Glossary
Plain-language definitions for workers. A source link is given where a definition depends on a specific document; general terms have none.
- ACC
- Accident Compensation Corporation — New Zealand's no-fault accident insurance scheme. RSE workers who are injured can apply through their doctor.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- Affiliation
- A working relationship in which one independent union joins, or links with, another union or a federation. It is not a merger: each keeps its own name and decisions. In Fiji's Employment Relations Act 2007 (original text), a union's affiliation needs a secret ballot supported by more than 50% of all members.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- Arrival briefing
- Information session an employer gives PALM workers when they arrive in Australia, covering work, accommodation, pay, rights and local support.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- C100 — Equal Remuneration
- ILO Convention No. 100 (1951). Equal pay for men and women for work of equal value.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- C105 — Abolition of Forced Labour
- ILO Convention No. 105 (1957). Bans forced labour used for punishment, political pressure, labour discipline, or as a punishment for taking part in strikes, among other purposes.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- C111 — Discrimination (Employment and Occupation)
- ILO Convention No. 111 (1958). Bans discrimination at work on grounds such as race, colour, sex, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- C138 — Minimum Age
- ILO Convention No. 138 (1973). Sets the minimum age for work, so that children can finish school.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- C182 — Worst Forms of Child Labour
- ILO Convention No. 182 (1999). Requires urgent action to end the worst forms of child labour, such as slavery, trafficking and hazardous work.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- C188 — Work in Fishing Convention
- ILO Convention No. 188 (2007). Minimum standards for work on fishing vessels: written work agreements, rest hours, pay, food and accommodation, safety, medical care, repatriation and social security.
- Fishers · Source
- C189 — Domestic Workers Convention
- ILO Convention No. 189 (2011). Decent work standards for people who work in or for private households.
- Domestic Workers · Source
- C29 — Forced Labour Convention
- ILO Convention No. 29 (1930). Requires countries to suppress forced or compulsory labour — work taken from a person under threat of a penalty, which they did not offer to do freely.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- C87 — Freedom of Association
- ILO Convention No. 87 (1948). Protects the right of workers and employers to form and join organisations of their own choosing without prior permission.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- C98 — Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining
- ILO Convention No. 98 (1949). Protects workers against discrimination for union membership and asks governments to promote voluntary collective bargaining.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- CCM
- Members, Cooperating Non-members and Participating Territories of the WCPFC — the governments and territories bound by WCPFC measures.
- Fishers · Source
- CMM 2024-04
- The WCPFC Conservation and Management Measure for Crew Labour Standards, adopted in 2024. It takes effect on 1 January 2028.
- Fishers · Source
- Collective agreement
- A written agreement on pay and conditions, negotiated between a union and an employer or group of employers.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- Collective bargaining
- Negotiation between a union, on behalf of a group of workers, and an employer, to agree terms and conditions of work.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- Constitution (union rules)
- The written rules of a union: its name, aims, how leaders are elected, how money is handled, and how decisions are made.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- Country Liaison Officer (CLO)
- An official from a worker's home country, based in Australia or New Zealand, who supports PALM or RSE workers.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- Crew provider
- Under CMM 2024-04, any person, company or agency that recruits fishers for, or places fishers with, vessel owners.
- Fishers · Source
- Decent work
- The ILO's term for work that is productive and fairly paid, safe, secure, respects rights, and gives people a voice.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- Deduction
- Money taken out of your pay before you receive it — for example for accommodation, flights or insurance. Deductions should be agreed and explained in writing.
- Seasonal Workers · Fishers · Domestic Workers · Source
- DEWR
- Australia's Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, which runs the PALM scheme.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- Domestic worker
- A person who does domestic work — work performed in or for a household — within an employment relationship (ILO C189).
- Domestic Workers · Source
- EEZ
- Exclusive Economic Zone — the sea area, up to 200 nautical miles from the coast, where a coastal country has rights over fishing and other resources.
- Fishers
- Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO)
- Australia's workplace regulator. It gives information and helps with pay and workplace rights. Phone 13 13 94.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- FFA
- Pacific Islands Forum Fisheries Agency — the regional agency that helps its member countries manage and benefit from their tuna fisheries.
- Fishers
- Flag State
- The country where a vessel is registered and whose flag it flies. Its laws apply on board.
- Fishers
- Forced labour
- Work or service taken from a person under threat of a penalty, which they did not offer to do freely (ILO C29).
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers · Source
- Freedom of association
- The right of workers and employers to form and join organisations of their own choosing (ILO C87).
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- Grievance
- A complaint, or a strong feeling that you have been treated unfairly (PALM grievance policy definition).
- Seasonal Workers · Fishers · Domestic Workers · Source
- High seas
- Ocean areas beyond any country's EEZ.
- Fishers
- HMTCs
- Harmonised Minimum Terms and Conditions — conditions FFA members set for foreign fishing vessels licensed in their waters, including crew employment conditions.
- Fishers · Source
- ILO
- International Labour Organization — the United Nations agency that brings governments, employers and workers together to set labour standards.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- IUU fishing
- Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing — fishing that breaks the rules, is not reported, or happens where no rules apply.
- Fishers
- Labour Inspectorate
- The New Zealand government team that enforces minimum employment standards.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- Labour sending unit
- The government office in a worker's home country that registers and prepares workers for PALM, RSE and other schemes.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- MLC, 2006
- The Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 — the ILO standard for seafarers on merchant ships. Fishers are covered by C188 instead.
- Fishers
- NORMLEX
- The ILO's online database of labour standards and of which countries have ratified them.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers · Source
- Observer
- A trained independent person placed on a fishing vessel to record catch and fishing activity for fisheries managers, such as under the WCPFC Regional Observer Programme.
- Fishers · Source
- PALM
- Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme — lets Australian employers hire workers from Pacific countries and Timor-Leste for short-term (up to 9 months) and long-term jobs.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- Pastoral care
- Support an employer gives workers outside working hours — help with health services, shops, church, sport and community. Required for RSE workers.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- PIF
- Pacific Islands Forum — the region's main political organisation of Pacific leaders.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- Port State
- The country whose port a vessel visits. Port States can inspect vessels and act on complaints.
- Fishers · Source
- Ratification
- When a country formally agrees to be bound by an international convention, such as an ILO Convention.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- Registrar of Trade Unions
- In Fiji, the official who keeps the register of trade unions and decides applications to register.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- Repatriation
- Getting a worker home at the end of a job or when they can no longer work.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers · Source
- RSE
- Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme — New Zealand's scheme for horticulture and viticulture employers to hire seasonal workers, mainly from Pacific countries.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- Superannuation
- Australian retirement savings. Employers pay a share of wages into a fund for the worker. PALM workers have guides on this.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- Tripartite
- Involving three parties: government, employers and workers.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- Union (trade union)
- An organisation of workers who join together to improve their pay and conditions and speak with one voice.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
- WCPFC
- Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission — the regional body that manages tuna and other highly migratory fish in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.
- Fishers
- Welfare and wellbeing officer
- A person a PALM employer must appoint to help and support workers.
- Seasonal Workers · Source
- Worker voice
- Workers being able to speak up and be heard about their own working conditions — individually or through a union.
- Fishers · Seasonal Workers · Domestic Workers
Pacific Institute of Workplace Relations — Fair Conditions At Work