The Coalition of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is urging the government to ensure transparency by publicly disclosing the proposed amendments to the Employment Relations Act.
The MSME Coalition stated, “At a minimum, the Government should lift the Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) imposed by the Ministry of Employment, Productivity & Industrial Relations on employer members of the Employment Relations Advisory Board (ERAB). This would allow our representatives to freely engage with all MSMEs and discuss the proposed changes.”
Concerns have been raised by the coalition regarding substantial fines and prison sentences included in the proposed amendments, as highlighted recently by the Fiji Commerce & Employers Federation (FCEF) and the Fiji Hotels & Tourism Association (FHTA). The coalition is also worried about the possibility of bypassing cost-saving mediation services that are popular among businesses.
The MSME Coalition acknowledged the efforts of the Trade, Cooperatives, MSME, and Communications Ministry for making considerable progress in enhancing the MSME ecosystem in Fiji. They referred to the recently launched National Development Plan (NDP) by the Ministry of Finance, which aims to increase the contribution of MSMEs to the GDP to 20% by 2027.
However, they expressed that the proposed penalties of up to $500,000 and potential prison sentences of up to 20 years could hinder the progress made for MSMEs by the two ministries headed by Hon. Kamikamica and Hon. Prasad. The coalition believes that these amendments to the Employment Relations Act contradict the progress of the Coalition Government for MSMEs and the private sector as a whole.