The Department of Labour and Industrial Relations will be in Lae from Tuesday, November 7th-28th to enforce compliance of the National Minimum Wage of K3.50.
Secretary George Taunakekei said the minimum wages inspections, as part of the overall Combine Labour Inspections Program (CLIP), will now proceed in Morobe Province as per the initiative and directive of the Deputy Prime Minister, John Rosso, when he was the caretaker minister then.
The initial minimum wages inspections was conducted in the National Capital
District (NCD) from April 14th to July 06th. Now it is Morobe’s turn.
These inspections are conducted to achieve enforcement compliance of the National Minimum Wages of K3.50 per hour for workers in all the five designated urban town boundaries of Port Moresby, Lae, Madang, Goroka and Mount Hagen.
Apart from that, the inspection also aims to:
- Ensure employers comply with minimum terms and conditions of Employment Act 1978.
- Enforce compliance and provide advisory service on the Occupational Safety and Health and National Training Council three-year training and localisation requirements; and
- Collect data towards the Labour Law Review 2023.
The Lae Chamber of Commerce and Industry has asked the Department of Labour to ensure all businesses, including trade stores, are also reviewed for compliance.
Furthermore, the Industrial Relations officers in the team will be attending to the mass redundancies or massive job losses that occurred at the Frabelle and Majestic canneries.