Labasa Chamber of Commerce, President Vinesh Dayal says passing the Employment Relations Bill in its current form is going to be disastrous as it does not consider economic realities of the country and over-regulation will cripple the MSMEs which employs 80 percent of our workforce.
While speaking during public consultation at the Labasa Town Council Chamber, Dayal says criminalising administrative mistakes sends the wrong message to investors and business owners.
He says the Bill risks turning honest employers into criminals for non-malicious oversights and criminal penalties must reserved for deliberate, fraudulent, or dangerous breaches and not for human error.
Dayal also says that compliance should be built through education and warnings, not fear of prosecution.
The Chamber President says investor confidence cannot be built by threatening people with jail over administrative mistakes and Fiji’s economy is too small to survive a system that punishes rather than partners with employers.
Dayal says we must balance labour protection with economic growth otherwise we risk discouraging investment and driving businesses underground.
The Labasa businessman also raised concerns about the Bill giving too much powers to labour officers and stresses you cannot give anyone the power to walk into a business, seize documents and act as judge and jury.
He says without proper oversight, these powers will invite corruption, intimidation and abuse and a labour officer should not have the authority to shut down a business on the spot without understanding the situation.
Dayal adds there must be a clear code of conduct and written notice, not blind authority.
Public consultations on the Employment Relations Bill continues.
