Strategic Note: Technical Workshops for the Institutionalization of the Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) in Bangladesh

Objective

CThis series of three technical workshops and one high-level dialogue aims to build on the good practices of the EIS Pilot and integrate global best practices to establish a sustainable national Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) in Bangladesh. The workshops will serve as a technical and strategic platform to prepare the groundwork for national legislation adopted under the new government and reflect the broadest tripartite consensus possible.

Each workshop will focus on critical elements essential for institutionalizing a fully operational and nationally sustainable EIS, drawing from both Bangladesh’s experiences with the Pilot and international lessons from peer and comparable countries.

Workshop Structure and Timeline

Workshop 1 – Coverage & Benefits

Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Date: 12 May 2025
Duration: 1.5 days
Focus Areas:
  • Defining Coverage: Discussing and clarifying all key issues and boundaries of the scheme, such as covered persons, occupational injuries/accidents, occupational diseases, insured incomes, disability/impairment, and coverage of dependent family members.
  • Benefits Package: Medical care, temporary income replacement, rehabilitation, permanent disability compensation, survivors’ compensation.
  • Level of Compensation & Apportionment: Confirming level of financial compensation and rules of apportionment between the eligible dependents.
  • Offences and Penalties: Defining behaviors likely to jeopardize the scheme’s effectiveness.
  • Compulsory Registration: Ensuring systematic employer and worker registration, leveraging the Labour Management Information System (LIMS).
  • Gradual Extension: Developing a phased plan to expand the scheme beyond the RMG sector, prioritizing high-risk sectors while ensuring financial sustainability.

High-Level Discussion – Governance Insights and Peer Exchange

Location: Geneva, Switzerland
Date: 30 May 2025/16 June 2025
Duration: Half-day
Focus Areas:
  • Engage in strategic dialogue with ILO and ISSA experts on EIS institutional design and oversight.
  • Explore comparative governance models and lessons learned from peer countries.
  • Align international experiences with the context and roadmap for EIS institutionalization in Bangladesh.
  • Reflect on the fitting of EIS institutionalization in the broader roadmap for the implementation of the NSIS
  • Agree on roadmap towards ISSA partnership.

Workshop 2 – Governance & Administration

Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Date: Early July 2025 (after 4 July)
Duration: 1.5 days
Focus Areas:
  • Institutional Governance: Determining the legal and administrative structure for the EIS institution.
  • Board Composition & Leadership: Establishing a transparent tripartite governance model with representation from government, employers, and workers based on the adjusted good practice of the EIS Pilot.
  • Financial governance: Confirming level of financial compensation and rules of apportionment between the eligible dependents.
  • Offences and Penalties: Determining necessary financing and accounting practices based on EIS Pilot.
  • Compulsory Registration: Ensuring systematic employer and worker registration, leveraging the Labour Management Information System (LIMS).
  • Responsible Ministry: Defining ministerial oversight and coordination with key government institutions (e.g., Finance, Labour, Social Welfare).
  • Operational Framework and Architecture (administration): Ensuring efficient claims management (MIS), contributions collection, compliance monitoring, and service delivery.
  • Economies of Scale: Understanding the economic impact of having all benefits fall under a single EIS institution.
  • Review Authority: Exploring good practices through peers’ and experts’ exchanges.
  • International Peer Learning: Understanding administrative models from countries with established employment injury schemes to address gaps not covered by the Pilot.

Workshop 3 – Funding & Financial Sustainability

Location: Dhaka, Bangladesh
Date: Mid-September 2025
Duration: 1.5 days
Focus Areas:
  • Fund Mapping & Institutional Arrangements: Determining the legal and administrative structure for the EIS institution.
  • Investment & Reserve Management: Establishing a transparent tripartite governance model with representation from government, employers, and workers based on the adjusted good practice of the EIS Pilot.
  • Cost of Risks & Contribution Structures: Confirming level of financial compensation and rules of apportionment between the eligible dependents.
  • Mapping of all existing benefits/compensation/allowances paid in case of temporary incapacity, permanent disability and death to avoid duplication of benefits with the national EIS.
  • International Best Practices: Learning from global financing models to strengthen the fiscal sustainability of Bangladesh’s EIS.

Expected Outcomes

  • Broad tripartite consensus on governance, financial mechanisms, and operational models to ensure stakeholder ownership.
  • Policy and legal recommendations to ensure that the EIS is fully integrated into national legislation and aligned with international labour standards.
  • Technical insights from peer countries to fill knowledge gaps on critical components not addressed by the Pilot experience.
  • Actionable strategies for funding, administration, and governance, paving the way for a national law on EIS under the new government.

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