Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development hosts second Human Resource Forum for the year of 2016
Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development hosts second Human Resource Forum for the year of 2016
“The growth of every workforce depends on its Human Resource- develop it.”
The Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development hosted its second Human Resource Forum for the year on Thursday 18th August 2016 at the STC Board Room. The Human Resources Forum is a platform for consultation, and the sharing of knowledge and best practices between Human Resource Managers and Directors from the private sector as a means of strengthening the partnership between the Ministry and the Private sector.
The session was chaired by Principal Secretary Ms Veronique Bresson.
The programme of the day included three main presentations. The first one was about the Policy on Recognition of Prior Learning by Mr. Hubert Barbe, Director Seychelles Institute of Technology and Ms Joan Amade, Quality Assurance Officer of Seychelles Qualifications Authority from the Ministry of Education. The Policy was brought to the Forum as a means of consultation with the private sector to get their input in view that it is them who will be implementing it.
Mr. Barbe explained to the members of the forum what the RPL policy involves, the countries worldwide that have adopted this policy, when the manual was developed in Seychelles, what stage the policy is at and the activities the SQA has undertaken with regards to the policy. This also opened up an avenue for the members to clarify the ways in which this policy affects their organizations.
As the second presentation, the Principal Secretary Mr. Patrick Payet of the Ministry of Finance Trade and Blue Economy, presented the New Progressive Income Tax. This presentation was on the request of members of the Forum and it also served as a means of disseminating the information on the New Progressive Income Tax proposal in that it affected every organization represented in the Forum; members had deliberations as to how the New Progressive Income Tax would apply to them and their organizations. The PS circulated a document which displayed the categories and their tax calculations.
The Validation of the Evaluation of the Human Resource Forum was the third presentation. This Forum was established in 2012, there was necessity to conduct an evaluation for the 2012 to 2014 of which members and stakeholders were consulted. The validation was presented by Ms Rubya Pillay Senior Research Officer MLHRD.
Finally Ms Vanessa Dugasse, Acting Director of Labour Migration MLHRD, presented the revised Quota System which was put in circulation in August 2016. This presentation was brought to the Forum as a means of sensitizing the Human Resource Managers and Directors of the additions and exclusion made to the previous quota system. This was also an opportunity that they had to discuss these changes.
The rest of the meeting was spent in open discussion where members got the opportunity to raise various issues that they required clarification on from the Ministry or get the opinion of their colleagues. The next Forum is scheduled to take place in November 2016.
Related items
Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Myriam Telemaque led a delegation on a working visit to the Savoy Resort & Spa yesterday.
The objective of the visit was to interact with staff, get to know their views, challenges as well as benefits being offered in their workplace.
Secondly the visit was aimed at ensuring a better understanding of the on ground operations of the workplaces and to see whether they are abiding by employment regulations.
Speaking of the visit, Employment principal secretary Jules Baker said that Savoy being a new hotel of only four years old faces challenges when it comes to staff and human resources management as staff have indicated some deficiencies in the area of communications and a proper management structure for reporting and feedback.
"Savoy is a very nice hotel and the staff are happy to work here but there are HR issues that need to be dealt with in the immediate, medium and long-term as they feel that decisions are being taken without the staff being informed," Mr Baker said.
He explained that this is a common problem in some of the establishments visited and appealed to all workplaces to establish better communication procedures between management, human resources and staff members.
"This will help establish a structure where the employees will feel comfortable to bring forward their difficulties, views, suggestions and recommendations as we have seen in many instances where employees with a lot of work experience do not have the leeway to contribute towards the development of the organisation," Mr Baker said.
Yesterday was Minister Telemaque's third visit for this year which forms part of a series of visits which she started last year after being appointed as minister.
The visits are aimed at establishing better contact between the employment department and the working establishments.
Last year, Minister Telemaque carried out twelve visits to various workplaces across Mahé, Praslin, La Digue and Félicité island such as Casino Liberte, Global Supplies Centre, Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA), Air Seychelles, Ile du Port Handling Services (IPHS), Constance Ephelia Hotel and Resort, Le Domaine de L'Orangeraie and Six Senses-Zil Pasyon Resort Ltd.
Mr Baker added that following such visits, there are follow up visits done by an employment technical team to physically assess what the minister and her delegation have seen and heard and then a written recommendation and deadline to rectify the problems is sent to the organisation.
"The dozen of visits we've undertaken have been very fruitful as we had a structured work plan and a set of recommendations for organisations to follow. So far some have given very good feedback on the recommendations put forward by the department while others are in the process or restructuring. I am 85% happy with the ministerial visits," Mr Baker said.
Members of the ministerial delegation on the visit to Savoy Resort and Spa also included special advisor Veronique Bresson, technical advisor Susan Morel, director general for labour relations Steve Monnaie, director for special employment programme Letimy Dookley and other senior employment officers.
The Minister of Employment Mrs. Myriam Telemaque reviews the state of affairs of the L'Union Estate on La Digue for a more cooperative and structured working environment.
The estate falls under the country's agricultural industry and it produces a wide range of plants from vegetables to spices as well as livestock. Situated on La Digue, it also presents a tourist attraction for the spacious environment and farm land. The estate employs a number of 82 workers of which 67 are local and 15 are non-Seychellois.
Previously visited on the 2nd of March 2017, the estate had some issues identified prior to that visit of which some were addressed.
The Minister during this visit was accompanied by a delegation on a tour of the estate observing the plant and livestock areas. She discussed with the workers at their work station and visited others at different stations encouraging them to work together and asking pertinent questions in regards to their challenges and opinion of their work. Generally the workers uttered satisfactory comments about the estate and how they enjoyed their jobs though there were crucial concerns raised on a number of topics such as inadequate level of support by management coupled with inequity in treatment of staff and insufficient staff welfare.
The estate employs an encouraging number of long service staff; having worked with the farm for an impressive number of years are that the ministry has pressed should be consolidated.
After the tour of the premises, the Minister held a meeting with the CEO of the estate and the Human Resource Manager during which the concerns raised were discussed emphasising the need for collaborative effort from both the workers and the management. The Human Resource Manager proposed a number of programmes she intends to consider which included a salary structure, team building activities, in-house training and a better staff welfare. This will create provision for a more structured operation, presenting a clearer pathway in the administration, fairness in treatment and a general improvement in job satisfaction.
Bangladesh's Minister for Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, Nurul Islam, is satisfied with the working environment of the Bangladeshi workers currently employed in Seychelles in various sectors such as construction, tourism and agriculture.
This follows an official visit by the minister during the weekend when he also visited the O'Nivo construction company at Providence and also Bangladeshi workers on a construction site at Ile Perseverance.
Minister Islam was accompanied by the Seychelles' Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Myriam Telemaque, the principal secretary for employment Jules Baker and other officials of the ministry.
There are around 2,200 Bangladeshi workers currently employed in various sectors from agriculture, tourism and construction in Seychelles and they are working tirelessly to grow the economy of Seychelles and at the same time provide to their families back home.
Speaking to the media after their visit, Minister Islam pointed out that he is satisfied how the Bangladeshi workers are being treated.
"The purpose of my visit is to oversee the working condition of the Bangladeshi workers at O'Nivo Construction company. I am really satisfied with their working environment and salaries. The workers are well treated, and really enjoy working in such a beautiful country. Obviously we will have to monitor their condition so that Seychelles can have more Bangladeshi workers," he said.
Minister Telemaque added that Bangladeshi workers are well treated in the country.
"We are really happy with the condition of the workers, and we will work hard to keep improving their daily stay in our country. The Bangladeshi minister also compared the working condition of the Bangladeshi workers here with other countries and we agreed that expatriate workers should be well treated," said Minister Telemaque.
One of the workers, Hassan Mahamudul, who is employed with O'Nivo Construction company, told the media that he enjoys working in Seychelles.
"Every two years I get a ticket to go back to Bangladesh for free. I am really pleased with my working condition and could not ask for more. I really appreciate that the Bangladeshi minister took the time to visit us," he said.
Owned by Hao Liu, O'Nivo Construction Company employs around 30 workers.
Before the site visit, the Bangladeshi delegation paid a courtesy call on Minister Telemaque at her office at the Independence House Annex, Victoria.
Minister Islam was originally expected in the country of Thursday night and was to hold meetings with Minister Telemaque last Friday, but his programme had to be altered as he had to stay much longer in Mauritius as Air Seychelles had stopped flying there for a short while because cyclone Berguitta left a trail of destruction across the island after battering it with the strength of a hurricane.
