Employment
Labour and Employment Relations Act 2017 with a seafarer workforce
The Labour and Employment Relations Act 2017 modernised employment law, setting minimum terms and dispute procedures. Seafaring on foreign vessels is a major source of employment and is separately regulated.
Key rules
- Deadline — Employment grievances follow the Act's internal and tribunal timelines
- Deadline — Provident fund contributions are compulsory for employer and employee
Governing law
- Labour and Employment Relations Act 2017 (s. 24)
- Tuvalu National Provident Fund Act
- Marine Actseafarer engagement
- Workmen's Compensation ActCap. 91
In practice
The 2017 Act replaced older labour ordinances and introduced clearer minimum terms, grievance handling and protection against unjustified dismissal, bringing Tuvalu closer to the Samoan and New Zealand model than to Tonga's contractual approach. The distinctive feature of the labour market is that a large proportion of formal employment is seafaring on foreign-flagged merchant vessels, governed by the engagement terms and by international maritime labour standards rather than by domestic employment law in operation — so a Tuvaluan seafarer's rights may turn on the flag state and the Maritime Labour Convention rather than on the 2017 Act.