Bangladesh is yet to bring subcontracting garment factories under a regulatory framework. These units violate the requirement for minimum wages and are not members of any recognised association. Out of 3,500 factories, about 800 are subcontracting units. Most of them are small and medium enterprises, doing subcontracting jobs for big factories. They remain outside the purview of the fire, electrical and structural safety assessment of Accord and Alliance. They do not follow the government’s wage structure, and their rates are only four and three per cent those of approved factories.

Maternity leave and allowances are not paid in 26 per cent of these non-member units. The performance of the non-member factories in terms of safety and other compliance issues as well as payment of wage and overtime bills is poor.

To complicate matters many of these units do subcontracting jobs for big factories, which are members of recognised associations like the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) or the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA).

The government is working to bring discipline to these subcontracting industries and finalising a policy. First of all, units that do subcontracting have to be documented. They have to be induced to get themselves registered with apparel apex bodies.