Generate/ERILOGO1.gif About ERI Disclaimer

Tuvalu - Compensation & Benefit Legislation

CAPITAL

Funafuti

 

CLIMATE

Tropical climate moderated by easterly trade winds from March to November with westerly gales and heavy rain from November to March.

 

LANGUAGES

Tuvaluan, and English.

 

CURRENCY

Australian Dollar (1 USD = 1.76382 AUD as of June 1, 2002).

Note - there is also a Tuvaluan dollar.

 

TUVALU - COST-OF-LIVING

ERI's Relocation Assessor is a recommended source for cost-of-living data.

 

TUVALU - EMBASSY/CONSULATES

The United States does not have an embassy in Tuvalu. The U.S. ambassador to Fiji is accredited to Tuvalu.

 

U. S. Embassy at Suva (Fiji)

31 Loftus St.

P.O. Box 218

Suva, Fiji

Telephone: [679] 314-466

Fax: [679] 300-081

http://www.amembassy-fiji.gov

 

Tuvalu does not have an embassy in the United States.

 

TUVALU - HOLIDAYS

TUVALU - MINIMUM AGE

The law prohibits children under the age of 14 from working. The law also prohibits children under 15 years of age from industrial employment or work on any ship and stipulates that children under the age of 18 years are not allowed to enter into formal contracts, including work contracts.

 

(Section 6.d. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Tuvalu – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

TUVALU - MINIMUM REMUNERATION

The biweekly minimum wage in the public (government) sector is $A130 (approximately $75.66). This rate applies regardless of sex and age. In most cases, the private sector adopts the same minimum wage rate.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Tuvalu – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)

 

TUVALU - REMUNERATION

ERI's Geographic and Salary Assessors are recommended sources for international remuneration covering 189 countries.

 

TUVALU - REPORT OF HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES (2001, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE)

Section 6 Worker Rights

 

a. The Right of Association

 

The Constitution provides for the right of association. Workers are free to organize unions and choose their own labor representatives, but most of the population lacks permanent employment and is engaged in subsistence activity. The law provides for the right to strike, but no strike has ever been recorded.

 

In the public sector, civil servants, teachers, and nurses--who total fewer than 1,000 employees--are grouped into associations that do not have the status of unions. The only registered trade union, the Tuvalu Seamen's Union, has about 600 members who work on foreign merchant vessels. Unions may affiliate with international bodies. The Seamen's Union is a member of the International Transportation Workers' Federation.

 

The country is not a member of the International Labor Organization.

 

b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively

 

The law provides for conciliation, arbitration, and settlement procedures in cases of labor disputes. Although there are provisions for collective bargaining, the practice in the private sector is for wages to be set by employers. For both the private and public sectors, the legal procedures for resolving labor disputes are seldom used; instead, the two sides normally engage in nonconfrontational deliberations in the local multipurpose meeting hall.

 

There are no export processing zones.

 

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

 

The law prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including forced or bonded labor by children, and there were no reports that such practices occurred.

 

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

 

The law prohibits children under the age of 14 from working. The law also prohibits children under 15 years of age from industrial employment or work on any ship and stipulates that children under the age of 18 years are not allowed to enter into formal contracts, including work contracts. Children rarely are employed outside the traditional economy.

 

The country is not a member of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and has not ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labor.

 

The Government prohibits forced and bonded labor by children and enforces this prohibition effectively (see Section 6.c.).

 

e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

 

The minimum wage, set administratively by the Government, is sufficient to allow a worker and family in the wage economy to maintain a decent standard of living. The biweekly minimum wage in the public (government) sector is $75.66 ($A130). This rate applies regardless of sex and age. In most cases, the private sector adopts the same minimum wage rate.

 

The Labor Office may specify the days and hours of work for workers in various industries. The workday by law is set at 8 hours. The majority of workers are outside the wage economy. The law provides for rudimentary health and safety standards. It requires employers to provide an adequate potable water supply, basic sanitary facilities, and medical care. Specific provisions of the law provide for the protection of female workers. The Ministry of Labor, Works, and Communications is responsible for the enforcement of these regulations, but it provides only minimum enforcement.

 

Workers can remove themselves from work situations that endanger health or safety without jeopardy to their jobs; legal foreign workers also are protected by the law.

 

f. Trafficking in Persons

 

The law prohibits procurement of persons within and across borders for purposes of prostitution, but it does not mention or prohibit trafficking specifically. However, there were no reports that persons were trafficked to, from, or within the country.

 

TUVALU - STANDARD WORKWEEK

The Labor Office may specify the days and hours of work for workers in various industries. The workday by law is set at 8 hours.

 

(Section 6.e. Acceptable Conditions of Work, Tuvalu – Report of Human Rights Practices, 2001, U.S. Department of State.)