Praneeta Prakash 
Employment Minister Agni Deo Singh
The Employment Ministry is aiming to table the highly anticipated Employment Relations Bill in Parliament by April.
Employment Minister Agni Deo Singh says previous target dates were adjusted to allow for extensive consultations.
The initial plan was to table the bill next month.
“The Employment Relations Advisory Board is going to examine it thoroughly and then vote on it. Once that is done, it will go to the office of the Solicitor General, and then the SG is going to go through the legal vetting; thereafter, it will go to parliament.”
Singh says upon approval, the bill will proceed to Parliament.
“So it will be done in April, and after the first reading in April, it will be referred to the respective sector committee. The sector committee is then going to conduct another round of consultations.”
Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation Chief Executive Edward Bernard says the private sector has participated very actively in providing the submissions.
He says they look forward to the draft bill going into the Employment Relations Advisory Board.
