In a shocking incident at the Colonial War Memorial Hospital (CWMH) on Tuesday, a caregiver faced religious discrimination when a head nurse instructed her to remove her hijab upon reporting to work at the new surgical ward.
Residing in Komave settlement in Nabua, Rasida Janif was completing her two-month internship as a caregiver, having successfully completed her caregiving courses at the Fiji National University (FNU).
Ms J anif claimed the head nurse explicitly directed her to take off her hijab, asserting that the hospital was “not a religious facility”.
The statement left Ms Janif with mixed emotions, describing the incident as racially motivated and emotionally distressing.
“This is the first time I’ve had to endure such a horrifying experience,” Ms Janif said, expressing her dismay at the sudden discriminatory treatment.
“I’ve worked in many places, and everyone accepted my attire as it is.”
Ms Janif highlighted she had initially been advised to wear a shorter hijab during her first weeks of attachment, which she willingly complied with.
However, the abrupt demand to remove her hijab later in her internship conflicted with her religious beliefs, leaving her feeling targeted.
The Islamic headscarf, she emphasised, is not merely a piece of clothing but “a big part of her identity,” and relinquishing it would compromise her deeply held religious convictions.
Feeling disheartened, she still expressed her dedication to caregiving, citing it as her sole job opportunity.
In response to the issue, the Fiji Muslim League headquarters in Suva received a complaint from Ms Janif and intends to file a formal complaint with the Ministry of Health.
Colonial War Memorial Hospital Medical Superintendent, Dr Luke Nasedra, clarified that wearing a hijab “is allowed” and not prohibited within the hospital.
The Minister for Health and Medical Services, Dr Ratu Atonio Lalabalavu, said he had not received a formal complaint and could not comment any further.
The Fiji Women Crisis Centre coordinator, Shamima Ali, condemned the incident as a violation of human rights in a democratic country like Fiji.
She said such actions go against religious beliefs, deeming it “unacceptable” and a blatant human rights violation that demands immediate attention.
The Fiji Human Rights and AntiDiscrimination Commission will await an official complaint from the victim.
A robust safety-oriented approach is a key to minimizing work-related hazards. Let's understand how augmented reality can enhance workplace and employee safety?
Lately, I struggled with #depression, #ADHD, #autismburnout symptoms and a worsening #anxiety. I really liked my job and the people there, but after one month of sick leave, I was going back to hand out my demission. As always, when I wasn't let go because of said sick leaves.
#HRDive:
"In 2023, Elon Musk’s workplace cultures only got worse
Elon Musk isn’t the best at the whole employee experience thing, writes Reporter Caroline Colvin. Here’s how he has created toxic work environments across X, Tesla and SpaceX."
On one hand a consolidated pension that stays with the #worker as they shift jobs & which employers are required to make contributions to, sounds like one way of avoiding fragmentation.
But the key issue is whether the providers will match what firms with long-established #pensionfunds can offer.
the 'devil will be in the detail', but on the surface seems the most sensible thing he's said this week?
Another day, another organisation whose males concluded #women can (and should) be treated like sh*t!
While I applaud the growing willingness of people to speak out on #sexism & #sexualabuse in the #workplace & elsewhere, the fact that these revelations continue to surface indicates the continuing problem the UK (or perhaps the world?) has with #toxicmasculinity.
Men can do this in part because other men have not stopped them;
Almost a third of #workers say they have quit a job due to the #workplace culture, not least of all the practices of accidental managers - a survey for the Chartered Management Institute (reported in the Guardian) also noted that concerns about the quality of #management are widespread...
No #woman reading this post (and perhaps only some men) will be surprised that in work on #gender in the #workplace, McKinsey found that women 'are twice as likely to be interrupted & hear comments on their emotional state' which also leads to 'a third of women who don’t speak up to share an opinion [doing so] because they don’t want to appear disagreeable'!
Anyone who thinks the work of #feminism is largely done, is (sadly) fooling themselves!
& that's before we get onto the UK's bullying & dysfunctional management style, the general perception that the UK's state institutions are failing, and that the #climatecrisis now seems inevitably damaging to everyday life...
that people are stressed should be no surprise; stress is about seeing a desired end & having no agency to get to it!
Des milliers de personnes manifestent devant le Parlement à Athènes en Grèce contre un projet de loi augmentant la durée de travail maximum à 13h par jour et 78h par semaine en plus de restreindre le droit de grève avec des peines de 6 mois de prison et 5.000 € d'amende en cas de blocage sur les lieux de travail.
Thousands of #people demonstrate in front of Parliament in #Athens, #Greece against a bill increasing maximum #working hours to 13 hours per day and 78 hours per week in addition to restricting the right to #strike with penalties of 6 months in prison and €5,000 fine in the event of blockage at the #workplace.
#UK#AI#Workplace#AIBias: "We can’t let existential risks blind us to the challenges we face today,” says Gina Neff, a tech expert at the University of Cambridge and co-chair of a new TUC taskforce on artificial intelligence in the workplace. “Those challenges are real, and they’re faced by all of us.”
Rishi Sunak is hosting a global AI safety summit in November, amid hair-raising concerns raised by tech gurus – some of whom have even warned the technology could destroy humanity.
Sunak, a Stanford graduate, is known at Westminster as a wannabe West Coast tech bro, with his branded hoodies and Palm Angels sliders, and has picked up on the “existential” threats highlighted by some of the biggest names in Silicon Valley.
Neff welcomes the prime minister’s decision to call the summit. But today, without a hoodie in sight, she has come together with two fellow female tech experts – Dee Masters, an employment barrister, and the TUC campaigner Mary Towers – to discuss a more immediate, albeit less apocalyptic, threat from AI: the risk to workers’ rights." https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/sep/03/tuc-taskforce-examine-ai-threat-workers-rights
📌 Industrial robots today are programmed to perform specific and repetitive tasks, which limits their versatility; to make them perform different actions, they need to be reprogrammed by a person.
🤔 Considering that these #robots can cause severe harm, how should the responsibilities of #businesses and developers be distributed in ensuring #safety and control of such machines? What kinds of technologies and approaches should we develop to prevent accidents or abuses arising from their autonomy? How should we rethink the concept of safety in the #workplace?
"Micromanagement is fundamentally incompatible with psychological safety. And without psychological safety, teams don’t innovate, learn from their mistakes, or grow in ability."
Hijab Drama At CWM Hospital (fijisun.com.fj)
"This is the first time I've had to endure such a horrifying experience," Ms Janif said, expressing her dismay at the sudden discriminatory treatment.
OC Enhancing Workplace Safety with Augmented Reality (www.ediiie.com)
A robust safety-oriented approach is a key to minimizing work-related hazards. Let's understand how augmented reality can enhance workplace and employee safety?