The Fiji Mediation Services has received a total of 1220 employment grievances cases from January to October this year compared to 839 in 2016.
This was highlighted by the Minister for Employment Jone Usamate while delivering his opening remarks at the Mediation Training by the Singapore mediation Centre at Holiday Inn in Suva this morning.
Usamate says since November 2016, the mediation team has achieved a high resolution rate of 84.97 percent for first quarter of the 2017-2018 fiscal year.
He says this is testament of the high level of training provided by the trainers and the commitment of the new mediators.
The Minister says mediation is gaining popularity locally as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism to resolve conflicts, grievances and disputes.
Usamate says under the old labour law, there was limited access to professional institutions to resolve their employment issues unless they were represented by unions.
He says in Fiji, mediation benefits are enormous as workers are empowered to engage in mediation as an individual and mitigate their grievances in a professional setting with employer and the mediator as a facilitator.
Mediation Course Coordinator, George Lim from the Singapore Mediation Centre says his work in Fiji is not just about training, but is a lot more in trying to make this a peaceful world.
Lim says mediation is more than just settling a case but is about a cultural shift.
Source:fijivillage.com
