'Business as normal' at Air Seychelles

The department of employment will be working in close collaboration with Air Seychelles Ltd to improve on the working conditions of the airline's staff.

This statement was made by the Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status, Myriam Télémaque, after a series of ministerial visits she and her delegation undertook at Air Seychelles on September 21 and 22, 2017.

This forms part of her ministry's plan to conduct visits at different work places so as to interact with employees and better gauge their conditions of employment.

Due to the large scale of Air Seychelles which currently employs over 800 people, the visits spanned over two days and included tours at the company's Victoria sales offices, its Praslin terminal operations as well as operations at and near the international airport.

Minister Télémaque's visit revealed a lot of concerns from Air Seychelles staff, who were more than ready to list down their list of grievances to the minister and her team.

On the subject of redundancies, Air Seychelles confirmed to the ministerial delegation that there are currently no plans to make any employees redundant.

"What we have suggested to the management of Air Seychelles is to at least talk to their employees. Give them a timeframe as to when they will discuss on the issue of redundancy so as to remove doubts that they could lose their jobs," Minister Télémaque stated.

In an interview with the press, Mr Kinnear stated that the speculation on redundancies at Air Seychelles are unfounded.

"This is business as normal. I expect everyone to turn up and do a full day's hard work as I would expect on any day of the week," he said.

As to other speculations that Etihad is not injecting money into Air Seychelles and the latter will soon have to end its merger with the UAE carrier in light of challenges faced by Alitalia and Air Berlin, Mr Kinnear replied: "Etihad remains a fully committed stakeholder. The management contract has been renewed for the second five-year contract period as communicated earlier in the year. What is going on elsewhere in the world, with other European stakeholders does not in any way reflect on the Etihad-Air Seychelles relationship."

Air Berlin and Alitalia, two of Etihad's high profile investments, both filed for insolvency earlier this year.

Concerning salary increase, Mr Kinnear had this to say: "Some staff have had salary increases, some departments have had salary increases. We have got an ongoing range of vacancies going on every week and every month for staff to apply for promotions."

"I'm a big believer in internal promotion. I like to see people apply for a job that is a higher grid, they earn more salaries out of it, take up more responsibilities and develop their skills sets as well," explained Mr Kinnear.

He also stated that staff cannot remain in one job for an infinite period and expect to receive salary increments for the same type of work they have been doing for 10, 20 or even 30 years.

"In that way you are not rewarding for performance or productivity" but rather for longevity, which according to Mr Kinnear is no way to run a business.

Air Seychelles staff therefore have to distinguish themselves among their peers and perform to their utmost capacity to receive performance-related increments.

However, the airline's management will be exploring options for their low-salaried, shift-based employees.

When asked about the way forward now that these issues have been brought to their attention, Mr Kinnear guaranteed his staff that every single item raised during the debriefing session will be reviewed by the company.

"Sometimes comments are misinterpreted, sometimes they are made out of context and sometimes they are very valid. There will be a mix of things that will need addressing and there will be a mix of things that may have been borne out of confusion or misinterpretation. We now have to work with the staff and managers, and communicate to the staff to help understand what actions are to be taken," added Mr Kinnear.

The department of employment is expected to hand over an official report to the management of Air Seychelles and conduct a follow-up visit early next year.

The accompanying photographs show the minister and her team interacting with staff as well as a debriefing session with the airline's chief executive and his managerial team.

Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development
Press Release
Minister for Labour and Human Resource Development, Ms Idith Alexander attends the 104th session of the International Labour Conference, Geneva
Tuesday 9th June 2015

The Minister for Labour and Human Resource Development, Ms Idith Alexander is heading a tripartite delegation from Seychelles at the 104th session of the International Labour Conference, organized by the International Labour Organization in Geneva, Switzerland from 1st to 13th June 2015.

Minister Alexander addressed the Conference on Tuesday 9th June 2015, and focused her intervention on the report of the Director General of the ILO, Mr Guy Ryder entitled “The future of work centenary initiatives” and also on the main items on the agenda: “Facilitating transition from the informal to the formal economy” and “Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and decent and productive employment creation.”

Accordingly Minister Alexander stated that Seychelles as a small island developing state is also concerned with the future of work. “In appreciating our achievements, we are also mindful of our vulnerabilities. The persisting global challenges such as climate change on our shores, on our workers and businesses affirm that the labour market does not operate in isolation. Today climate change is not only about reducing environmental impact on society but it is also about protecting jobs, promoting renewable energy businesses and preserving the quality of life of a nation. The Government of Seychelles therefore remains active in the international community and we remain committed in creating new jobs namely through the diversification of our economy, particularly by the concept of the Blue Economy,” explained Minister Alexander.

Minister Alexander also affirmed that the Government of Seychelles will continue to strive for the formalization of SMEs. “The future of work for Seychelles will greatly depend on the love for our country, the determination of our people, the ambitions of our youth, the responsibility of workers, effective human resource management practices, productivity,entrepreneurship and sustainable businesses that generate decent jobs” explained the Minister.

The Minister also appealed to employers and workers to continue actively working together thereby building the future of work that we are all striving for.
The other members of the Seychelles delegation attending the ILO Conference are Ms Veronique Bresson, Principal Secretary for Labour and Human Resource Development, Ms Susan Morel, Director Policy Planning and Research, Mrs Michelle Labrosse, Executive Secretary of the Federation of the Employer’ Association of Seychelles and Mr Antoine Robinson, Secretary General of the Seychelles Federation of Workers’ Union.

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“Effective Human Resource Management is necessary for any business or organisation, as it concerns their most valuable resource – their people.”

The Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development held its final Human Resource Forum for the year on Thursday 20^th November 2014 at the STC Board Room. As a reminder, the Human Resources Forum is a platform for consultation, and the sharing of knowledge and best practices between the attendees.

The session was chaired by Principal Secretary Ms Veronique Bresson.

This latest edition of the Forum began with a presentation on the Employment Assistance Programme (EAP) by Ms. Yvana Theresine, Director of Drug and Alcohol Council. Ms Theresine took the opportunity to remind the attendees of the reasons the programme had been set up, such as employees struggling with problems like drugs and alcohol being unwilling to pursue treatment openly for fear of stigmatisation. She also emphasised that, while the EAP evolved out of the desire to help substance abuse victims, this is not the only area in which it can help. It can also render assistance in area such as legal advice, or various health and safety issues. The programme includes mechanisms for providing counselling, referrals, and other forms of assistance, advice, and information to employees on a systematic and uniform basis.

“The government wants the EAP to provide employees with a safe workplace,” Ms Theresine said.

She also stressed that adoption of the EAP is not mandatory and that many organisations already have their own employee assistance schemes in place that are working quite well. Ms Theresine extended an invitation to such organisations to share ideas with the people behind the EAP with the aim of making it a more efficient machine.

The second and final presentation of the day was by Ms. Susan Morel, Director of Planning and Policy Research at the Ministry of Labour and Human Resource Development. Ms Morel discussed the issue of fair salaries and the step the Ministry of Labour is taking to ensure fair treatment for all employees.

The rest of the meeting was spent in open discussion on various issues the members wished to express. The next Forum is scheduled to take place in three months.