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Commercial Law Updates

Employment Law: The disciplinary Investigation, why it’s important and how to do one properly

Apr 15, 2019 / by James Sloan posted in Fiji employment law, Summary dismissal, Disciplinary process, LAWASIA

Taking disciplinary action against an employee is perhaps the most challenging task for an employer. This is because in most cases of employee wrongdoing the employer must assume the technical roles of investigator, prosecutor and judge while owing an overriding duty to treat the employee fairly. The body of employment law in Fiji shows that employers can pay a high price for getting any of these stages wrong.

In this commercial law update, we consider the first stage of the disciplinary process - being the investigation to establish the facts of the matter. While in Fiji this stage is usually conducted by the employer, in other jurisdictions, like Australia, NZ, and Malaysia, an employer may seek a qualified third party to undertake an investigation.

In January 2019, the Fiji Law Society organised and hosted the LawAsia Employment Law Forum during which a senior employment lawyer, Mr Brian C Willamson distilled his many years of expert knowledge into a presentation about how to conduct disciplinary investigations to be “effective and fair”. While, it is likely that most employers due to limited resources and qualified investigators will still have to undertake their own investigations, Mr. Williamson’s detailed and expert knowledge provides valuable insights into this process.

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Migrant workers: legal and other challenges for Fiji and the Pacific

Jan 28, 2019 / by James Sloan posted in International Law, climate change, Fiji employment law, Fiji lawyers, Fiji commercial lawyers, Law of the Sea Convention, Pacific Island Rights, Oceans Governance, Tuna fisheries, Migrant labour Pacific, Migrant labour Fiji, LAWASIA

The movement of migrant workers isn’t so much a global hot topic as a burning one. At the LAWASIA Employment Law Forum, 25-26 January, 2019, the key note presentations aimed to address Migrant Labour Issues: The Rights of Migrant Workers and the Obligations of Employers. An objective of this session was to share among delegates how migrant labour is regulated and what challenges are experienced in various Asia Pacific jurisdictions.

This commercial law update is based on the key note presentation provided to the conference to provide an overview of how migrant labour is regulated in Fiji and the Pacific. Due to time constraints for the key note presentations this update expands on some of the themes discussed during the key note presentation at the conference.

For more information on LAWASIA please see here

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