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Locals urged to fill gap left by foreign workers

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Locals urged to fill gap left by foreign workers

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https://borneobulletin.com.bn/locals-urged-to-fill-gap-left-by-foreign-workers/

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Locals urged to fill gap left by foreign workers

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Locals urged to fill gap left by foreign workers » Borneo Bulletin Online

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Fadley Faisal Locals are urged to fill the gap left by foreign workers who left the Sultanate following the COVID-19 outbreak. Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mohd Amin Liew bin Abdullah made this call at a press confere…

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Many foreign workers left the Sultanate following the COVID-19 outbreak. Foreign labour and staff shortage faced by private companies, including shops and restaurants. Hence, Minister mentioned that it's a good time for locals to fill in the gaps and try their hands at various job openings.

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From Amsarra Ramen and Grill's Instagram page on 5 March 2022

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The issue of unemployment occurs in secondary and tertiary industries such as construction sites, restaurants, cafes where employers hire non-locals for years. Due to COVID-19, they could not renew their non-local employee's job quotas which lead to shortages of staff. In addition, airlines employees lose their jobs due to COVID-19, as there is a downturn in air traffic. Coming from minister's view, this is the best time to encourage locals to take up a job in companies that is in shortage of workers. Brunei Unemployment Rate increased to 8.37% in Dec 2020, from the previously reported figure of 6.92% in Dec 2019.

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Work and employment may be used indistinctly in everyday language, but for the labour market they mean very different things. Employment is a very specific form of work. Other forms of work include own-use production work, volunteer work and unpaid trainee work. In everyday language, work and employment are synonyms

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Employment problems are as common as employees in the workplace. As long as you work with others, problems will always arise. However, some employment problems are more common than others. For example, employment discrimination and sexual harassment are two major buzzwords for employment problems

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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said it is preparing guidelines to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, after a Legislative Council member called for a code of conduct to be introduced in the civil service and private sector.

Minister at PMO, YB Dato Seri Setia Hj Awg Abdul Mokti Hj Mohd Daud, said the guidelines would provide a framework of actions to be taken when cases of sexual harassment are reported in the civil service.

"We want to take a proactive approach to raise awareness amongst the public regarding sexual harassment and the necessary procedures to reduce the risk of it happening," the minister said during a meeting of the Legislative Council (LegCo) on Thursday.

He said the Public Service Department has received only a limited number of sexual harassment complaints because there was reluctance from victims to come forward.

YB Dato Hj Awg Abdul Mokti added that sexual harassment could be "difficult to define" and hard to monitor because the issue could be "misunderstood or misused to bring someone down".

The proposed sexual harassment prevention framework would also provide guidance on "misconduct and irresponsible actions such as reporting false evidence", he said.

Most women have seen or experienced harassment at work

According to a 2016 survey carried out by the Women Graduates Association (PSW), 55 percent of respondents said they had experienced sexual harassment in the workplace, or knew a friend or colleague who had. Eighty-four percent said current legal protections were inadequate.

Pg Hjh Zabaidah Pg Hj Kamaludin, president of the association, said the sample size of the survey was only around 150 people, but that conducting a nationwide survey would provide a better reflection of the scale of the problem.

"Our survey simply showed that we have problems of sexual harassment at the workplace in Brunei. Since 2016 we have been seeking ways to highlight this difficult 'taboo' issue."

She added that the Prime Minister's Office should involve NGOs in formulating policy around workplace harassment, so that potential solutions would include the perspective of relevant stakeholders.

'Sexual harassment laws should be enacted'

Pg Zabaidah said while a code of conduct can be useful, focused sexual harassment laws are needed - and should be vigorously enforced - to reduce the prevalence of harassment in the workplace.

"Having specific laws that give options to victims should they wish to proceed and lodge complaints would clearly show that the concerns of female workers anywhere in Brunei are being tended to.

"Those laws should also have procedures that will make it easier for women to lodge a complaint against their own superiors or colleagues," said the retired lawyer, who previously served as Brunei's assistant solicitor-general.

While laws exist in the Penal Code, Minor Offences Act and Syariah Penal Code that criminalise abusive, indecent or insulting behaviour, they have broad definitions and do not address abuse of power in the workplace.

Similarly, civil service regulations state that any misconduct has to be reported to a supervisor or senior officer for action to be taken through proper channels.

"Where are the victims supposed to go to when it's the bosses, colleagues or people with influence responsible for putting them in very uncomfortable situations?," the PSW president said.

Nur Judy Abdullah, founder of Project Women - an advocacy group that works to educate vulnerable women and girls about gender-based violence - also supported the introduction of dedicated legislation to address sexual harassment.

"It should be drafted similar to the Women and Girls Protection Act, or Children and Young Persons Act," she said.

"We can adopt a Violence and Harassment Act. This is being advocated by the International Labour Organization, where they lobby governments to accede to the Convention 190 on Violence and Harassment."

Changing workplace culture

Pg Zabaidah added that like any other law, problems do not disappear overnight when legislation is passed.

"Educating our young men and women to respect each others' rights would address the issue of sexual harassment in a more sustainable manner. The best way would be for all employers to not turn a blind eye and sweep things under the carpet."

Nur Judy said it should also be mandatory for all staff to attend sexual harassment seminars on a regular basis.

"While a code of conduct is helpful in defining the standards of professional conduct, it has to be cascaded down the whole organisation so employees will understand the desired behaviour expected from them.

"Workplaces need to promote a culture where employees feel safe and their boundaries are respected. More often than not, employees behaving inappropriately at work are protected rather than reported by colleagues. This has to change."

She added that victims of sexual harassment must be able to bring up their concerns knowing that they will be heard and taken seriously.

"A clear reporting mechanism or grievance procedure must be in place in all workplaces so that matters on sexual harassment and discrimination can be addressed promptly and efficiently."

Likewise, there must also be consequences for offenders so that employees know that undesirable behaviours are not tolerated, she added

"We must know the answers to common questions such as, 'What do I do when I realise I am sexually harassed?', 'To whom should I report the incident?', 'Will I be protected from any reprisal?, 'Will I lose my job?

"These are valid questions women are confronted with at work. The narrative changes when the victim is a person with disabilities or comes from the vulnerable, high-risk and minority group."

Judy said Project Women regularly conducts training and seminars on various forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual harassment. They also host a free monthly webinar called "Legally Speaking", which this month will discuss sexual harassment in the workplace.

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Gov't says it will address sexual harassment in the workplace, but women's groups call for new laws - The Scoop

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BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN - The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said it is preparing guidelines to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace, after a Legislative Council member called for a code of conduct to be introduced in the civil service and private sector.

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Brunei Darussalam is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with oil and gas generating a substantial amount of foreign investment, income and jobs. However, unemployment (of youth in particular) remains a critical issue. There is an apparent mismatch between jobseekers expectations, job opportunities and the skills requirements of employers. The labour force survey in 2014 illustrated that employment was heavily concentrated in the services sector (77.7 per cent), particularly in wholesale and retail trade (11.3 per cent) and public administration (26.2 per cent).

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The cost of the higher unemployment is lost wages and incomes to workers and their families, a further widening of inequalities, an inhospitable environment for welfare reform and the social costs of greater crime and worsened health

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In 2022, the average inflation rate in Brunei Darussalam amounted to about 1.5 percent compared to the previous year. This is due to most foreign workers that went back to their home country which causes the businesses having a shortage of workers. Examples of theses businesses are F&B such as restaurants and bakeries. Ingredients for pastries are already expensive and now with the increase, especially dairy products and fresh fruits

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Statistics of the Inflation rate in Brunei

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Statistics of the Inflation rate in Brunei

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https://www.statista.com/statistics/526787/inflation-rate-in-brunei-darussalam/

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- Racism
One of the factor that happen in a workplace where employees feel like they are not treated fairly. For example, a Muslim worker not being paid the same as a Chinese worker doing the same job with the same experience and qualifications. This will lead to workers feeling demotivated and affect their work behavior.
- Gender inequality
It has been a crucial social issue in India for centuries. They see male workers more potentially stronger than women because women portray an image that they stay at home doing chores. For instance, Once India gained independence, Indian leaders discouraged female revolutionaries from mobilizing, instilling a ‘ghar/bahir’ divide and reinforcing strict gender roles for women as the protectors of the home.

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Racism can be addressed by holding an office gathering during free time or as an office event. By bringing people together, they can share their religious ideologies and engage in polite dialogue with one another. People can build friendships by sharing their culture, which might encourage curiosity in other religions. Another method is to open people's minds, as the majority of insults and nasty remarks are spoken by people who are closed-minded. As a result, exposing their brains to open people can encourage them to accept people and reality as they are. As a result, their viewpoints on other races may evolve as a result.

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As stated in an article by Borneo Bulletin in 2019, Brunei Darussalam has fallen behind when it comes to promoting gender equality, dropping five places in this year’s gender equality ranking, placing 95th spot globally. With this, it raises concern on equality interms of pay in workplace. The government should look into implementing regulation which states that businesses and companies have to hire their employees with anonymous job applications and interviews, such as, but not limited to; not requiring information on the race, belief, gender of the employee when hiring them, granted they exceed the required qualifications.

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To confront racial and gender discrimination at the workplace, we must consider power imbalances and bolster enforcement

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To confront racial and gender discrimination at the workplace, we must consider power imbalances and bolster enforcement

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To confront racial and gender discrimination at the workplace, we must consider power imbalances and bolster enforcement Two new reports released as a part of EPI’s Unequal Power project look at ways to challenge racial and gender disparities and discrimination in employment. The first report, “Gend…

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Asia

Globally, some progress on women's rights has been achieved. In Brunei Darussalam, the adolescent birth rate is 9.9 per 1,000 women aged 15-19 as of 2018, up from 9.8 per 1,000 in 2017.

However, work still needs to be done in Brunei Darussalam to achieve gender equality. As of February 2021, only 9.1% of seats in parliament were held by women.

As of december 2020, only 33.6% of indicators needed to monitor the SDGs from a gender perspective were available, with gaps in key areas, in particular: violence against women and unpaid care and domestic work. In addition, many areas - such as gender and poverty, physical and sexual harassment, women's access to assets (including land), and gender and the environment - lack comparable methodologies for reguar monitoring. Closing these gender data gaps is essential for achieving gender-related SDG commitments in Brunei Darussalam.

Gender data gaps and country performance

For this score, we use the 72 gender-specific SDG indicators in the Women Count Data Hub's SDG Dashboard for the 193 UN Member States. For each indicator, we calculate the 33rd and 66th percentiles of the distribution and, based on those two values, countries are classified as belonging to high performance, medium performance and low performance categories. For more details, see the methodological note and the article "We now have more gender-related SDG data than ever, but is it enough?"

Low performance

Medium performance

High performance

Missing data

Country score - Brunei Darussalam

Average region score - Asia

Economic

Inclusive development, shared prosperity and decent work

Social

Social protection, poverty and freedom from violence, stigma & stereotypes

1.3.1 Proportion of mothers with newborns receiving maternity cash benefit.

3.1.1 Maternal mortality ratio (Per 100,000 live births).

3.7.2 Adolescent birth rate (per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years).

5.2.1 Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls subjected to physical and/or sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months. Age 15-49.

5.3.1 Proportion of women aged 20-24 years who were married or in a union before age 18 (%)

Before age 15.

Before age 18.

Political

Political participation, accountability and gender-responsive institutions

5.1.1 Legal frameworks that promote, enforce and monitor gender equality (percentage of achievement, 0 - 100)

Area 1: overarching legal frameworks and public life

Area 2: violence against women

Area 3: employment and economic benefits

Area 4: marriage and family

5.5.1

Proportion of seats held by women in national parliaments (% of total number of seats)

Proportion of elected seats held by women in deliberative bodies of local government

5.5.2

Proportion of women in managerial positions

Proportion of women in senior and middle management positions

5.c.1 Proportion of countries with systems to track and make public allocations for gender equality and women's empowerment.

Environmental

Environmental conservation, protection and rehabilitation

3.9.1 Age-standardized mortality rate attributed to household air pollution (deaths per 100,000 population).

6.1.1 Proportion of population using safely managed drinking water services, by urban/rural.

7.1.2 Proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology.

Gender-specific indicators