Wages and Work Survey 2020 Bangladesh - dataset

Management summary Decent Wage Bangladesh phase 1 The aims of the project Decent Wage Bangladesh phase 1 aimed to gain insight in actual wages, the cost of living and the collective labour agreements in four low-paid sectors in three regions of Bangladesh, in order to strengthen the power of trade unions. The project received funding from Mondiaal FNV in the Netherlands and seeks to contribute to the to the knowledge and research pathway of Mondiaal’s theory of change related to social dialogue. Between August and November 2020 five studies have been undertaken. In a face-to-face survey on wages and work 1,894 workers have been interviewed. In a survey on the cost-of-living 19,252 prices have been observed. The content of 27 collective agreements have been analysed. Fifth, desk research regarding the four sectors was undertaken. The project was coordinated by WageIndicator Foundation, an NGO operating websites with information about work and wages in 140 countries, a wide network of correspondents and a track record in collecting and analysing data regarding wage patters, cost of living, minimum wages and collective agreements. For this project WageIndicator collaborated with its partner Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) in Dhaka, with a track record in conducting surveys in the country and with whom a long-lasting relationship exists. Relevant information was posted on the WageIndicator Bangladesh website and visual graphics and photos on the project webpage. The results of the Cost-of-Living survey can be seen here. Ready Made Garment (RMG), Leather and footwear, Construction and Tea gardens and estates are the key sectors in the report. In the Wages and Work Survey interviews have been held with 724 RMG workers in 65 factories, 337 leather and footwear workers in 34 factories, 432 construction workers in several construction sites and 401 workers in 5 tea gardens and 15 tea estates. The Wages and Work Survey 2020 was conducted in the Chattagram, Dhaka and Sylhet Divisions. Earnings have been measured in great detail. Monthly median wages for a standard working week are BDT 3,092 in tea gardens and estates, BDT 9,857 in Ready made garment, Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) 10,800 in leather and footwear and BDT 11,547 in construction. The females’ median wage is 77% lower than that of the males, reflecting the gender pay gap noticed around the world. The main reason is not that women and men are paid differently for the same work, but that men and women work in gender-segregated parts of the labour market. Women are dominating the low-paid work in the tea gardens and estates. Workers aged 40 and over are substantially lower paid than younger workers, and this can partly be ascribed to the presence of older women in the tea gardens and estates. Workers hired via an intermediary have higher median wages than workers with a permanent contract or without a contract. Seven in ten workers report that they receive an annual bonus. Almost three in ten workers report that they participate in a pension fund and this is remarkably high in the tea estates, thereby partly compensating the low wages in the sector. Participation in an unemployment fund, a disability fund or medical insurance is hardly observed, but entitlement to paid sick leave and access to medical facilites is frequently mentioned. Female workers participate more than males in all funds and facilities. Compared to workers in the other three sectors, workers in tea gardens and estates participate more in all funds apart from paid sick leave. Social security is almost absent in the construction sector. Does the employer provide non-monetary provisions such as food, housing, clothing, or transport? Food is reported by almost two in ten workers, housing is also reported by more than three in ten workers, clothing by hardly any worker and transport by just over one in ten workers. Food and housing are substantially more often reported in the tea gardens and estates than in the other sectors. A third of the workers reports that overtime hours are paid as normal hours plus a premium, a third reports that overtime hours are paid as normal hours and another third reports that these extra hours are not paid. The latter is particularly the case in construction, although construction workers work long contractual hours they hardly have “overtime hours”, making not paying overtime hours not a major problem. Living Wage calculations aim to indicate a wage level that allows families to lead decent lives. It represents an estimate of the monthly expenses necessary to cover the cost of food, housing, transportation, health, education, water, phone and clothing. The prices of 61 food items, housing and transportation have been collected by means of a Cost-of-Living Survey, resulting in 19,252 prices. In Chattagram the living wage for a typical family is BDT 13,000 for a full-time working adult. In Dhaka the living wage for a typical family is BDT 14,400 for a full-time working adult. In both regions the wages of the lowest paid quarter of the semi-skilled workers are only sufficient for the living wage level of a single adult, the wages of the middle paid quarter are sufficient for a single adult and a standard 2+2 family, and the wages in the highest paid quarter are sufficient for a single adult, a standard 2+2 family, and a typical family. In Sylhet the living wage for a typical family is BDT 16,800 for a full-time working adult. In Sylhet the wages of the semi-skilled workers are not sufficient for the living wage level of a single adult, let alone for a standard 2+2 family or a typical family. However, the reader should take into account that these earnings are primarily based on the wages in the tea gardens and estates, where employers provide non-monetary provisions such as housing and food. Nevertheless, the wages in Sylhet are not sufficient for a living wage. Employment contracts. Whereas almost all workers in construction have no contract, in the leather industry workers have predominantly a permanent contract, specifically in Chattagram. In RMG the workers in Chattagram mostly have a permanent contract, whereas in Dhaka this is only the case for four in ten workers. RMG workers in Dhaka are in majority hired through a labour intermediary. Workers in the tea gardens and estates in Chattagram in majority have no contract, whereas in Sylhet they have in majority a permanent contract. On average the workers have eleven years of work experience. Almost half of the employees say they have been promoted in their current workplace. COVID-19 Absenteeism from work was very high in the first months of the pandemic, when the government ordered a general lock down (closure) for all industries. Almost all workers in construction, RMG and leather reported that they were absent from work from late March to late May 2020. Female workers were far less absent than male workers, and this is primarily due to the fact that the tea gardens and estates with their highly female workforce did not close. From 77% in March-May absenteeism tremendously dropped till 5% in June-September. By September the number of absent days had dropped to almost zero in all sectors. Absenteeism was predominantly due to workplace closures, but in some cases due to the unavailability of transport. More than eight all absent workers faced a wage reduction. Wage reduction has been applied equally across the various groups of workers. The workers who faced reduced earnings reported borrowing from family or friends (66% of those who faced wage reduction), receiving food distribution of the government (23%), borrowing from a micro lenders (MFI) (20%), borrowing from other small lenders (14%), receiving rations from the employer (9%) or receiving cash assistance from the government or from non-governmental institutions (both 4%). Male workers have borrowed from family or friends more often than female workers, and so did workers aged 40-49 and couples with more than two children. COVID-19 Hygiene at the workplace After return to work workers have assessed hygiene at the workplace and the supply of hygiene facilities. Workers are most positive about the safe distance or space in dining seating areas (56% assesses this as a low risk), followed by the independent use of all work equipment, as opposed to shared (46%). They were least positive about a safe distance between work stations and number of washrooms/toilets, and more than two in ten workers assess the number of washrooms/toilets even as a high risk. Handwashing facilities are by a large majority of the workers assessed as adequate with a low risk. In contrast, gloves were certainly not adequately supplied, as more than seven in ten workers state that these are not adequately supplied. This may be due to the fact that use of gloves could affect workers’ productivity, depending on the occupations.

管理摘要：体面薪资孟加拉国第一阶段
本项目旨在深入了解孟加拉国三个地区四个低收入行业的实际薪资、生活成本与集体劳动协议，以强化工会的议价能力。本项目获荷兰Mondiaal FNV资助，旨在助力Mondiaal社会对话变革理论相关的知识与研究路径。
2020年8月至11月期间，项目共开展五项研究：薪资与工作面对面调查，累计访谈1894名工人；生活成本调查，采集19252条价格数据；27份集体协议文本分析；以及针对四个行业的案头研究（原文标注为第五项，疑存在笔误）。
本项目由薪资指标基金会（WageIndicator Foundation）协调，该非政府组织运营覆盖140个国家的工作与薪资信息网站，拥有广泛的通讯员网络，且在收集、分析薪资模式、生活成本、最低工资与集体协议数据方面拥有成熟实践经验。本次项目中，薪资指标基金会与达卡的孟加拉国发展研究所（Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, BIDS）展开合作，该机构在孟加拉国开展调查方面拥有良好履历，且双方已建立长期稳定的合作关系。
相关信息已发布于薪资指标孟加拉国网站，项目网页同步展示可视化图表与照片。生活成本调查结果可在此处查看。
本报告的核心行业包括成衣制造业（Ready Made Garment, RMG）、皮革与制鞋业、建筑业以及茶园与种植园。本次薪资与工作调查在吉大港区（Chattagram）、达卡专区（Dhaka）与锡尔赫特专区（Sylhet）开展，共访谈65家工厂的724名成衣制造工人、34家工厂的337名皮革与制鞋业工人、多个建筑工地的432名建筑业工人，以及5家茶园与15处种植园的401名工人。
本次薪资核算细节详实：标准周工作制下的月薪资中位数，茶园与种植园为3092孟加拉塔卡（BDT），成衣制造业为9857孟加拉塔卡，皮革与制鞋业为10800孟加拉塔卡，建筑业为11547孟加拉塔卡。女性薪资中位数较男性低77%，反映出全球普遍存在的性别薪资差距。其核心原因并非男女同工不同酬，而是劳动力市场存在性别职业隔离：女性主导茶园与种植园的低收入岗位。40岁及以上工人的薪资显著低于年轻工人，这一定程度上源于茶园与种植园中老年女性占比较高。通过中介雇佣的工人薪资中位数高于固定合同工或无合同工。
七成工人表示可获得年终奖金。近三成工人参与了养老金计划，其中茶园与种植园的参与率极高，这在一定程度上弥补了该行业的低薪资。参与失业基金、伤残基金或医疗保险的情况极少，但多数工人提及可享受带薪病假与医疗服务。女性工人在各项基金与服务的参与率上均高于男性。相较于其他三个行业，茶园与种植园的工人除带薪病假外，在各项基金的参与率上均更高。建筑业的社会保障几乎空白。
雇主是否提供非货币福利，如食品、住房、衣物或交通？近两成工人表示可获得食品，超三成工人可获得住房，几乎无人获得衣物，仅一成多工人可获得交通补贴。食品与住房福利在茶园与种植园的覆盖比例远高于其他行业。
三分之一的工人表示加班薪资为正常时薪加额外溢价，三分之一表示加班薪资与正常时薪一致，另有三分之一表示加班无薪资。这一情况在建筑业尤为突出：尽管建筑业工人的合同工时较长，但几乎不存在“加班时长”，因此不支付加班薪资并非主要问题。
生活薪资测算旨在界定可支撑家庭体面生活的薪资水平，其估算涵盖食品、住房、交通、医疗、教育、用水、通讯与衣物等必要月度开支。本次生活成本调查共收集61种食品、住房与交通相关的价格数据，总计得到19252条价格记录。吉大港区全职成年劳动者对应的典型家庭生活薪资为13000孟加拉塔卡；达卡专区为14400孟加拉塔卡。在这两个地区，薪资最低的四分之一半熟练工人的收入仅能支撑单人的生活薪资水平；薪资中等的四分之一工人可支撑单人加标准2+2家庭（即两名成人与两名儿童）；薪资最高的四分之一工人可支撑单人、标准2+2家庭及典型家庭的开支。锡尔赫特专区的典型家庭生活薪资为16800孟加拉塔卡。锡尔赫特的半熟练工人薪资甚至不足以支撑单人的生活薪资水平，更遑论标准2+2家庭或典型家庭。但需注意，该数据主要基于茶园与种植园的薪资，而这些雇主会提供住房与食品等非货币福利。即便如此，锡尔赫特的薪资仍未达到生活薪资标准。
雇佣合同方面：建筑业几乎所有工人均无合同；皮革行业工人多为固定合同工，尤其是在吉大港区。达卡专区的成衣制造业工人多为固定合同工，而达卡的成衣工人中仅四成拥有固定合同，多数工人通过劳务中介雇佣。吉大港区的茶园与种植园工人多无合同，而锡尔赫特的该类工人则多拥有固定合同。工人平均工作年限为11年。近半数雇员表示在当前工作场所获得过晋升。
新冠疫情相关：疫情初期数月，政府下令全行业封锁（停业），工人缺勤率极高。2020年3月底至5月底，建筑业、成衣制造业与皮革行业的几乎所有工人均缺勤。女性工人缺勤率远低于男性，这主要源于女性劳动力占比极高的茶园与种植园并未关闭。缺勤率从3-5月的77%大幅降至6-9月的5%，至9月，各行业的缺勤天数已几乎降至零。缺勤主要源于工厂停业，部分情况则因交通不便。超八成缺勤工人面临薪资削减。薪资削减在各工人群体中均有发生。面临薪资削减的工人中，66%向家人或朋友借款，23%领取政府食品救济，20%向小额信贷机构（Micro Finance Institution, MFI）借款，14%向其他小额贷方借款，9%获得雇主发放的口粮，4%获得政府或非政府组织的现金援助。男性工人、40-49岁工人以及育有超过两名子女的工人向家人或朋友借款的比例更高。
职场防疫措施：复工后，工人对职场防疫与卫生设施进行了评估。工人对用餐区的安全间距（56%认为该措施风险较低）评价最高，其次是独立使用工作设备而非共用（46%）。评价最低的是工位间距与洗手间数量，超两成工人认为洗手间数量存在高风险。绝大多数工人认为洗手设施充足且风险较低。与之相反，手套供应严重不足，超七成工人表示手套未得到充分供应。这可能是因为手套使用会影响部分工种的生产效率。