Thimphu District Court asked the Bank of Bhutan (BoB) to reinstate one of its employees and to pay a compensation of more than Nu 22,000. The judgment passed on April 11 said the employee was relieved of her duties without any notification.
Kesang Wangmo was working as an officiating head in Shared Service Division with the BoB. She took a maternity leave of three months and an extraordinary leave of six months in July 2017 after signing an undertaking letter with the bank.
She joined the office in February last year. But after one month, she was relieved of her duties and her gratuity and other allowances were deposited in her account. The judgment has asked the bank to take back the amount from her account.
According to the judgment, the bank’s service rule was not in line with the Labour and Employment Act of Bhutan 2007. Therefore, the court did not accept the undertaking letter.
The legal officer of the bank submitted to the court that the decision was made as per the undertaking letter. And the bank had to recruit someone to fill the post as per their urgent requirement.
The legal officer also said there was no responsibility relevant to her qualification in human resources section that she was placed after her leave.
The labour ministry had also directed the bank to reinstate her. But since she was not reinstated she appealed to the district court.
Meanwhile, the bank, dissatisfied with the judgment, has now appealed to the high court recently.
