The main stake holders of the ILO, government, trade unions and employers, subscribed to the Decent Work country Programme based on the ILOs decent Work agenda last year. The EFC clearly outlined that the concept of Decent Work should be regarded as a “moving target” which should consist of a minimum content which underpins most types of employment. The concept of Decent Work also emphasizes the importance of enterprise promotion and development as being pre-conditions. Within this framework the EFC identified employment generation and productivity improvement as two main areas of activity that it would engage in promoting the Decent Work Country Programme in Sri Lanka. In fact, in November last year the EFC became one of the first Employer Organizations within the ILO to have released a publication on “Operationalizing Decent Work : An Employers Perspective” which was authored by Mr Sriyan de Silva, a former Chief Executive of the EFC and a well known author and an expert in industrial relations, both within and outside Sri Lanka.

On the basis of the key areas of activities identified, the EFC embarked on a project with the assistance of the ILO to identify training needs in the SME sector. An empirical study was undertaken in four regions, namely, Galle, Kurunegala, Kandy and Gampaha. The study included an analysis of 178 small and medium enterprises and the findings were quite revealing. Business planning and productivity enhancement were identified as the key priority areas which needed attention with regard to these enterprises. As a follow up to the findings of the study, the EFC will soon embark on a project which would identify SMEs that need training in these areas and provide a training package for them. This would be done with the assistance of some of the larger enterprises within the EFC membership who would be in a position to identify some of their own suppliers which would fall into the category of SMEs. The EFC believes that through this training package these SMEs would obtain the required assistance in making their businesses more vibrant and sustainable.
 
Enhancing productivity has been one of the key policy directions that has been identified in the Ten Year Horizon Development Framework under labour policies. However, the EFC has emphasized that we need to translate these ideas into action, especially in the context of making the required reforms in our labour relations framework. Quite apart from the fact that Sri Lanka has a very rigid labour relations framework with archaic laws, it is noteworthy to note that some of the members within the EFC have taken proactive steps towards enhancing productivity through collective bargaining and other forms of work place cooperation mechanisms. The EFC is happy to record that during the calendar year 2009, out of 41 collective agreements that were signed between employers and trade unions, 13 Agreements include productivity/performance based incentive payments.
 
One of the landmark collective agreements was finalized in the plantation sector in relation to the plantation workers between the three main signatory unions, namely CWC, LJEWU and JPTUC and the EFC representing the 23 regional plantation companies. The wage package of a plantation worker (Rs 405/- per day) now includes a productivity incentive of Rs 30/- per day which is linked to the norm/task of an employee. Although it is just over 3 months into the new agreement, it has been reported that the productivity incentive has made a tremendous impact on worker efficiency. The EFC will also release a publication which will entail simple guidelines to enhancing productivity and efficiency in the workplace. This publication will not have technical jargon and will cater to explain the concept of productivity in a simple manner that could be understood by an average worker.
 
The latest report on “Labour and Social Trends in Sri Lanka 2009” that was released by the Central Bank, Ministry of Labour Relations and Manpower along with the ILO has revealed that skills mismatch continues to be one of the serious problems facing unemployment in Sri Lanka. We are aware of many youth with academic qualifications unable to find suitable employment in the job market. On the other hand, there are employers who continue to say that they cannot find candidates for employment in certain sectors. Therefore, in line with the EFC objective of promoting employment generation, it has decided to conduct a survey among the EFC membership on entry level skills and competencies that would be required by employers. A preliminary workshop will be held in this regard at the EFC on 19^th January in order to ascertain some of the important areas that need to be identified in the questionnaire relating to the survey.
 
The Responsible Business Initiatives Unit of the EFC has carried out its activities with a clear focus on strategic corporate social responsibility. The EFC believes that whatever activity that enterprises engage on in relation to CSR should have a strategic focus on business which would in turn make it a sustainable activity in the enterprise. The EFC Employers Network on Disability has already commenced training on IT to the visually handicapped. There are over 60 visually handicapped persons undergoing training at the EFC regularly on IT.
 
As Sri Lanka has been identified as a country which will have an ageing population, the Responsible Business Initiatives Unit of EFC has decided to embark on a special project in relation to the ageing work force within the EFC membership. The EFC will carry out a survey during this year amongst selected members on “expectations of an ageing working population”. The purpose of this survey will be to identify enterprises which have an ageing work force and interview a sample of workers at different levels and ascertain their views in relation to the social security schemes, their own expectations to continue work, retirement plans and any other concerns they would have in relation to their retirement. The findings of this survey will be used as a foundation for follow up work on ageing work force population.
 
The EFC appreciates the fact that during the last 3 years the government has clearly recognized that private sector wages need to be determined on the basis of the capacity of the employer and market rates. This is the very foundation on which the free market economy can be sustained. Therefore, it is extremely important that policy makers take note of it. Arbitrary intervention in private sector wages will be counter productive to collective bargaining.
 
The EFC membership has acted in a responsible manner especially during the economic recession which affected some of the members very severely during last year. However, we are happy to record that the enterprises within the EFC have restructured their enterprises in a socially responsible manner looking at different options as alternatives to reducing the number of employees. In some enterprises this has resulted in having a more flexible work force willing to undertake work of a different nature to make the operations of the enterprises more efficient. Most employers have clearly indicated that retrenchment would be their last resort even at the worst times during the crisis.

Let us hope that the confidence and the strength our enterprises obtained during times of difficulty last year, will give them the required impetus to steer their organizations to a position of strength in the coming year.