TOO often, people end up in courts and tribunals because they haven’t been able to work their way through workplace issues, says a resident magistrate.
Suva-based resident magistrate Andrew See shared this at a two-day practical training workshop on conducting and reporting workplace investigations in Suva yesterday.
Mr See, who is the workshop facilitator, said if employees were satisfied that workplace investigations had been conducted in an objective and bias-free manner, they would be less likely to feel aggrieved by the outcomes.
“By objectively looking at the issues, we might be able to then negotiate our way out the other end so that instead of getting into a situation where people might be terminated at work and feeling that they are aggrieved by the decision, they could arrive at a decision where they’ve been terminated at work but they understand the rationale for it.
“They have been part of the process along the way and they accept it because they see this being quite an objective, legitimate exercise that has taken place.”
The aim of the workshop, organised by the Fiji Human Resources Institute (FHRI), was to provide individuals in organisations with the skills to undertake workplace investigations with integrity and fairness from beginning to end, Mr See said.
Some of the topics covered in the workshop include communication with key stakeholders, rights of the parties, current workplace issues, natural justice, the formal and informal interview process, and finalising a report and making recommendations.
FHRI executive committee member Viliame Waqalaivi said they had identified this training to respond to the needs of their members.
He said the workshop had attracted 25 participants from both the private and public sectors, including human resource practitioners and professionals in related fields.
The same workshop will be conducted in Nadi later this week.
