The Minister for Commerce, Industry, Labour and Immigration Harry Kuma has reassigned Labour Commissioner functions to 28 officers under the Labour Act.
An Extraordinary Gazette published on 18 June 2026 sets out new assignments of powers and functions of the Commissioner of Labour under the Labour Act and other written laws.
The notice, signed by Minister Harry Degruit Kuma and dated 29 May 2026, assigns all functions of the Commissioner of Labour under the Labour Act and other written laws to John Tahiapa and Damisulia O’ota.
It also assigns functions under Sections 7, 8 and 9 of the Labour Act and Section 29 of the Safety at Work Act to 26 other officers whose names are listed in the Gazette.
At the same time, the Gazette revokes previous assignments of the Commissioner of Labour’s powers and functions granted to nine officers, with immediate effect.
The reassignment was made under Section 6(1) of the Labour Act, which allows the minister to assign functions of the Commissioner of Labour to other officers without affecting the Commissioner’s authority to exercise those functions.
The Gazette states that the assignments are subject to Section 6(4) of the Act, which requires officers exercising the Commissioner’s functions to avoid conflicts of interest, maintain the confidentiality of commercial information obtained through their duties, and protect the identity of complainants whose reports may lead to workplace inspections.
