Report on the Implementation of the derogation to ... - Trade Websites

Final <strong>Report</strong>
RoO Derogation under the PACP-IEPA
Hospital and sick
wards
Medical and
hospital treatment
Termination
Where 400 or more employees and
accompanying dependents, employer must
provide an approved building for use as a
hospital, except when within a responsible
distance from a hospital.
• Employer shall make all necessary
arrangements for the treatment or
hospitalization of an employee or
accompanying dependent who resides at
or adjacent to the place of employment, at
the request of the employee.
• Medical and other treatment provided by
the employer at the place of employment
shall be free of charge.
Salary paid up to date of termination,
together with any leave credits (annual, long
service).
See comments above re: medical
supervision.
• Workers taken to hospital in case of
serious workplace injuries that
cannot be handled by on-site clinics.
• Consultation, medicines, medical
consumables (bandages etc.) all free
of charge at on-site clinics.
• Companies maintain that all hospitalrelated
expenses covered by
company; several workers indicated
instances when they paid their own
expenses.
Final pay on termination in accordance
with Employment Act 1978.
In addition to the key working conditions-related issues covered above, during the course of the
review further issues of interest were raised.
• Salary/wages – Production workers (both those on probation and regularised workers)
consistently indicated that canneries are meeting the minimum wage rate of K 2.29/hour.
On average, fortnightly pay per worker ranges from K 200-280, if all shifts within the
fortnight have been worked (i.e. 80-88 hours). Workers’ pay contributes to meeting basic
needs (i.e. food, clothing, transport, rent/board, kerosene, school fees etc.). Most workers
interviewed indicated that given the high cost of living in Papua New Guinea, there is little
ability to save money from their pay, 76 although there are instances where staff have
voluntarily instructed the companies to deduct funds from their pay for additional Nasfund
contributions (up to 10%). Across the board, workers indicated that the first priority in
improving working conditions would be to increase salary levels above the minimum wage. 77
Local economies, particularly in rural areas, are still largely subsistence and semisubsistence.
Hence, many cannery workers’ pays are supplemented by subsistence
activities. For workers that do not have access to land for establishing gardens,
opportunities for subsistence activities are limited, which causes additional financial strain
as a higher proportion of cannery pay must be used for the purchase of food.
• Job advancement – For production level workers, the primary motivation for seeking
employment at canneries is generally motivated by the need to acquire a cash income to
meet basic needs, rather than developing a career per se, which is commonplace worldwide
for manufacturing industries requiring large volumes of unskilled workers. However, there
are instances where some workers are engaging in extension studies to complete secondary
school and move onto university entry level; for these workers cannery salaries assist in
76 The ability to save is also influenced by PNG’s cultural and social setting, whereby financial contributions are
generally given to extended family members in meeting cultural responsibilities such as funerals, weddings
etc., as well as assisting other family members in meeting basic needs (e.g. food, school fees etc.). Spending on
extended family may be considered ‘savings’ or an investment, on the premise that financial support given to
other family members could be reciprocated in future.
77 In August 2011, PNG’s new government ordered a 100-day review of the minimum wage rate to investigate
the potential to increase this from K2.29/hour to K3.50/hour. Recommendations from the review will be
presented to the National Economic Council (NEC). Interview, DLIR representative, September 2011.
Linpico s.a.r.l. Page 61