Ministry to hire consultant
THE Ministry for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations is in the process of hiring a consultant who will assist the Employment Relations Advisory Board in determining a national minimum wage.
Employment Minister Agni Deo Singh said this would be one of the ministry’s priorities over the next few months.
“We have actually established the 10 sectorial wages council and we are in the process of appointing a consultant now who we will be working closely with,” said Mr Singh.
“The consultant’s role is to carry out thorough research and then after that, advise the Employment Relations Act Advisory Board on a just minimum wage as well as minimum wages for the 10 sectorial wages council.
“That is the path that we are taking. It is a consultative process, and it is spearheaded by the Employment Relations Act Advisory Board.”
Mr Singh said the re-establishment of the advisory board had allowed such processes to be carried out properly.
“The tripartite forum is the Employment Relations Act Advisory Board has to be in compliance with ILO Convention 144 which Fiji is a signatory to and it clearly stipulates that there has to be equal representation by the three social partners, that is, the workers, the employers and government and that is exactly what we did as soon as we came into Government.
“This is the official body that deals with all employment relations matters in terms of reviewing labour laws and also determining the minimum wages and there are 10 sectorial wages councils which we are now establishing.”