28/06/2022
THE PAPUA NEW GUINEA EMPLOYMENT LAW AND GOVERNANCE
The Papua New Guinea Employment Law and Governance is one of the contributed edition of the 22 pieces of the Labour Act. The edition is supported by the following;
a) Port Moresby Common Law,
b) Workers Compensation Act 1978,
c) Industrial Safety Port Moresby General Employment Award No.
16 of 1973,
d) The Port Moresby General Employment (Amending) Award No.
13 of 1975,
e) Health and Welfare Regulation 1965,
f) Recommended Pay Bands,
g) Work Classifications and Minimum starting Salary Guidelines
by Occupational Grouping as of 13/07/2016, and
h) Industrial Organizations Act, 1962
The edition is based on all areas that concerns employee and employer in any employment. The area of discussion is centered around 17 parts and is specifically deliberated in content for the readers’ clarity.
Purpose and Approach
Information on labour rights has been lacking in many economies. Such information gaps may seem convenient for countries with no interest in raising awareness about legislation with the ultimate aim of improving it. The actual victim has been the worker who never gets to know about his/her rights. Employers presumably also have no interest in raising a worker’s awareness on labour rights. They fear that increased compliance leads to increased cost of doing business. Business organization have kept silent so to maintain workforce while benefiting so much at the pretext of the employees. Benefit sharing profits have not been declared and continue to maintain a class of low paid wages or salary with other forms of benefit being limited. Any employee who intends to take sides are fired immediately, or suspended without pay creating fear among employees. This then results in a so called ‘one-sided benefit fits all’ approach.
Business organizations also failed to understand that improved working conditions lead to higher productivity, which helps to recover the additional cost incurred in implementing worker benefits. Taking into account the low level of collective representation of workers especially and budget-strapped and understaffed labour inspection systems, the Papua New Guinea Employment Law and Governance, a body composed of academics throughout universities of Papua New Guinea have contributed effort to present through the edition using bottom-up approach. The bottom up approach means, the edition will excess copies each titled as
‘Law bilong gavaman tok wanem long wok meri na wokman long wokples'
Why Bottom Up Approach?
The labour workforce have been missing out on a important tool which we believe is this edition. The edition will put employees into perspective through reading and understanding employee rights, benefits and others that matters them relating their employment. The edition will be excessable directly from the source, a task that has unexposed for years by the employer for reasons known by the employer itself. An era that will also put to rest workforce abuse, nepotism, unlawful termination/suspension, unlawful protocol or process in any form of employee dealings.
The approach will position and realign employee protocol and process as part of business best practice that will be all in the name of transparency, accountability and good governance for a health and profitable organization through the ex*****on of roles and duties. Employer and employee are now put on spotlight as to where and how each are to comply within the workforce laws of our country.
The copy of the version can be obtained from the Papua New Guinea Employment Law and Governance Inc. Prior arrangement can be obtained through the following contacts; Phone : 71043885 /76655391 or on email: [email protected]
