The government has sought cooperation from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) for the implementation of 5% profit sharing with the Workers Welfare Fund as per labour act. During a meeting with the ICAB leaders held at Labour and Employment Ministry yesterday, the government came up with the call. The meeting also discussed the ways as to how the ICAB can help the government in implementing the labor acts, which has a provision of 5% profit sharing to the welfare funds for ensuring workers’ rights. According to Labour Act, each company will have to pay 5% of the net profit of the previous year at the proportion of 80:10:10 respectively to the Participatory Fund, Welfare Fund and Workers Welfare Foundation Fund established under a section 14 of the Bangladesh Workers Welfare Foundation Act, 2006. “There is a provision in the law and if the auditors keep it in their mind at the time preparing their audit reports, it will help to execute the rules and expedite the law implementation process. That is why, we have sought cooperation from the auditors for sake of the workers’ interest,” said Senior Labour and Employment Secretary Mikail Shipar while talking to the Dhaka Tribune. If the auditors could raise questions about the law while preparing the audit report, the owners of the company will have to contribute to the fund as per the rules, he added. “The government has sought our cooperation in the implementation of the provision for 5% profit sharing by the factory owners,” Kamrul Abedin, president of ICAB told the Dhaka Tribune. Abedin said, “Labour and Employment Ministry will give papers on the issues and we will also provide necessary assistance and take measures to ensure that the audit report could include the issues in the final report.” “There will be a joint task force that will work to make the laws more effective,” he added. According to the ICAB, companies that are enlisted with the Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges are more compliant regarding the 5% profits sharing than others. It is possible only because of the extra measures taken by Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC). “If a company does not comply with the existing rules about 5% profit sharing, we put a note in the audit report, mentioning the violation of the rules,” said Abedin.
