Kiribati prepares for implementation of new labour laws

“The new act repeals and replaces the Employment Ordinance (1977), Industrial Relations Act (1988) and the Trade Union Act, aligns to ILO conventions and modernises employment practices to respond to changing labour market in Kiribati”, said Ms Taare Uriam, Permanent Secretary for Labour & Human Resource Development.

News | 31 October 2016
Awareness Session organised by the Kiribati Government

About 50 people representing employers, workers and government, including state owned enterprises attended an awareness session organised by the Kiribati Government. The Occupational Safety & Health Act 2015 and the Employment & Industrial Relations Code Act 2015 was endorsed by parliament late 2015 and will come into effect soon. The new act repeals and replaces the Employment Ordinance (1977), Industrial Relations Act (1988) and the Trade Union Act, aligns to ILO conventions and modernises employment practices to respond to changing labour market in Kiribati”, said Ms Taare Uriam, the Permanent Secretary for Labour & Human Resource Development. Some of the main features of the laws include the establishment of a labour inspectorate, Registrar of Industrial Relations and the Commissioner of Labour & Human Resource Development. In addition, the laws enhances tripartism and social dialogue as it legally establishes the Decent Work Advisory Board (DWAB), that advices the Minister of Labour.

The employers and workers welcomed the new laws and expressed their appreciation for the awareness and time to prepare for the effective date of the new laws. “Part 6 of the EIRC Act 2015 promotes collective bargaining, and the workers are very happy with this provision compared to the previous law. We now see a better future in terms of better working conditions for workers in Kiribati”, said Mr Tanua Pine, the acting General Secretary of the Kiribati Trade Union Congress (KTUC).

The employers raised the issue of the capacity of the labour inspectors and officers to effectively implement the laws including making fair recommendation to the Attorney General’s Office for prosecution, particularly on very technical work place settings, machines and substances. The government responded that specialist advice and testing will be sort in situations beyond the capacity of the Ministry.

Presentations were also made by private and state owned enterprises on their current OSH policies and practices to demonstrate to other representatives what was already in place at enterprise level. There was also a practical session on developing OSH polices, for those enterprises that did not have one.

Participants at the awareness session

In summarising both laws, the government highlighted the roles and responsibilities of the employers, employees and government.

The Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the ILO Pacific Office, Mr Satoshi Sasaki said that these new laws were a result of ILO technical assistance since 2010 and we will start working on the regulations early next year. “Next month 4 labour inspectors from Kiribati will be undergoing a one week foundation skills training supported by the ILO in collaboration with the New Zealand Government (SafeWork NZ). This will capacitate the labour inspectors to implement these new laws”, said Mr Sasaki. 

With the support of the ILO, the Government plans to organise more awareness sessions targeting Christmas Island and outer islands in 2017.