MALDIVES LAW AND PRACTICE Contributed by: Shaaheen Hameed, Hassan Maaz Shareef, Aminath Amathulla, Nazahath Ahmed, Isha Ali Raoof, Aifa Shareef, Noorul Hudha Ahmed and Mohamed Azmee, Premier Chambers LLP
• Between one year and four years: a minimum of two months. • More than four years: a minimum of three months. Collective Redundancies In the Maldives, the laws and regulations do not differentiate between collective redundan - cies and individual redundancies. The same procedure laid down in the relevant laws and regulations needs to be followed in conducting redundancies if it’s a single person redundancy or collective redundancy. The Maldives High Court has set a precedent on the matter stating that as there are no laws or regulations that provide that redundancy pro - cedures are different for individual redundancies and collective redundancies, unless limited by a law or by the employment agreement, the proce - dures laid out in the laws and regulations need to be fulfilled regardless of the number of persons being affected by the redundancy. Before terminating any employees for redun - dancy, the employer has to notify the employ - ees that there might be circumstances where an employee or employees might have to be made redundant or the decision to make the employees redundant has been made first. This notification will include the policy relating to the determination of the employees who will be dismissed. Before the dismissal of any employ - ees for redundancy, the employer has to take measures to avoid termination or to minimise the number of employees affected, as much as the circumstances allow. The employer also has to establish a policy out - lining the criteria for determining the employees who will be made redundant and this policy has
to be communicated to the employees. This policy, at the very least, has to consider: • the service duration of the employee; • the employee’s skills, education and experi - ence required for the job; • the employee’s attendance and disciplinary records; and • the criteria for fulfilment of job duties or staff appraisal. The employees who will be made redundant must be determined according to the policy and There is no law in the Maldives that states it is mandatory for employees to be represented in employment-related matters. However, the Industrial Relations Act provides that employees can register trade unions and that they have the right to take part or not take part in the activities of the trade unions including the implementation of collective bargaining or strikes through trade unions. Trade unions have the right to commence col - lective bargaining with employers and initiation will not be aimed at securing rights or gaining advantage for a particular individual in the union. Unions are generally restricted from utilising unions in a way that is not in the interests of members or where members have conflicting interests. in good faith and in a fair manner. 4.5 Employee Representations The employers have to commence collective bargaining negotiations if the union making the request represents the majority of the employer’s employees.
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