FNPF SLASHES MEMBERS UNEMPLOYMENT ALLOWANCE B Y HALF BECAUSE OF “PROCESSING’

The FIJI NATIONAL PROVIDENT FUND (FNPF) cut by half their Unemployment Allowance to their members desperate for financial relief. This was a heartless act by the FNPF to service its own needs not those of its members who are right now suffering and facing hardship and despair.

But the more I think about what happened, the more I sense that something just does not add up.

The FNPF already had in place its $2000 unemployment allowance facility. But then just four days after Government announced a $1,000 COVID19 assistance scheme through the FNPF for workers affected by the Covid-19 emergency, the Fund’s CEO Mr Jaoji Koroi on April 1st, announced that the normal FNPF $2000 allowance would be chopped back by 50 per cent to $1,000.

What they did not clarify was whether this $1,000 would become the assistance offered by government in its rescue package or if it was separate. meaning the FNPF and the Government assistance combined would be $2,000 or if the new $1,000 on offer was in effect Government’s assistance package but paid for by the FNPF.

I ask this because the only explanation from the CEO was that this reduction was necessary to assist with processing.

You have got to be kidding Mr CEO!

How much more processing is involved in changing the number 2 to 1 or vice versa? A split second actually. But you expect us to believe that because of this split second “processing” it will require you to deny needy members $1,000 of their unemployment allowance entitlement?

That can’t be right, and nor does it make sense.

I recollect the CEO also encouraging members to seek funding from other sources and not rely totally on the FNPF? I can understand why he would say this because the Fund is for members’ retirement, so using it up now will diminish their retirement fund. And I am well aware the FNPF already has a crisis in that 61,284 of its members have ‘zero’ balances and a further 185,125 have less than $5,000 which is so small they cannot be converted into a viable pension.

But where else can workers go to get financial help to help them and thier families survive this crisis for an unknown duration?

This crisis could continue for the next 6 to 9 months, for my calculations I am using 9 months to December which is 40 weeks, so a $2,000 allowance will give members $50 a week. Reducing it to $1,000 means that allowance will now drop to $25 a week.

Can the FNPF board members and management feed thier family on $3.57 a day till December? I doubt it. So why have they really cut the unemployment allowance back?

Hypothetically speaking if the government did in fact go ahead and announce its $1,000 assistance to workers, without any prior discussion with FNPF, which already had its $2,000 allowance in place for the same purpose. This would certainly make the government’s ‘$1 billion support package’ look a little pathetic with its offer to workers an unemployment allowance which is 50% less than what FNPF already had in place. Not to mention the chaos and confusion they caused by reinventing the wheel.

So I think the $1,000 drop in allowance has nothing to do with processing, but everything to do with a face saving exercise to bring the FNPF allowance in line with Government’s $1,000 package to avoid ongoing embarrassment.

I much prefer my hypothetical analysis than the explanation offered by the CEO that they had to reduce the allowance by 50% because of the split-second processing required. So punching in $2000 from a keyboard takes a lot longer to process then punching in $1,000! Yea Right!

To the board and management of the FNPF, your corporate value on integrity requires you to ‘do what is right for your customers and colleagues.’ Why haven’t you done that?

It is outrageous, unethical, immoral and unjust to reduce the $2,000 unemployment allowance by 50% to $1,000 because of internal “processing”. It’s not about you or your “process” or cost; it’s about your members and their need for help to survive this crisis.

Please apply your commitment as set out in your Corporate Statement on teamwork to co-operate effectively and to deliver results to your members.

Reinstate the $2,000 allowance for unemployed members and if you get fired for doing this, then you have been persecuted for a good, just and noble cause. Just do what is right for your members and be willing to accept the consequences for doing so.

Very clearly, one thing that comes out of all the chaos and confusion surrounding this issue is that the FNPF and Government have big problems with crisis management. An organization like the Fund and Government should have a comprehensive well-considered crisis management model that can be adapted to any situation. It should address the concerns of all stakeholders – members, management and staff, government, the public and media.

In the current situation, clarity and empathy are vital, but regrettably it has been absent.