Marico is delaying to pay Ex-employee's due arrears of Tk 18.23b

The Ex-Mariconian Association, an organization of former employees of Marico Bangladesh Limited, has demanded payment of Tk 1,823 crore owed to the company. The leaders of the organization held a press conference at a conference hall in the capital on Friday afternoon.

At the press conference, Mahfuzur Rahman, General Secretary of the Ex-Mariconian Association, alleged that Marico Bangladesh Limited is delaying payment of dues to former employees, violating Bangladesh's labor laws.

It was informed at the press conference that in the last 17 years, 113 former employees of the company have filed wage cases against Marico Bangladesh Limited in Dhaka Labor Court No. 1 and No. 3, claiming Tk 1,823 crore due to former employees. Out of these, 19 plaintiffs filed case No. 691/2014 in Dhaka Labor Court-3 in 2014 on behalf of former employees who worked in the company from 2006 to 2013. Later, on August 12, 2025, 94 more former workers filed a second case, which was registered as B.L.A. No. 865/2025 in Dhaka Labor Court-1.

Although the establishment of a worker participation fund and a worker welfare fund is mandatory under Section 234 of the Bangladesh Labor Act, Marico Bangladesh Limited did not establish the fund from 2006 to 2013, violating the law. They started establishing the fund in 2014. However, they deprived 113 former employees of this benefit.

Former employees are claiming that according to the published audit report, Marico Limited (India), which owns 90% of the shares of Marico Bangladesh Limited, remitted a huge amount of profits to India during this period.

In the fiscal year 2024-25 alone, about 1077 crore rupees have been remitted to India through the declaration of 3840% dividend, which is about 34% of the total remittable amount in 17 years. Again, in the first quarter of the fiscal year 2025-26, a 600% dividend has been declared, which is remittable to India.

In this situation, there is a strong demand that Marico Bangladesh Limited not remit profits to India until the workers' demands are met or the wages due are paid. The leaders of the Ex-Mariconian Association have urged the media to be vocal in this regard.

Former employees say that when they are deprived of their fair share even after working for an organization for a long time, there is no other option but to resort to the state's laws and judicial system.

They further said, "We have full faith in the judicial system of Bangladesh and expect justice from the relevant courts under existing law to recover our just dues."

After being deprived of their due benefits for almost 17 years, the workers have submitted a certificate of claim worth Tk 1,823 crore to the court under Sections 234 and 240(3) of the Labor Act, 2006, based on the annual audit reports published by the company from two renowned chartered accountants firms in the country to prove the validity of their claim.