Teams from the Office of the Chief Inspector of Factories are visiting many readymade garment units to seek information about the wage board implementation status.

"The Office of the Chief Inspector of Factories is struggling to make a list of errant factories in a short time due to manpower dearth," a high official said.

Labour and employment ministry recently however asked Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) to provide the ministry with a list of factories, which have not implemented the minimum wage.

The ministry is also asking the BGMEA to help implement the minimum wage and ensure other facilities such as payment of overtime bill, allowing maternity leave, and issuing appointment letters as per the 10-point tripartite agreement signed between the government, owners and workers.

Labour Adviser Anwarul Iqbal on Wednesday told journalists his ministry will convene a meeting of garment owners to know their position in this regard.

At the meeting on 'national tripartite meeting on social compliance in the RMG sector,' organised by the International Labour Organisation in Dhaka recently the adviser said various monitoring teams found more than 50 percent of the garment factories are not socially compliant.

The caretaker government on May 13 warned the garment factory owners of dire consequences such as filing cases and shutting down factories after the June 30 deadline.

The 10-point tripartite agreement was signed on June 4, 2006 following a violent labour unrest in the garment sector in May last year.

A tripartite wage commission was formed to recommend a new minimum pay scale for the apparel workers following the agreement. The minimum wage for the workers remained unchanged at Tk 930 a month for 12 years.

The wage commission on October 5 recommended a new pay structure for garment workers, raising the minimum wage to Tk 1,662.50.

The government approved the proposed pay structure through a gazette notification on October 22.

Intelligence reports in May this year told the government the garment factories could face new wave of labour unrest because of the non-compliance with the tripartite agreement.