THE proposed Employment Relations (Amendment) Bill and the draft Work Care Bill will be presented at the next Parliament sitting.
Ministry for Employment permanent secretary Maretino Nemani said the two proposed legislations were currently undergoing a final review by a Parliamentary Standing Committee following a comprehensive nationwide consultation.
“We have had a lot of consultation because this reform has an impact on employees,” he said.
“We have had a good round of two and a half years of going back and forth with employees, union reps and others, carrying out consultations.
“I think overall we have had almost 50 consultations, probably the widest consultation of any Bill.
So right now, after two and a half years of these technical meetings, it will be presented in Parliament next week.”
He said the draft legislations offered a sweeping review of Fiji’s employment laws.
“In that review we will look at how we can better improve our systems based on the law.
“Also, because for one reason, the working dynamics is changing.
“There are new issues coming up, things that we haven’t thought of.”
He said the current legislation was obstructed on the surface.
“There are emerging issues, things that we need to do better so that we are protecting the right of our people.
“I think people are going to notice that we are more proactive than ever before.
“This means that we are reviewing our legislations, our regulations and policies to make sure that we are on par with what’s happening around us.”
Parliament will hold its next sitting from November 2 to November 6.
