I am benefited to know about the compensation
Amirul Islam is a permanently disabled worker. He was born in Shahjadpur upazila of Sirajganj district. He started working as a helper in construction sector. In 2018, he started working in a three story old building at Indira Road, Dhaka. The contract was to build other 2 floor. After working there for about 2 months, on 31st January 2019 he was falling from a bamboo scaffold, when he was working outer side of the building. He got seriously injured. After getting treatment about 04 months, doctor declared him permanently disable. Since then he has been living with disability.
Amirul Islam, who was injured in the accident, was an informal worker. According to Amirul, there were no safety measures while they were working.They had no appointment letter and identity card. They had a working agreement with the owner that they would be paid BDT 180 for per square feet of space of the entire building to be completed. However, the owner gave some food allowance for them.
According to the Labor Act of Bangladesh, if someone is permanently disabled due to an accident at work, the employer has to pay compensation of BDT 250000/- with all medical expenses but the disabled worker Amirul was not given any compensation by his employer. The owner paid only 1 lac taka for the medical expenses. Amirul could not afford the treatment due to lack of money.
Later the legal team of SRS contacted the Amirul and convinced him to take action against the employer as per labor laws and asked for the required medical documents. After receiving the necessary documents, SRS sent a legal notice to the employer through Amirul demanding medical expenses and compensation. As the owner did not respond after receiving the notice, the legal team decided to file a case against the building owner for compensation. On February 3, 2020, a case was filed in Dhaka’s 1st Labor Court in support of the Bangladesh legal aid and services trust (BLAST). Case No. was 03/2020.After 2 years, when the case came to the stage of ex parte hearing, the owner appeared in the court and requested time to file the written statement and the learned court granted their time petition. Thereafter, the owner requested an out-of-court settlement of the dispute through conciliation. Finally, on September 8, 2022, the injured worker Amirul Islam was given tk.150,000/- as compensation from the employer in the First Labor Court and withdrew the case from the court.
Amirul, an injured worker, is happy to receive compensation almost three and a half years after he was injured in the accident. He said “I would never have been able to get this compensation without the support that Safety and Rights has given me”. He also stated, “Even after I return home after the treatment, I need 2,000 taka per month for medicine, which is difficult for me to afford. I asked the owner several times for help in this matter but he did not help. After filing the case, the owner’s acquaintances were threatened me. . But I had no fear because I believed that SRS was on my side and I was entitled to compensation as per law.
Finally I got the compensation. With this money I mortgaged 33 decimal of land in my village and leased that land for BDT 10,000 per year. I hope to cover my medical expenses with that money. Also, after I became physically disabled, I came home and had a small grocery store in my living room through which I could run my household.”
