“…It was formed in 2008 by resort workers seeking protection of their employment rights because they had been excluded from Chapter 4 of the Employment Act when it was initially enacted. Najeeb () attributes this exclusion to the fact that many members of parliament were also resort owners. A TEAM executive recalled the association's beginnings as follows: We collected 10,000 signatures from resort workers and submitted a petition to both the government and the parliament giving them an ultimatum to amend the law.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Similarly, the Employment Tribunal's function was ostensibly to resolve employment disputes, but the Act that established it did not mention stoppages or strikes. Likewise, the 2013 Peaceful Assembly Act restricted demonstrations to locations designated by the government, so that it served as a means of political control rather than to enable peaceful assembly (Najeeb, ). These actions show how a powerful actor such as the state can establish and support parallel logics in the regulatory environment.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The Maldivian government has included a labour ministry since the 1990s. At first, its function was to issue expatriate work permits, deal with unpaid wages and foreign worker repatriation (Najeeb, ). Under the MDP government, responsibility for labour administration, labour inspection, formulating employment policies and employment promotion were vested in the Ministry for Youth and Sport (MHRYS).…”
This paper analyses recent changes in the industrial relations (IR) system in the Maldives. Critical incidents were compiled from interview and document data and analysed using a quasi-grounded theory approach. The analysis shows that, precipitated by the political events of September 2003, profound democratic and IR changes took place, including the emergence of new IR actors and institutions. However, the outcomes of these profound changes were short-lived, reverting to old undemocratic practices and arrangements. The paper highlights the reasons why democratic change occurred as it did in the Maldives and why it reversed.
“…It was formed in 2008 by resort workers seeking protection of their employment rights because they had been excluded from Chapter 4 of the Employment Act when it was initially enacted. Najeeb () attributes this exclusion to the fact that many members of parliament were also resort owners. A TEAM executive recalled the association's beginnings as follows: We collected 10,000 signatures from resort workers and submitted a petition to both the government and the parliament giving them an ultimatum to amend the law.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Similarly, the Employment Tribunal's function was ostensibly to resolve employment disputes, but the Act that established it did not mention stoppages or strikes. Likewise, the 2013 Peaceful Assembly Act restricted demonstrations to locations designated by the government, so that it served as a means of political control rather than to enable peaceful assembly (Najeeb, ). These actions show how a powerful actor such as the state can establish and support parallel logics in the regulatory environment.…”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The Maldivian government has included a labour ministry since the 1990s. At first, its function was to issue expatriate work permits, deal with unpaid wages and foreign worker repatriation (Najeeb, ). Under the MDP government, responsibility for labour administration, labour inspection, formulating employment policies and employment promotion were vested in the Ministry for Youth and Sport (MHRYS).…”
This paper analyses recent changes in the industrial relations (IR) system in the Maldives. Critical incidents were compiled from interview and document data and analysed using a quasi-grounded theory approach. The analysis shows that, precipitated by the political events of September 2003, profound democratic and IR changes took place, including the emergence of new IR actors and institutions. However, the outcomes of these profound changes were short-lived, reverting to old undemocratic practices and arrangements. The paper highlights the reasons why democratic change occurred as it did in the Maldives and why it reversed.
“…We now present the study's research context, methods and empirical data. 1, Najeeb (2014) identified design, content and implementation challenges of the Maldivian employment legislation. These challenges give HR actors freedom to respond to the legislation, providing a suitable context for investigating the impact of the legislation on HRM practices in Maldivian resorts.…”
Section: Employment Legislation and Employment Practicesmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Local employees make up less than 50 per cent of the resort workforce, and local women less than 3 per cent. Notably, 51 per cent of managerial and supervisory positions are held by expatriates (Najeeb, 2014). Average salary levels of local and foreign employees differ significantly.…”
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how resort managers respond to employment legislation (Law No. 02/2008).
Design/methodology/approach
The qualitative case study data from seven self-contained tourist resorts in the Maldives were used to investigate the managerial responses to employment legislation.
Findings
Resort managers’ responses ranged from passive compliance to active resistance, with decoupling through opportunism as the dominant strategy used to circumvent the legislation. Some human resource management (HRM) practices emerged from resort managers’ interactions with external stakeholders and employees. Strategic responses and HRM practices were driven by a search for legitimacy or efficiency and sometimes both. The findings show that there are differences between strategic responses and HRM practices by organisational subfield, local resorts and international hotel chains. The resorts’ market orientation also influenced resort managers’ responses and HRM practices.
Research limitations/implications
The findings of this paper have limitations because it was limited to a single industry/sector and to a particular piece of legislation. However, it demonstrates the complexity of the relationship between institutional context and HRM.
Originality/value
This paper shows that responding to employment legislation entails a high level of interplay between the institutional environment and HR actors, and between stakeholders (e.g. employees) and HR actors. It demonstrates the difficulty of reconciling institutional requirements with the preferences of different stakeholders and organisational interests. HR actors actively make sense of institutional requirements and modify HRM practices to accommodate stakeholders’ varying perspectives and preferences. This suggests that in countries such as the Maldives, uneven institutional coverage (e.g. incomplete employment legislation) allows room for organisations to innovate – for better or worse.
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