The Minister for Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment, Mr Filipe Bole highlighted that Parts 2 and 9 of the new Employment Relations Promulgations 2007 prohibit all forms of discrimination in the workplace.
Mr Bole said the objects of these parts were to state entitlements to fair labour practices and provide equal opportunities in employment for all workers in accordance with the 1998 International Labour Organisation Declaration on the Fundamentals Principles and Rights at Work that Fiji ratified.
Under these parts, no employer or person shall discriminate against any worker or prospective worker on the grounds of ethnicity, colour, gender, religion, political opinion, national extraction, sexual orientation, age, social origin, marital status, pregnancy, family responsibilities, state of health including real or perceived HIV status, trade union membership or activity, or disability in respect of recruitment, training, promotion, terms and conditions of employment, termination of employment or other matters arising out of the employment relationship.
Mr Bole asserts that one of the biggest challenges his ministry faces is the promotion of non-discriminatory labour practices in workplaces throughout Fiji. Especially, the urgent need for corporate cultures both in the private and public entities to adopt and practice Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) values and behaviours. This is also in line with the outcomes of the Peoples Charter for Change, Peace and Progress and Government’s firm commitment to introduce equal citizenry and non-race based electoral and political systems.
The ministry noted that some workplaces were still practising segregation work cultures between races and gender which were unlawful. Mr Bole observed that these two forms of discriminations were still prevalent in conservative working environments and these organisations were required by new Labour Laws to reform and adopt values and behaviours that were non-discriminatory, promotes social justice at the workplace and good faith employment relationships. On this note, the Labour Ministry welcomes the efforts by the Ministry of Education in mainstreaming these values in the naming of schools throughout Fiji.
The minister appeals to all employers, corporate boards, chief executives, human resource managers and practitioners to review all their corporate values, human resource policies and practices to ensure that they comply with non-discriminatory and EEO provisions of the Employment Relations Promulgations 2007. However, the minister wishes to congratulate all those employers who have undertaken due diligence in this very important area.
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