______________________________________________
THE
UNIVERSITY OF THE SOUTH PACIFIC
______________________________________________
TIME ALLOWED: 3 hours plus 15 minutes reading time
NUMBER OF PAGES:
5 including cover page
NUMBER OF
QUESTIONS ON PAPER: 10
NUMBER OF
QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED: 4
1
from Part A
3
from Part B
MARK ALLOCATED
FOR EACH QUESTION: 25
TOTAL MARKS: 100
1. The examination
is open book. You are permitted to take any materials that you want to, other
than library books, into the examination room.
2. Use pen to write
only. Do not write your answers in pencil.
3. Answer 1
question from Part A and 3 questions from Part B.
4. Each question is
worth 25% of the total mark.
PART A: answer 1 question only
1.
“The creation of jobs and sustainable livelihoods requires:
•
sound economic policies and economic growth;
• increased
access to integrated and co-ordinated training, business
awareness, management and accounting;
•
increased access to micro-finance;
•
development of business and finance programmes for
youth;
• removal of restrictive rules, regulations, and laws that
stifle economic activity; and
•
restructuring of the educational and training system.”
(Ahlburg, D Job Creation and Sustainable Livelihoods in
Pacific Island Nations Suva: UNDP 1997)
Identify which political approach(es) the above quote
reflects and discuss what effects implementing such an approach(es) could have on the labour market in
2.
How has the pre colonial and colonial history of labour in the South Pacific affected the current employment
contracts legislation throughout the USP region?
Use specific examples to illustrate
your answer.
3.
What difficulties stand in the way of the successful operation
of trade unions in the Pacific?
You can either discuss this generally,
or in respect of a particular country from within the USP region.
4.
Discuss the role of the International Labour Organisation
(the ILO).
Your answer should consider both the ILO’s general role in the international labour market and
the specific activities that it carries out in countries of the USP region.
5.
Stephen
works as a car mechanic at Reliable Motors Ltd. Reliable Motors Ltd does a variety
of things. It sells new and used cars, rents out vehicles, sells car parts and
repairs cars. Stephen’s job is to maintain the hire cars and to fix up any used
cars that Reliable Motors Ltd is trying to sell. He also repairs cars for other
people. These other people are usually referred to as ‘private customers’.
Stephen must do any
car repairs that Reliable Motors Ltd asks him to do. Stephen has the choice of
whether he will work for any other people who want repairs done to their cars.
If Stephen is too busy to do work for private customers there is no obligation
on him to do so.
All of the garage
equipment is owned by Reliable Motors Ltd. Reliable Motors Ltd also pays for
all of the maintenance costs on the equipment. Stephen is allowed to use any of
the equipment in the garage. He is not allowed to let other people into the
garage to use the equipment. This effectively means that Stephen cannot get
someone else to do his work for him, but has to personally attend to any jobs
that he takes on.
Each job, whether
it is for Reliable Motors Ltd or for a private customer, is charged at a
fair market price to the person who asked for the job to be done. At the end of
each month Reliable Rentals Ltd pays Stephen 60% of the labour hours that he
has charged out. Neither party pays any taxes on this money.
In your opinion is Stephen an employee or an independent contractor? Give reasons for your opinion. If you require more facts state what these are and why you need them.
6.
Write a letter to a client that:
a. outlines what
sources of contractual terms there are in employment contracts; and
b. explains what terms
are implied into employment contracts by the common law (special employment
contract implied terms) and how they work.
7.
Compare the adequacy of
legislative provisions of
a. Limits on the
types of work that women are permitted to undertake under the employment
contracts legislation
b. The classes
of people excluded from the employment contracts legislation
c. The penalty provisions in the event of a
breach of the employment contracts legislation
8.
John started work as a typist at the office of Taylor & Dutt. He spent at least 6 hours a day working on a
computer. He was employed under a written contract for a fixed term of 2 years.
There was no notice provision provided in this contract.
After John had been working for 6
months he began to get bad headaches so he went to a doctor. The doctor saw
that John was getting headaches because the bones in his neck were out of
place. When John told the doctor that he spent at least 6 hours every day
working on a computer the doctor asked him how the computer was set up. From
John’s description of his desk at work the doctor realised
that the bones in John’s neck were out of place and giving him headaches
because he was having
to look down at his computer screen. The doctor said that John needed a new chair and a proper
computer desk so that he could sit comfortably at his computer. The doctor also
said that John’s employer needed to make sure that the lighting in the office
was improved.
The doctor gave John a booklet to give
to his manager, Ms Dutt, about how to set up computer
work desks properly to avoid injuries to workers that use computers a lot. When
John told Ms Dutt what the doctor had said and gave
her the booklet she laughed and said that the only reason that John was getting
headaches was because he did not like working too hard .
She told John if he needed a new desk and chair then he could pay for it
himself.
Nothing changed at work, and John kept
working for another 2 weeks. Then his headaches got so bad that he told Ms Dutt that he could not work. Ms Dutt
asked John if he was resigning. John did not say anything. That day he left the
office and never went back to work.
John has now received a letter from
Taylor & Dutt saying that he has breached his
contract and owes them damages. John then came to you
for advice.
Advise
John as to his legal position in this situation.
Base
your advice in the jurisdiction of your choice.
9.
Write a letter to a client explaining the sorts of actions
that a trade union can undertake and what personal liability trade union
members and officials have for the actions of their trade union.
Base your letter in the jurisdiction of
your choice.
10.
Lisa had worked as a waitress at the Outrigger Restaurant
for 10 years. During this time she had never taken any annual leave. Her
contract was an open ended oral contract. There was no provision in it for
termination with notice or for procedures to be followed in the event of
termination because of misconduct.
Lisa started to come to work late. Every day she would be anything from 20 minutes to an hour late each day. Her manager therefore called her aside and told her that if she did not start coming to work on time she would be in trouble.
After her
manager had said this Lisa started coming to work on time sometimes. She would
normally be on time three days out of every week. The other days she would
usually be about half and hour late. Lisa's manager therefore called her aside
again and told Lisa that she had already been told once, and that if she came
to work late again she would lose her job.
After this Lisa came to work on time
for 3 weeks. One day after this she came to work 20 minutes late. Her manager
saw Lisa and, in front of all of the other staff, told Lisa that she had been
warned that she must come to work on time and that she was fired. Lisa tried to
tell her manager that she was late because she had had to take her sick child
to the doctor but the manager said “I am not interested in any of your excuses,
you are fired.” Lisa left work immediately.
In
your opinion was Lisa’s termination legal? What remedies can the wronged party
seek?
Base
your advice in the jurisdiction of your choice.