Starting employment with the right information and understanding is important. Recruitement is a key step to ensure that your business continues to be successful. Everyone should follow and respect the minimum terms and conditions as required by the law.
- Who is an Employer ?
Employer means a person who employs an employee or employees.
- Who is an Employee ?
Employee means a person engaged to work under an agreement or contract for services (excluding independent contractor.)
2.1 Foreign worker
Foreign worker is an employee who is not a Cook Islander or a Permanent Resident (PR) or the child or spouse of a Cook Islander or PR.
2.2 Young worker
An employer must not employ a person under the age of 13 years old.
Young workers from the age of 13 years to 16 years old may be employed upon approval of the Secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Click here.
Conditions of employment :
- During school term , work needs to be outside of school normal hours to a maximum of 10 hours weekly;
- During school holidays, work can be everyday for up to 40 hours weekly. Should it go over 40 hours, consideration for overtime should be made.
- Young Workers are only permitted to do light work, so as not to threaten their health and safety nor hinder their educational or vocational orientation and training.
2.3. Public Service
If you are working for the Public Service, refer to the Office of the Public Commissioner.
- Recruitment
A person must not use harsh or oppressive behavior during the negotiation of an employment agreement.
A person must not enter into an employment agreement that is harsh and oppressive.
Conduct a good recruitment process in 3 steps:
1.Prioritize our local workforce by advertising widely in country before turning to overseas workforce.
2. Conduct an in-depth interview and prepare a clear job description. Assess each application fairly and honestly, without any form of discrimination based on ethnic, beliefs, religion, gender or sexual orientation, disability, age, health and maternity.
3. Select and appoint the preferred applicant only after due diligence is observed. Confidentiality of applicants and privacy should be of utmost consideration.
Do you have vacancies to fill ? Are you looking for a job ? Click here for our Employment services .
4. Type of employments
- Full time employment means at least 35 hours of work required on a regular basis every week, with a reasonable expectation of job continuity.
- Part time employment means less than 35 hours of work required on a regular basis every week, with a reasonable expectation of job continuity.
- Casual employment means irregular hours of week or intermittent work or short term work only. Casual employment does not offer leave entitlements.
5. Employment Agreement ( Individual or Collective )
Employment agreement means an agreement under which an employee is employed.
5.1 An individual employment agreement is binding to only one employer and one employee.
Click here for the template of an individual employment agreement.
5.2 A collective employment agreement is binding between one or more employers and two or more employees. Employers and Employers have the freedom to choose whether or not to form an association or be members of an association for the purpose of advancing their collective employment interests.
A collective agreement must be in writing and signed by all the parties involved.
It must also include the following information at a minimum :
- Dates of commencement and expiry
- Any relevant events for the group
- Names and signature of all the parties involved
- Procedure for dispute resolution
- Procedure for varying the agreement.
It should also specify if it will cover new employees or not.
For more information on collective employment agreement , look up Part 2 of the Employment Relations Act.