitled to a one-time or multiple paid holiday of up to 10 days at full pay. And if they work on the day of the festival, they will have to be granted two days' basic pay or two days' leave for each working day.
After one year of service, the bill stipulates, eight to 10 percent contribution of employees and employers will be deposited in the future fund.
The bill provides for the formation of a 'Media Employees Welfare Association' to develop the relationship between the media employee and the owner in each organization.
The proposed law would allow the government to set up media courts for one or more divisional areas.
This court will have a chairman and two members. The chairman will be from among the working district judges. And one of the members will be the media owner; the other will be the media employee.
The proposed law states that the media court will follow the brief judicial procedure described in the Criminal Procedure Code. The media court will also have all the powers vested in the first class judicial magistrate or metropolitan magistrate.
The bill also provides for a media appeals court. It will be chaired by a judge serving or retired from the High Court Division or an additional judge. The bill provides that the government may appoint one or more members to advise the chairman.
The members will be from among the district judges who have been or had working experience for three years.
The bill also stipulates that if the media refuses or fails to comply with the court order, it will face a jail term of three months or a fine of up to Tk 5,000.
The bill stipulates a fine of Tk 25,000 if a media owner does not provide maternity benefits to a female employee.
Provision has been made for one year of imprisonment or five years of imprisonment for paying less than the minimum wage. If any media employee gives false information to the court, he/she will be fined Tk 50,000 and jailed for three months for non-payment.
On the other hand, if the media owner makes a false statement, he/she will be fined up to five lakh taka or imprisoned for three months. If the owner misbehaves, he/she will be fined Tk 50,000 and will be jailed for six months for non-payment.
The bill states that if a media employee dies after one-year or more than six-month service his/her nominee or successor will be paid 30 days' salary as compensation and as for six-month employment the compensation will be 45 days' of salary for any accident during work time.
The bill also states that if a media organization wants to lay off additional staff, the government must be notified in writing. In case of retrenchment, the employee has to pay one month's written notice, or one month's basic salary. In addition, 30 days' basic salary has to be paid for the job every year as compensation.
A permanent media employee can resign with 30-day of notice and a temporary employee with 15-day notice.
