MEMBERS of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Council have been assured by the Minister for Employment and Youth and Sports Parveen Kumar that their concerns and complaints will be looked into by his ministry.
The TCF held its annual general meeting in Suva yesterday where members raised their concerns on the family care leave that came into effect recently.
United Apparel Fiji Ltd managing director Kaushik Kumar said there was a need for a set criteria and evidence provided by employees who applied for family care leave because the industry stakeholders had already come across cases of abuse by employees.
Mr Kumar said there was a lot of room for abuse and urged the ministry to look into the concerns that were raised by employers on the issue.
He said the ministry was too aligned to the employees rather than the employers and urged the ministry to carry out audits of those factories that were not compliant with the rules and regulations and should be taken to task.
Meanwhile for Minister Employment and Youth and Sports Mr Kumar said since he joined the ministry he had been receiving complaints on work conditions, minimum wage rates and other issues.
Mr Kumar said another review of the national minimum wage rate would be carried out this year.
TCF president Mike Towler said their members were paying their staff members well above the minimum wage rate of $2.68.
Mr Towler said all their members were very compliant and ensured that they paid their employees their full entitlements.
Mr Kumar admitted that there was need for greater awareness on the new leave days that came into effect this year and action would be taken on the complaints against those companies that were not compliant.
The AGM was held Paradiso restaurant in Suva.
