Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Employment Policy Convention, 1964 (No. 122) - Fiji (Ratification: 2010)

Articles 1 to 3 of the Convention. Formulation and implementation of an active employment policy. Participation of the social partners. The Committee notes with interest the launch of Fiji’s first National Employment Policy (NEP) on 31 August 2018, in collaboration with the ILO Office for Pacific Island Countries. The NEP was developed through an extensive consultation process with the social partners, spearheaded by the NEP Technical Committee, which is composed of representatives of the social partners, different national institutions (such as those responsible for education and training as well as youth) and civil society. The NEP establishes a set of priority areas for intervention in 2018-2022. These priorities include: creating more opportunities for young people (aged 15 to 24) to follow a clear pathway from education to productive employment; promoting private investment to create jobs; creating decent work and quality jobs in the context of climate change; and promoting access to overseas employment opportunities. The NEP sets out as targeted groups for employment promotion: young people, persons with disabilities and older persons (aged 60 and over). The NEP is flexible in that it may be reviewed periodically and also as when the need arises to respond to changing labour market needs. In this regard, the Government indicates that, with ILO technical assistance, a first consultation was held with stakeholders on 7 July 2021 to review the NEP to ensure that it is responsive and relevant to the changing world of work and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labour market. The Committee further notes the information provided by the Government concerning the implementation of labour mobility programmes and schemes. In this respect, the Government indicates that, in April 2019, Fiji joined the Australian Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS). The Government reports that, between 2019 and 2021, 861 Fijians (740 men and 121 women) were employed under the PLS in the meat, tourism and hospitality, and aged care industries in rural areas of Australia. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the nature and scope of the specific measures taken under the National Employment Policy (NEP) and their impact on access to full, productive, and freely chosen employment. Moreover, it requests the Government to provide information on developments in relation to the revision of the NEP, and to provide a copy of the new NEP once it is adopted. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide detailed updated statistical information, disaggregated by sex and age, on the impact of the labour mobility programmes and schemes in place. The Committee further requests the Government to continue to provide concrete examples of the manner in which account is taken of the opinions and experiences of the social partners in the development, implementation and review of employment policy measures and programmes and their coordination with other economic and social policies.

Article 2. Employment trends. Labour market information. The Committee notes that, according to the 2015-2016 Employment and Unemployment Survey of the Fiji Bureau of Statistics (FBOS), the unemployment rate decreased from 7.1 per cent in 2010-2011 to 5.5 per cent in 2015-2016, the latter figure representing the lowest unemployment rate in the last 15 years. The Committee observes, however, that, in 2016, the overall labour force participation rate was low at only 57.6 per cent (77 per cent for men and 38.5 per cent for women). With respect to its efforts to improve the labour market system, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has encountered important challenges in this area, particularly following the country’s economic downturn after the collapse of the tourism industry due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government indicates that a draft Labour Market Information System Policy is being developed, which establishes the framework within which the Government will work towards the establishment of the labour market information system. Lastly, the Government reports that a nationwide survey on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on employment was undertaken in collaboration with the social partners and the ILO. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated information on the situation, level and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment, disaggregated by age and sex. It also requests the Government to continue to provide detailed updated information on the measures taken to strengthen and improve its labour market information system, including information on progress achieved in relation to the development and adoption of the Labour Market Information System Policy, including a copy of the Policy once it is adopted.

Education and training. The Committee notes that, according to the 2017 ILO report “A study on the future of work in the Pacific”, emigration from Fiji has aggravated skills shortages.The Government indicates that, since 2013, the main responsibilities of the Technology Employment Skills Training (TEST) (formerly the Technical and Vocational Education and Training) section of the Ministry of Education, Heritage and Arts include: ensuring that the skills training provided meets the needs of the local and global labour market; promoting skills development, with a focus on entrepreneurship education; and improving the image of TVET in Fiji, as key to addressing youth unemployment and assisting young persons in securing productive employment. The Committee refers to its comments on the application of the Human Resources Development Convention, 1975 (No. 142), in which it notes the efforts undertaken by the Government to ensure that TVET addresses Fiji’s labour market needs, including the adoption of measures with a view to establishing the Skills Council Fiji (SCF), an independent national agency tasked with coordinating TVET, as well as the commencement of the process of developing the first national TVET policy. The Government indicates that, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Employment Centre (NEC), in partnership with the National Training and Productivity Centre (NTPC), provided short training courses to affected workers and unemployed persons to enable them to up-skill or re-skill and acquire new job skillsets to support them in securing employment or starting their own businesses. The Government reports that 110 unemployed persons in the most affected areas (the Western and Central Divisions) participated in the trainings, the majority of whom were women. The Government indicates that the content of the courses included beauty therapy, cake baking, basic meat-processing work, and tile laying. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the measures taken or envisaged to coordinate education and training with prospective employment opportunities, including the training undertaken by the Technology Employment Skills Training (TEST) section. It also requests the Government to provide statistics, disaggregated by sex and age, on the participation of men and women in education at all stages and in the various vocational training courses offered, as well as on the number of men and women who have secured lasting employment after completing such training.

Informal economy. The Committee notes from the 2017 ILO report that in 2016 some 60 per cent of the workforce were engaged in informal or subsistence activities (78 per cent in rural areas and 37 per cent in urban areas). The Government indicates that women are more likely to be in this form of activity. The NEP outlines strategies to facilitate the formalization of informal jobs, including measuring the extent of informal employment based on two types of self-employment (self-employment for survival and self-employment for growth), identifying new opportunities for self-employment, providing appropriate training and harnessing traditional skills, ensuring better access to credit facilities and to social security mechanisms, and regularly monitoring microenterprises. The Committee observes, however, that the Government does not provide information on the nature or outcome of measures taken to promote the development of micro- and small businesses, such as the Micro and Small Business Grant Scheme, or the mentoring and training provided by the National Centre for Small Business Enterprise. The Committee requests the Government to provide additional concrete information, including updated statistical information, on the impact of the measures taken under the NEP to integrate informal economy workers into the formal labour market, particularly women.In this respect, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to the comprehensive guidance provided in the Transition from the Informal to the Formal Economy Recommendation, 2015 (No. 204). The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the nature, scope and outcome of the measures taken to promote the sustainable development of micro- and small businesses.

Young persons. The Committee notes that, in 2016, the overall youth unemployment rate stood at 15.4 per cent (22.4 per cent for women and 11.9 per cent for men), while the share of youth not in employment, education or training (NEET) stood at 20.1 per cent (29.6 per cent for women and 10.8 per cent for men). The NEP calls for the adoption of measures to promote the creation of more opportunities for young people aged 15 to 24 years to enable them to follow clear pathways from education to productive employment. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the nature and the impact of the measures taken in the framework of the NEP to promote full, productive, freely chosen and lasting employment for young workers, particularly young women, including statistical information disaggregated by sex and age.

Women. The Government indicates that the NEP calls for the promotion of greater gender equality in employment and working conditions. In this context, the Committee refers to its 2020 direct request on the implementation of the Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No. 111), in which it noted the higher unemployment rates among women, the steady decrease in the number of women in paid employment (mainly linked to the increased number of women in informal jobs), the low number of businesses registered to women, and the significant gender differentials in labour force participation rates. The Committee further notes that, in its concluding observations of 18 March 2018, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) noted the growing participation of women in the labour force. However, the CEDAW committee also expressed concern that: (a) the gender pay gap is the widest in the region; (b) women are frequently subject to occupational segregation with concomitant wage differentials, are concentrated in lower-paid jobs, the informal economy or unpaid work and, even within the same industry, the wage differential persists; (c) women comprise 90 per cent of workers in the garment industry and receive salaries below the national minimum wage, and the working conditions of women market vendors are extremely difficult; (d) girls’ progress in education is not translating into labour market opportunities because the private sector largely favours employing men; (e) women are not benefiting from promotion opportunities on equal terms with men; (f) certain industries are exempt from providing paid maternity leave, there are reports of women being dismissed in the private sector because of pregnancy and there is no paternity leave in the country (document CEDAW/C/FJI/CO/5, paragraph 39). The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the nature and the impact of the measures taken to: (i) address obstacles to women’s employment, in particular patriarchal attitudes and gender stereotypes and women’s lack of access to productive resources, and (ii) enhance women’s economic empowerment, promoting promote their access to equal opportunities in formal employment and decision-making positions across all economic sectors.

Persons with disabilities. The Committee refers to its comments concerning the application of the Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons) Convention, 1983 (No. 159), in which it notes that the NEP includes among its key priority areas the adoption of measures to promote the access of persons with disabilities to employment. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed updated information on the nature, scope and impact of measures taken to promote equal access to the open labour market for persons with disabilities.

Rural workers. The Committee notes that, according to the 2017 ILO report, in some of the outer islands of Fiji, the percentage of the population living below the national poverty line is significantly higher than the national average. The Government indicates that the NEP includes among its key intervention areas promoting the creation of more income generating opportunities for those reliant on subsistence activities for their livelihood. Furthermore, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government regarding the impact of the New Zealand Recognized Seasonal Employer (RSE) and the Australian Seasonal Work Program (SWP), which focus their recruitment activities on rural workers in remote and isolated areas of Fiji. The Government reports that, between 2015 and 2021, 1,266 persons participated in the RSE and 1,836 persons in the SWP. The Government indicates that while the number of participants steadily increased since the beginning of its implementation in 2015, this number decreased between 2020 and 2021 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of international borders. The Committee notes that the Government does not provide information in relation to the impact on indigenous workers of the employment measures targeting rural workers. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated detailed information, including statistical data disaggregated by age and sex, on the impact of employment measures targeting rural workers, particularly on indigenous workers.

Employment services. The Government indicates that, in accordance with the National Employment Centre Act 2009, the Formal Employment Service (FES) was established with the objective of promoting registered unemployed human resource development and transition into domestic formal employment. The Government reports that FES placed 2,955 unemployed persons (58 per cent of whom were women) into permanent employment between 2017 and 2021. The Government also refers to the implementation of on-the-job training programme (workplace attachments), in which 2,752 persons (52 per cent of whom were women) participated between 2017 and 2021. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated detailed information disaggregated by age and sex, on the nature and the impact of the activities of the employment services, including the number of beneficiaries of these services placed in lasting employment following the completion of their training.