Location: Apia, Samoa and home based
Duration: 60 working days
ARF Category: C3/C4 dependent on work experience
Est. Date: 2020
Programme Background
Adam Smith International (ASI) manages the Samoa Governance Support Programme, which is funded by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
Established in 2016 following agreement between the Government of Samoa (GoS) and the Government of Australia, the Samoa Governance Support Programme (the Programme) works with the GoS to achieve sustainable and equitable development in accordance with the Strategy for the Development of Samoa (2017-2020) and the Australia-Samoa Aid Partnership Arrangement (2016-2019). The Programme has two objectives: to develop and strengthen policies and institutions that enable sustainable and inclusive economic growth, especially private sector-led growth; and to improve economic governance by addressing issues that affect underlying public sector capability and performance.
Responsibility for the strategic management of the Programme rests with the Programme Steering Committee, whose membership comprises the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ministry of Finance (chair); the CEO of the Ministry of Prime Minister and Cabinet (deputy chair); the Chair of the Public Service Commission; and the Australian High Commissioner to Samoa.
Aim of the Assignment
In recent times, growing inequality and wage stagnation in the industrialised countries, coupled with stubbornly persistent high levels of poverty in many developing countries, have brought the question of the minimum wage to the forefront of political and economic discourse and decision-making.
However, while many developed and developing countries accept in principle the idea of a living or minimum wage, just as many tend not to have a well-established and fair means of doing so. According to the ILO, the main justification for such inaction tends to be that it is difficult to agree on how to define it and how to establish it.
As a result of a minimum wage (MW) review conducted by an independent technical assistant and in close collaboration with the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Labour (MCIL) and the Samoa National Tripartite Forum (SNTF) (the Review), on 1st January 2020, the minimum wage in Samoa was increased from $2.30 to $3.00 per hour
The aim of this assignment will be to help the Industrial Relations, Employment Permits and Occupational Safety and Health (IREPOSH) Division of MCIL to develop a national wage survey and to collect data appropriate for conducting a preliminary impact assessment of the recently introduced minimum wage.
Consultant selection will be based on the following criteria:
Length of assignment and locale. The length of the assignment will be 60 days, distributed as follows:
A considerable time space between the two missions is likely to be required for the Statistical Bureau to proceed with data-collection and data-entry processes. All data should be manageable for statistical analyses and the output of 18(a) and 18(b) will serve as the main input for the preliminary impact assessment [18(c)].
After mission 2 has been completed, ten days of home-based work for analysing data and writing the impact assessment report.
How to apply
Interested applicants are requested to submit a CV and a short covering note in an email with the subject “Consultant: National Wage Survey and Minimum Wage Impact Assessment” to Tammy.Theikdi@adamsmithinternational.com. Unfortunately, due to high application volume, only short-listed applicants will be contacted. Detailed terms of reference will be provided to short-listed candidates. Applications close 30th March 2020.
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# Happy to talk flexible working
Adam Smith International is a strategic development company that helps people prosper by making economies stronger, societies safer, and governments more effective. Our clients are governments, international organisations, companies, and foundations. They come to us to develop strategies and to design, deliver and evaluate programmes that, in turn, stimulate growth, stability and good governance.
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