Parental leave
IN the previous articles we have explored the many ways in which a contract could be determined and how International Labour Standards influenced the minimum labour standards.
In this article we shall look at one of those standards.
Under Fijian law parental leave is considered part of an employees' minimum labour standard and is mandatory.
This right became applicable to Fiji upon the ratification of the ILO Convention on maternity leave in the last century and its subsequent recommendations evolving to what we now know as parental leave.
Every female employee who has worked for at least 150 days is entitled to full maternity leave (i.e. 98 consecutive days) for the first three confinements and thereafter half pay for all other further confinements.
It is however a requirement that a medical certificate must be produced before proceeding on leave and upon recommencement of work.
It is prohibited to terminate an employee on the basis of her condition and if a worker is terminated for whatever other reason during this period: the onus of proof rests squarely on the employer that the dismissal had nothing to do with her state of pregnancy.
It is also prohibited to disadvantage a returning employee in any unreasonable way.
In cases where the employee is employed by more than one employer the permanent secretary for Ministry of Labour will determine who pays how much.
An employee will not be entitled to any further remuneration after the 98 days, and if as a result of illness arising from the birth the worker is not able to come to work: the employer may dismiss the said worker by way of notice after three months of continual absence, even if the period of absence is covered by a medical certificate or certificates.
The conditions or minimum labour standards mentioned above are absolute and can only be varied by an act of parliament.
Any male employee who is an expectant father is entitled to paternity leave of up to five working days so long as the said employee has worked for at least three continuous months in his current employment and he is or is to be the primary caregiver for his child.
This entitlement is for the first three confinements and thereafter half of the full entitlement (i.e. 2.5 days)
The leave is only eligible for the period within the three months preceding the birth and/or the three months after the birth.
Nothing prevents the worker from taking the entitlement in a staggered fashion or in a lump sum period so long as the parties are in agreement.
In most ILO member states the employer is responsible for the worker and the responsibility of the child remains with the state.
This is one of the reasons the cost of doing business in Fiji is higher than the rest of the world.
In terms of the reality on the ground the fact remains that approximately 140,000 of Fiji's population are captured in the formal workforce in 2020 from the total (approximately) 500,000 of the Fijian population who are economically active.
Take these figures and compare them against the 262,686 women who live in Fiji between the ages of 15 – 64 years old, bearing in mind approximately not more than 40 per cent of the formal workforce are women.
Fiji's total population in 2020 was 896,445 and the figures shared above are either approximates (as indicated) and/ or the 2020 data from the Fiji Bureau of Statistics online website.
As far as our obligations under the ratified ILO Convention and/or the subsequent International Labour Standards those workers who fall under the formal workforce are the only recipients to the parental allowances.
A large chunk of our parents and/or potential parents who fall under the informal economy remain vulnerable.
In terms of the cost of doing business employers remain even more so vulnerable.
■ Noel Tofinga is FCEF’s Industrial relations consultant and the views expressed in this article are his own and not necessarily that of this newspaper.