Caption: Participants during the RSE process workshop at the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva. Photo: SUPPLIED.
The Ministry of Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations in collaboration with the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment held a workshop on the New Zealand Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) Scheme for the Ministry’s staff and its key Government stakeholders at the Grand Pacific Hotel (GPH) on Wednesday, December 10.
The Employment Ministry’s National Employment Centre and its Foreign Employment Service (FORES) are in its final stages of preparations to implement the NZ RSE Scheme. The NZ Ministry of Employment has been building capacity for its Fijian counterpart in the last 2 months.
This 2-day workshop is the concluding phase to provide stakeholders with an integrated and comprehensive overview of the NZ RSE process that will enable an effective implementation of the scheme by key agencies for Fijian nationals.
The Ministry of Employment permanent secretary Mr Taito Waqa today highlighted that the pilot program will focus on recruiting unemployed persons from rural areas in Fiji.
He said this is done to ensure that the benefit of RSE is distributed fairly among our people and encouraged interested unemployed persons from the rural areas to take up this opportunity and register with the Ministry’s NEC offices around Fiji.
Mr Waqa emphasised that this scheme is only facilitated through the Ministry’s Foreign Employment Service (FORES) under the National Employment Centre (NEC), and no other recruiting person or agency is authorized.
He also urged Fijian citizens to be aware of unscrupulous employment agents promising employment through this scheme. These agents should be reported to the Police and the Ministry of Employment for investigation and prosecution.
The Permanent Secretary thanked the resource personnel who will be leading the discussions in the workshop and the entire team that arrived from New Zealand to formalise the agreement between the two governments.
The workshop will continue today, December 11, with the signing of its Inter-Agency Understanding (IAU) expected to take place at noon.
DEPTFO