Business owners in Vanuatu are concerned that new occupations added to the list reserved for ni-Vanuatu are too broad.
The addition of new vocations, which include engineers and cashiers, is designed to try and promote jobs for locals but some businesses owners rely on workers from overseas to fill technical roles.
Company owner and Chamber of Commerce Tourism sector spokesperson Bryan Death told Bridget Tunnicliffe they need more information.
BRYAN DEATH: Well unfortunately it wasn't discussed with the private sector prior to the Minister making the announcement which is always of some concern. We've had discussions with the Commissioner for Labour since then at the Chamber of Commerce meeting and I guess what we haven't seen yet is enough detail because they've assured us that it won't impact on general work permit applications for expatriate workers if they're at the appropriate level to gain a work permit. The intention of the announcement I think is to try and promote jobs for the locals but there are some very broad categories mentioned in that and the category of engineers is far too broad and we need to see the full content of what the State Law Office is preparing for gazetting before we could really make more comment on it. But the Commissioner for Labour has assured us as private sector representatives that there should not be any impact on work permit applications for expatriates that are being considered for employment in high management levels. It's always been the case here that there's a tendency to localise positions that you'd probably describe as middle management I guess and that's been with mixed success and in some businesses it is required to have a more technically skilled person in a role and they really don't have an issue with that providing that you can substantiate the need for that person.
BRIDGET TUNNICLIFFE: One of the complaints is that it's vague and non-specific. What about situations where you need someone with experience and seniority to show someone they're training how to do something?
BD: Well this is exactly the issue we've raised and in most cases, a good example I guess, is a chief engineer for a resort who would need comprehensive skills and qualifications to hold that position. His counterpart normally would be a local and that would be subscribed in the work permit application and that counterpart continues to receive training throughout the course of the chief engineer's term of employment. Often though unless the counterpart can move on to perhaps technical colleges or universities to obtain the skills necessary, their on the job training would never qualify them to hold the position of a chief engineer. So it's a case by case thing quite frankly and I think if any businesses have a genuine need for a technically qualified person to fulfill a senior management role then the Labour Department is not going to be too difficult to deal with in that regard.
