IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bcp/journl/v9y2025i15p334-346.html

Bangladeshi Garment Industry Welfare Policies and Employee Satisfaction: An Empirical Study

Author

Listed:
  • Md. Raisul Islam

    (Associate Professor, Department of Law and Land Administration, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh)

  • Md. Tofayel Hossain

    (Department of Sociology, Cumilla Victoria Govt. College, Cumilla, Chattogram, Bangladesh)

  • Shuvo Kumar Mallik

    (Department of Economics, Southeast University, Dhaka, Bangladesh)

  • M Abeedur Rahman

    (Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Southeast University, Dhaka, Bangladesh)

Abstract

The study explores workers perspectives of the welfare data as prescribed in the Bangladesh Labor Act 2006. It is to answer two questions primarily: Are labor welfare policies under this law meaningful in their impact on workers? If so, how fully are these policies enforced in the Bangladeshi global garment supply chain industry? Binary Logistic Regression is used in the study to investigate the garment workers’ perception of a negative or positive influence of welfare facilities on their overall job satisfaction. Data were collected from compliant and export-oriented factories in three Upazilas, namely Savar, Ashulia (Dhaka District), and Gazipur Sadar (Gazipur District), Bangladesh between July and August 2021. Results show that things that help worker satisfaction among workers are facilities like overtime benefits, medical services, safety measures, toilets, and lunch and day care services. As the country settings are relatively similar in terms of socio-economic status and geography, the findings of this study can be extended to garment manufacturing industries in other South Asian countries. It is an indication of workers’ sentiment toward welfare provisions. The study’s findings can guide stakeholders on how to provide more effective interventions on either side of the labor welfare space.

Suggested Citation

  • Md. Raisul Islam & Md. Tofayel Hossain & Shuvo Kumar Mallik & M Abeedur Rahman, 2025. "Bangladeshi Garment Industry Welfare Policies and Employee Satisfaction: An Empirical Study," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 9(15), pages 334-346, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:i:15:p:334-346
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/Digital-Library/volume-9-issue-15/334-346.pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/articles/bangladeshi-garment-industry-welfare-policies-and-employee-satisfaction-an-empirical-study/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sergiy D. Dmytriyev & R. Edward Freeman & Jacob Hörisch, 2021. "The Relationship between Stakeholder Theory and Corporate Social Responsibility: Differences, Similarities, and Implications for Social Issues in Management," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(6), pages 1441-1470, September.
    2. Humayun Kabir & Myfanwy Maple & Md Shahidul Islam & Kim Usher, 2021. "Prevalence of Suicide Thoughts and Behaviours among Female Garment Workers Who Survived the Rana Plaza Collapse: An In-Depth Inquiry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-15, June.
    3. Tobias Wolf & Maria Metzing & Richard E. Lucas, 2022. "Experienced Well-Being and Labor Market Status: The Role of Pleasure and Meaning," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 691-721, September.
    4. Robayet Ferdous Syed & Kazi Tanvir Mahmud, 2022. "Factors influencing work-satisfaction of global garments supply chain workers in Bangladesh," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 69(4), pages 507-524, December.
    5. Mark Anner, 2020. "Squeezing workers’ rights in global supply chains: purchasing practices in the Bangladesh garment export sector in comparative perspective," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(2), pages 320-347, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Robayet Ferdous Syed & Kazi Tanvir Mahmud & Ridoan Karim, 2024. "Do Labour Welfare Policies Matter for Workers? Evidence from the Garment Supply Chain Industry in Bangladesh," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 67(1), pages 237-253, March.
    2. Humayun Kabir & Myfanwy Maple & Md. Shahidul Islam & Kim Usher, 2022. "The Paradoxical Impacts of the Minimum Wage Implementation on Ready-made Garment (RMG) Workers: A Qualitative Study," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 65(2), pages 545-569, June.
    3. Valentinov, Vladislav, 2023. "Stakeholder theory: Toward a classical institutional economics perspective," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 188(1), pages 75-88.
    4. Jinsun Bae & Sarosh Kuruvilla, 2025. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Wages in the Global Apparel Supply Chain," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 32(4), pages 4655-4670, July.
    5. Anthony Goerzen & Michael Sartor & Kristin Brandl & Stacey Fitzsimmons, 2023. "Widening the lens: Multilevel drivers of firm corporate social performance," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 54(1), pages 42-60, February.
    6. Blessing Takawira & David Pooe, 2024. "Challenges and opportunities for pharmaceutical SMEs from South Africa in embedding into global supply chains a systematic literature review," International Journal of Business Ecosystem & Strategy (2687-2293), Bussecon International Academy, vol. 6(3), pages 01-22, July.
    7. Wen, Liang & Yang, Jing Yu & Li, Wen Helena, 2025. "Media approval and CSP–CFP translation: the role of institutional development in an emerging market," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    8. Stavros Sindakis & Saloome Showkat & Jiafu Su, 2023. "Unveiling the Influence: Exploring the Impact of Interrelationships among E-Commerce Supply Chain Members on Supply Chain Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-27, December.
    9. Heidi Reed, 2024. "“When money is more valuable than people…”: The pandemic as a call for business to care," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 435-455, March.
    10. Mladen Krstić & Giulio Paolo Agnusdei & Snežana Tadić & Pier Paolo Miglietta, 2023. "Prioritization of e-traceability drivers in the agri-food supply chains," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-26, December.
    11. Amjad Ali & Wajid Alim & Jawad Ahmed & Sabahat Nisar, 2022. "Yoke of corporate governance and firm performance: A study of listed firms in Pakistan," Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India, vol. 13(1), pages 08-17, January.
    12. ASM Anam Ullah, 2024. "Explaining Low Level of Trade Unionism: The Case of RMG Sector in Bangladesh," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 67(3), pages 909-933, September.
    13. Fan, Yali & Wang, Ruofei & Alkaraan, Fadi & Wu, Wei, 2025. "Decoding greenwashing practices toward sustainability: The synergistic influence of governance structure and policy-derive rhetorical strategies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    14. Hyeyoun Park & Jiangtao Xie & Tao Chen & Taewoo Roh, 2026. "Giving or Greening? Stakeholder Dynamics and Ex‐Military Executives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 4563-4586, March.
    15. Robayet Ferdous Syed, 2024. "Intertwine preventive (ex-ante) and deterrent (ex-post) mechanisms for compliance with and enforcement of labor laws: a comprehensive approach for Bangladesh," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-13, December.
    16. Sarosh Kuruvilla & Chunyun Li, 2021. "Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining in Global Supply Chains: A Research Agenda," Journal of Supply Chain Management, Institute for Supply Management, vol. 57(2), pages 43-57, April.
    17. Hussain Bux & Zhe Zhang & Adnan Ali, 2026. "Corporate social responsibility adoption for achieving economic, environmental, and social sustainability performance," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 4545-4575, February.
    18. Thi Truong An Hoang & Andreas Knabe, 2021. "Time Use, Unemployment, and Well-Being: An Empirical Analysis Using British Time-Use Data," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 22(6), pages 2525-2548, August.
    19. Fernando, Guy D. & Schneible, Richard A. & Zhang, Wei, 2024. "Institutional ownership and women in the top management team," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    20. Ekene Agigwom Ebisi & Yongsheng Guo & Zahoor Ahmed Soomro, 2025. "Environmental Conservation and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Insights from Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Using Stakeholder and Environmental Justice Theories," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-24, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bcp:journl:v:9:y:2025:i:15:p:334-346. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Pawan Verma (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://rsisinternational.org/journals/ijriss/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.