Festival Bonus Rules in Bangladesh Labour Law: Who Gets It and How Much
Rule 111(5) of the Labour Rules 2015 gives workers with one year of service two festival bonuses a year, each capped at basic wage. Here is how to apply it.
The festival bonus rules in Bangladesh are short. Under rule 111(5) of the Bangladesh Labour Rules 2015, every worker who has completed one year of continuous service must be paid two festival bonuses a year, and each bonus cannot be more than one month's basic wage. The rule sets a ceiling, not a floor, and it says nothing about workers with less than a year.
The legal basis
The Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 itself does not fix a festival bonus. The entitlement sits in the Bangladesh Labour Rules 2015, in sub-rule (5) of rule 111. The Rules were heavily amended in September 2022, and the Act was amended again by the Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 and the Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Act 2026. We found no change to the festival bonus formula in the 2025 and 2026 amendments. What they did change is the number of paid festival holidays, which went up from 11 to 13 days a year. Holidays and bonus are separate entitlements.
The rule covers "workers" as the Act defines them. That definition was rewritten in the 2026 amendment, so check which of your staff now fall inside it. Staff outside it get what their appointment letter or company policy promises.
This article is general guidance, not legal advice. For a disputed case, read the current gazette or ask a labour lawyer.
Who gets it and how much
Eligibility: one year of continuous service in the establishment.
Number: two festival bonuses in a year.
Cap: each bonus is not more than the monthly basic wage. Basic, not gross.
Minimum: the rule does not state one. In garment factories the settled practice is one full month's basic for each bonus.
Because the rule only sets a ceiling, some employers in other sectors have paid token amounts and argued that they complied. That reading does not survive a social compliance audit in an export factory. Treat one month's basic wage per bonus as the working rule.
Workers with less than one year
A worker who has not completed a year has no legal claim to a festival bonus under rule 111(5). Paying one is a matter of practice and policy. Common factory policies are:
pro-rata by completed months: basic wage x months served / 12;
a slab, such as half of basic after six months and nothing or a small fixed sum below that;
nothing at all below one year.
All three are lawful as far as the Rules go. What matters is that the policy is written down and applied the same way to everyone. If your appointment letters, service rules or an agreement with the participation committee promise a pro-rata bonus, that promise becomes binding on you.
When it must be paid
The bonus is meant to reach workers before the festival. For Muslim workers that means before Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha. Each year the government, after meeting owners and worker leaders, announces a deadline for the garment sector. In 2026, for example, factories were told to pay the Eid-ul-Adha bonus by 21 May.
Workers of other religions are entitled to the same two bonuses. Good practice is to pay them before their own main festivals, such as Durga Puja, Christmas or Buddha Purnima, and to record which festivals each worker has chosen. Many factories simply pay everyone on the Eid dates. If you do, ask non-Muslim workers what they prefer and note the answer.
Does the bonus count as wages?
The festival bonus is paid on top of normal wages. In practice this means:
It is not part of basic wage, so it does not raise the overtime rate, earned leave payment or service benefits that are calculated on basic.
It cannot be set off against wages. Paying the bonus does not excuse late payment of the month's salary.
For the wage payment chapter of the Act, bonus payable under the terms of employment is treated as wages, so an unpaid bonus can be claimed in the Labour Court like unpaid wages.
Show the bonus on a separate bonus sheet or as a clearly labelled line, never buried inside gross. See our note on the garment worker salary sheet for how the columns should sit.
A worked example
Take three sewing operators on the same grade with a basic wage of Tk 8,000 and a gross wage of Tk 15,000. The factory's written policy pays pro-rata by completed months to workers under one year.
Worker | Service on bonus date | Calculation | Bonus |
|---|---|---|---|
Rahima | 3 years | Full basic | Tk 8,000 |
Shilpi | 1 year 1 month | Full basic | Tk 8,000 |
Jannat | 7 months | 8,000 x 7 / 12 (policy, not law) | Tk 4,667 |
Rahima and Shilpi are covered by the rule and receive Tk 16,000 each across the two bonuses in the year. Jannat is paid only because the factory's policy says so. The bonus is worked on Tk 8,000, not the Tk 15,000 gross.
Common payroll mistakes
Using the wrong cut-off date. Decide whether service is counted to the festival date or the payment date, write it in the policy, and keep to it.
Breaking continuous service wrongly. Authorised leave, maternity leave, lay-off and holidays do not break service. Rehiring a worker under a new card number to reset the clock is a known audit finding.
Calculating on the old basic. Use the basic wage in force on the bonus date.
Cutting the bonus for absence. The rule ties the bonus to service, not to attendance in the month. Deducting for absent days needs a clear written policy and is risky for workers past one year.
Forgetting maternity cases. A worker on maternity leave on the bonus date is still in service.
No proof of payment. Keep a signed bonus sheet or the bank or mobile wallet disbursement report beside the month's wage sheet. Auditors ask for both, along with working hours records.
Frequently asked questions
Is the festival bonus mandatory in Bangladesh? Yes, for workers with one year of continuous service. Rule 111(5) of the Labour Rules 2015 requires two festival bonuses a year.
Is the bonus calculated on basic or gross salary? On basic wage. Each bonus cannot exceed one month's basic.
Do workers who joined six months ago get an Eid bonus? Not by law. Many garment factories pay a pro-rata or reduced amount as a matter of policy, and once that policy is written or promised it should be honoured.
Can a factory pay the bonus after Eid? It defeats the purpose and usually breaches the deadline the government announces each season. A late bonus remains payable as arrears.
Where Octapus fits
Octa Punch is our biometric attendance and payroll system built for garment factories. It runs BDT payroll on the rules Bangladeshi factories work under, with joining dates and basic wage held on each worker's record, and it produces Bangla PDF pay slips. That is the data a bonus sheet depends on.
If you are comparing systems before the next Eid, our guide to HR and payroll software in Bangladesh sets out what to ask each vendor.
TopicPayroll
