Bangladesh Government Publishes Public Service (Amendment) Ordinance 2025
On June 25, 2025, Bangladesh broadened misconduct rules for public employees, triggering protests over perceived efforts to curb collective action.
🗓️ Gazetted: 25 June 2025Key Highlights
- New ordinance widens misconduct to include insubordination, obstructing duties, or inciting others to do so.
- Penalties include demotion, removal, or dismissal from public service roles.
- Formal procedure established: show-cause notice within 7 days, personal hearing before penalty.
- Comes amid Secretariat protests; employees accuse the government of trying to stifle collective action.
- Separately, officials pledge to amend broader labour laws to meet ILO standards by October 2025.
Policy Context and Implications
This amendment substantially increases the scope of conduct that can trigger disciplinary action, providing authorities with broader tools to penalize perceived disruption. While it aims to enforce discipline and accountability within the civil service, critics argue it may also be used to deter strikes or organized protests, raising concerns over freedom of association.
Public employers and HR teams in Bangladesh's civil administration will need to quickly align internal processes with these new rules, ensuring that show-cause notices, hearings, and penalty records comply with the ordinance's formal requirements. Meanwhile, the simultaneous drive to update Bangladesh’s broader labour laws under ILO guidance suggests more extensive employment regulation reforms are on the horizon.