Garment minimum wage in Bangladesh: grades, structure and increments
Checked 22 October 2026. A plain-language summary, not legal advice. Points marked "check the current gazette" changed recently or are reported differently by different sources.
Bangladesh has about 3,555 export garment factories employing about 3 million workers, according to a 2024 census. Their pay floor is the garment sector minimum wage that took effect on 1 December 2023, and their hours, leave and bonus come from the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 and the Labour Rules 2015 as amended. This is what a payroll has to get right.
The four worker grades
The 2023 award cut the worker grades from seven to four. The totals reported consistently are:
| Grade | Gross | Basic |
|---|---|---|
| Grade 1 | ৳15,035 | ৳8,390 (worked back from the gross) |
| Grade 2 | ৳14,273 | ৳7,882 (worked back from the gross) |
| Grade 3 | ৳13,550 | ৳7,400 |
| Grade 4, entry | ৳12,500 | ৳6,700 |
Outlets number the grades differently, and the basic for grades 1 and 2 above is our arithmetic from the published gross, so check the current gazette.
How the gross splits
- House rent: 50% of basic.
- Medical allowance: ৳750.
- Transport: ৳450.
- Food: ৳1,250.
So basic is the gross less ৳2,450, divided by 1.5. For the entry grade: ৳6,700 + ৳3,350 + ৳750 + ৳450 + ৳1,250 = ৳12,500. Overtime, absence deductions and service benefits are all worked out on basic, so getting the split right matters more than the total.
The yearly increment
The 2023 award gave an increment of 5% of basic a year. A tripartite agreement in December 2024 raised it to 9%, applied from December 2024 and January 2025. Which rate applies after that is disputed, and a new wage board is being formed in October 2026, with wage boards now due every three years. Treat the rate as a dated setting, not a fixed number, and check the current gazette before each December.
Other pay rules
- Overtime at twice the hourly basic, where the hourly basic is the monthly basic divided by 208. The entry grade gives about ৳64.42 an overtime hour.
- Wages are due before the end of the 7th working day after the month ends.
- Two festival bonuses a year for workers with a year of service, each up to one month's basic.
- Attendance bonus is not set by law; it is a factory policy or agreement.
- Provident fund is reported as mandatory from 2026 for factories with 100 or more permanent workers; the contribution rate is not yet clear, so check the current gazette.
How Ovelit Comply applies this
Each designation has a grade, and anyone entered below the grade minimum is flagged at once. Payroll splits every gross into basic, house rent and the fixed allowances, computes overtime and absence on basic, and works out the 7th working day deadline for every run. Increments are proposed on time at the rate you set. Try the numbers in the garment worker wage calculator.