Terminated HSBC staff demand 120 months' salary, allege labour law violations

Terminated employees of HSBC Bangladesh today (4 July) demanded compensation equivalent to 120 months' salary and alleged that the bank violated labour laws and deprived them of legal benefits while shutting down its retail banking operations.

The allegations were made at a press conference organised by affected employees at the Economic Reporters' Forum (ERF) auditorium in Dhaka.

Reading out a written statement, former HSBC employee Alamgir Kabir said 257 officials lost their jobs when the bank closed its retail banking division on 31 March 2026.

He said many of the affected employees had served the bank for between 15 and 25 years.

The employees claimed HSBC paid compensation equivalent to a maximum of 15 months' salary, which they described as discriminatory compared with compensation packages offered by the bank in other countries.

They alleged that HSBC provided compensation equivalent to 120 months' salary during a similar restructuring process in India and 84 months' salary in Sri Lanka.

The employees further alleged that the bank failed to follow labour laws during the redundancy process and provided different information to Bangladesh Bank and to employees, depriving staff of their legal rights and statutory benefits.

According to the written statement, documents submitted to Bangladesh Bank referred to the affected staff as "retrenched" employees, while letters issued to employees cited Section 26 of the Labour Act relating to termination.

They claimed this distinction was used to deny them retrenchment-related compensation and other legal benefits.

The employees also criticised HSBC Bangladesh Chief Executive Officer Mahbubur Rahman, alleging that the decision was implemented without discussions with affected staff and without proper consideration of Bangladesh Bank's directives.

They further claimed that although Bangladesh Bank instructed the bank to ensure the maximum possible benefits for affected employees following their petition, HSBC later argued before the court that the regulator's directive was not legally binding.

The employees alleged that HSBC violated nine legal obligations, including failing to notify the Department of Labour, not following the last-in-first-out (LIFO) principle, denying retrenched employees priority in future recruitment, unlawfully deducting money from provident fund and gratuity payments, violating labour laws in loan adjustments, increasing home loan interest rates, withholding release letters, compelling employees to sign documents waiving legal rights, and disregarding conditions imposed by Bangladesh Bank.

They demanded cancellation of the entire dismissal process, action against those responsible, payment of fair severance packages and Workers' Profit Participation Fund (WPPF) benefits, and the return of all deducted amounts from provident funds and other entitlements with applicable interest and penalties.

The affected employees also called on Bangladesh Bank, the Ministry of Labour and the Department of Labour to take necessary action in accordance with the law.

Notably, HSBC announced their decision to wind down its retail banking business in Bangladesh in a phased manner last year. As part of the exit plan, the bank stopped onboarding new retail customers and transitioned existing clients. Following that, employees were terminated earlier this year.