Maternity Leave in Bangladesh: Entitlement and Benefit Calculation
Maternity leave in Bangladesh is now 120 days with pay under the amended Labour Act. See who qualifies, the new divide-by-26 formula and a worked example in Taka.
Maternity leave in Bangladesh for private sector workers is now 120 days with pay: 60 days before delivery and 60 days after. The old figure of 16 weeks, or 112 days, was replaced by the Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Ordinance 2025 in November 2025, and Parliament confirmed the change in the Bangladesh Labour (Amendment) Act 2026, gazetted on 10 April 2026. The way the benefit is calculated changed at the same time, so payroll sheets built on the old three-month average are out of date.
This article is general guidance, not legal advice. The amendments are recent, so check the current gazette text before settling a disputed case.
Who is entitled
The rules are in Chapter IV of the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006, sections 45 to 50. A woman worker qualifies for the paid maternity benefit if:
she has worked for the employer for at least six months immediately before the day of delivery; and
she does not already have two or more surviving children at the time of delivery.
Both conditions were kept in the amended law. A woman who already has two surviving children does not receive the paid benefit, but she may take any other leave she has due, such as earned leave or sick leave, or leave without pay.
Section 45 also puts a duty on the employer. A woman must not be employed during the 60 days after delivery, and she should not be given heavy work late in pregnancy.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
Point | Before | Now |
|---|---|---|
Paid period | 8 weeks before + 8 weeks after (112 days) | 60 days before + 60 days after (120 days) |
No work after delivery | 8 weeks | 60 days |
Daily rate | Act: wages of last 3 months / days actually worked. Rules (2022): previous month's wages / 26 | Last drawn monthly gross wages / 26 |
Payment method | Cash | Cash, bank or electronic transfer |
Service condition | 6 months | 6 months (unchanged) |
Two-children limit | Applies | Applies (unchanged) |
The benefit calculation
Under the amended section 48, the formula is:
Maternity benefit = (last drawn monthly gross wages / 26) x 120
This ends a conflict that ran from 2022. The Act used to say the daily rate was the total wages earned in the three months before the notice, divided by the days actually worked. In September 2022 a new rule 39A in the Labour Rules introduced a simpler method based on the previous month's wages divided by 26. The two methods gave different answers. The amended Act has now adopted the divide-by-26 method itself.
The method is easier to run, but it has critics. A worker in late pregnancy usually does little overtime, so her last month is often her lowest. Under the old three-month average, overtime from earlier months lifted the figure. Some commentators say the total benefit can therefore be lower for certain workers even though the leave is eight days longer.
A worked example
Take a sewing operator with five years of service, one child, and a last drawn monthly gross wage of Tk 15,000.
Daily rate: Tk 15,000 / 26 = Tk 576.92
Total benefit: Tk 576.92 x 120 = Tk 69,231
First instalment for the 60 days before delivery: Tk 34,615
Second instalment for the 60 days after delivery: Tk 34,616
Under the 112-day period, the same daily rate would have given Tk 64,615, so the extra eight days are worth Tk 4,615 to her. Provident fund contributions, where the factory runs a fund, may be deducted under the 2022 Rules. Do not offset the benefit against wages for days she actually worked.
Notice and payment timing
Section 47 sets the procedure. The periods below are those of the amended section.
Notice before delivery: the worker tells the employer, orally or in writing, that she expects to deliver within 60 days, and names a person to receive the money if she dies.
Notice after delivery: if she gave no earlier notice, she informs the employer within seven days of the birth. She can then take the whole 120 days after delivery.
Leave starts: the employer must let her stay away from the day after the notice until 60 days after delivery.
Payment: she chooses how it is paid. The usual choice is the pre-delivery portion within three working days of giving a doctor's certificate of pregnancy, and the balance within three working days of giving proof of delivery. She may instead take the whole amount within three working days of proof of delivery.
For a miscarriage before the notice period, the 2022 amendment to the Rules gives four weeks of paid leave.
Protection from dismissal
Under section 50, if an employer discharges, dismisses or terminates a woman without sufficient cause in the six months before delivery or the 60 days after it, she keeps her right to the full maternity benefit. In practice, auditors treat any separation of a pregnant worker as a red flag. Forced resignation and rehiring afterwards as a new worker are the patterns they look for. Maternity leave does not break her continuous service.
Government employees
Women in government service are under the service rules, not the Labour Act. They receive six months of maternity leave on full pay, generally up to twice in their service life.
Records auditors check
The maternity register and notice forms in the format the Labour Rules prescribe.
The pregnancy certificate and proof of delivery for each case.
A calculation sheet showing the last drawn gross wage, the 26 divisor and 120 days.
Signed receipts or bank and mobile wallet reports for both instalments, with dates that meet the three-working-day limit.
Attendance records showing she did not work in the 60 days after delivery. See our note on working hours records for audits.
Her personal file showing unbroken service and the same card number.
Frequently asked questions
How many days is maternity leave in Bangladesh now? 120 days with pay for workers under the Labour Act, split as 60 days before and 60 days after delivery. Government employees get six months.
Does a worker with five months of service qualify? Only if she will have completed six months with the employer by the day of delivery.
Is maternity benefit paid for a third child? No. A woman with two or more surviving children is not entitled to the paid benefit, but she can use other leave due to her.
Is the benefit calculated on basic or gross? On the last drawn monthly gross wages, divided by 26 and multiplied by 120.
Where Octapus fits
Octa Punch is our biometric attendance and payroll system built for garment factories. It keeps joining dates, attendance and BDT payroll in one place and produces Bangla PDF pay slips, so the figures a maternity calculation needs are already on record when the notice arrives.
If you are still running payroll on spreadsheets, our guide to the garment worker salary sheet shows the columns to keep.
TopicCompliance
