The Minister of Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Ms Myriam Telemaque, undertook her last visit for the year at Six Senses Zil Pasyon on Felicite Island on the Friday the 15th of December. In all there has been twelve Ministerial visits to workplaces throughout the year covering different industries mainly tourism, retail, manufacturing and transport. The workplaces were all different in their own way with some good practices in place alongside certain challenges that they needed to overcome.

The Ministry has collaborated closely with them to work on those challenges in order to achieve an optimal level of workplace stability for continued success of the individuals working there, the organisation itself and the country in general.

For her visit at Six Senses Zil Pasyon the Minister was, as per customary, received by the management who facilitated a tour of the hotel premises which included areas such as the Housekeeping, Engineering, Spa, Food and Beverage, Administration, Reservation/Front office etc. The Minister met with staff at their work stations which gave her the opportunity to see their day to day working environment as well as interact with them.

The employees, especially those who have been with the hotel since pre-opening, expressed their devotion to work for the resort and love for their job. At the same time, some concerns were raised by them such as salary level, opportunities for promotion, lack of communication between management and staff and a host of others.

The delegation was encouraged and comforted by the high standards of the facilities at the disposal of staff for a comfortable working life on the island and improvements made by management since a previous visit to the hotel by officers of the Ministry earlier in the year.

During de-briefing with the management it was recommended that the hotel considers the issues raised by the workers and find the most appropriate solution to address them within a timely manner especially when it comes to the issue of equal pay for work of equal value.

The management will also work in close collaboration with the ministry in order to intensify their efforts to attract and recruit locals.

The General Manager was advised to organise regular staff meetings so to ensure that there exist a good work relationships between the employer and employee for the betterment of the establishment.

As agreed on both side, another visit will be organised in 4 months' time where officers from the Ministry will meet with the workers and the management to follow-up on progress made.

The accompanying photos show the minister and her delegation interacting with staff at the hotel.