HR policies (Such firms ought to be highlighted)
My wife recently joined a student consultancy agency in Dhaka as a Counselor/Receptionist, and I’m trying to understand what the actual labour law says about her situation.
Her normal working hours were 10:00 AM to 8:30 PM, and on some days management meetings would continue until around 9:30 PM. There was also no properly structured break time despite these long working hours.
Because of this, she decided that she could not continue working there.
She was still on probation. Her appointment letter says that if she wants to resign, she has to provide one month’s prior notice.
What I find strange is that the same appointment letter basically allows the employer to terminate the employment whenever they choose, while the employee is apparently expected to give them a full month’s notice.
My wife emailed HR explaining that she was having difficulty continuing because of the excessive working hours and lack of proper breaks, and she resigned with immediate effect.
Afterward, her Operations Manager and Team Lead gave her quite a lecture about leaving without notice. They also mildly hinted that the company could take action against her if they wanted to, although they eventually said they would “let it slide this time.”
This whole thing has left us wondering what the actual legal position is.
Does anyone here familiar with Bangladesh Labour Act/Labour Rules / HR law know:
- Can a probationary employee legally be required to serve a full one-month notice period before resigning?
- Can a company require one month’s notice from the employee while allowing itself to terminate a probationary employee immediately?
- Is working 10 AM–8:30 PM regularly, sometimes until 9:30 PM, legally acceptable?
- What are the legal requirements regarding daily working hours, breaks and overtime?
- Since her role was Counselor/Receptionist, rather than management or a specialist position, would she normally fall under the definition of a “worker” under Bangladesh labour law?
- Could the company realistically take any legal action against her for resigning immediately during probation?
I’m mainly looking for the legal/regulatory position, rather than whether resigning without notice was professionally ideal.
Would really appreciate input from anyone who works in HR, labour law, compliance, or has dealt with a similar situation in Bangladesh.