The long-awaited Employment Injury Insurance (EII) Scheme is set to launch in a limited scale in the country’s readymade garment (RMG) sector by June next year, sources said. The purpose of the scheme to be introduced on pilot basis is to establish an appropriate compensation and rehabilitation mechanism for the workers, they added. “A pilot EII Scheme will be launched in some selected RMG factories by June,” Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishment (DIFE) inspector general Shib Nath Roy told the FE. The implementing agency is yet to be appointed, he said, adding that the GIZ in cooperation with the government might implement it. Earlier on October 06 in 2015, after the Rana Plaza building collapse, a letter of intent was signed among the ministry of labour and employment (MoLE), International Labour Organization (ILO) and German federal ministry for economic cooperation and development to work together on the design of a suitable EII Scheme for the RMG sector. At the initial stages, legislative issues were scheduled to be addressed and national institutional capacities to implement such a scheme were developed, sources said. Later, they added, a pilot scheme was proposed to launch before being scaled up to run nationwide and extended to other industrial sectors. The long-awaiting pilot scheme could not be launched due to the opposition from the apparel sector leaders, they said. According to the letter of intent, the workers would receive payment in case of injury while the employers would benefit from low-cost and no-fault accident compensation insurance for workers. When asked, ILO Bangladesh country director Tuomo Poutiainen in an email response said, “The ILO is currently discussing with the garment industry, MoLE and trade unions for starting the pilot scheme by mid next year.” The objective of the proposed trial is to see how long-term medical care and compensation would work and improve the existing compensation mechanism and build an appropriate institution for compensation and rehabilitation accordingly, he said. The pilot has not been launched yet, he said, adding that in principle, the tripartite partners are positive about this piloting. The ILO’s proposal for a pilot estimates that there should be around 50-60 RMG factories of different compliance levels representing the sector and covering around 150,000 workers. “We are working with GIZ in close cooperation on this,” Mr. Tuomo noted. The estimated cost of the pilot would be lower than the initial estimation of 0.33 per cent (Tk 33 for a worker earning 10,000 per month) of wage. “The pilot is expected to cover only health care and rehabilitation for severe injury resulting in disability and compensation for death cases. Financing of the scheme is under discussion,” Mr. Tuomo added. When asked, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) director Fazlee Shamim Ehsan opposed the initiative, saying that the pilot should be introduced in an industry like ship-breaking or ship-building where workplace injury is common. He, however, said it is the ILO that would convince the factory authorities for introducing the scheme as the trade bodies would not ask their members. The proposed EII scheme is supposed to be introduced in the sewing segment of the RMG factories where injury is not regular, he said. Moreover, there is no comprehensive plan for a worker on getting an amount from the EII scheme when he or she would leave job, he noted. Though the proposed amount that a worker is supposed to contribute is small, what would be the benefit if he or she does not face any workplace injury or dies, he argued.
