Corporate Governance Chapter 5 between persons of different sex, race, marital status, religion, origin and disability and to prohibit discrimination on those grounds, particularly in employment, education, accommodation and the provision of goods, services and facilities as well as in admission to private clubs. 706. The CSAR observes that there is no legal framework to regulate corporate social responsibility (CSR) of businesses in Mauritius. The private sector believes that “CSR is unfocused, ad hoc and unrelated to business operations and strategy … more than 75 per cent of enterprises do not have a well-defined policy for CSR … while less than 28 per cent have budget allocations for CSR … and very few communicate or report on CSR”. 707. The CSAR also notes that the MEF believes that policy guidance from the government on CSR would be helpful. Furthermore, twothirds of the respondents to the survey believe that the 2003 report on corporate governance should give specific measures and guidelines for improving the CSR activities of companies. The chairperson of the NCCG has acknowledged this and has stated that a subcommittee on CSR has been established and that CSR is on the agenda of the NCCG. The CRM should ensure that CSR is included in any new draft of the code. 708. The CSAR reports that most respondents pointed out that it may be appropriate to extend the special levy (the Empowerment Fund), currently applicable only to the hospitality and banking sectors, to other business sectors in Mauritius. This will create national solidarity concerning the less fortunate and the development of the country. Chapter 5 ii. 256 The CSAR reports that the Environment Protection Act (EPA) of 15 July 200834 is the legislation that protects the environment in Mauritius. It also provides for the establishment of the National Environment Commission and the Police de L’Environnement. One very important objective of the new act is to provide for an environment protection fee levied on a number of firms, like hotels and boarding houses with more than four bedrooms, in order to raise funds to protect local environmental initiatives aimed at preventing and reducing pollution. The persons and organisations surveyed, on whether the environmental regulations are adequate, have expressed differing opinions. Most seem to think that they are inadequate for ensuring that companies comply with environmental regulations. 34 - This act flows from an amendment of the earlier act, Act 19 of 2002. Findings of the CRM Employment practices 710. The Report on Corporate Governance35 recognises that Mauritius has very diverse ethnic groups, religions and cultures. Mauritius therefore faces the challenge of equalising opportunity for this diverse spectrum of people. A number of prejudicial behaviour patterns are reported to have evolved in corporate Mauritius. The most important one is unfair employment practice in many economic sectors. For corporate Mauritius to play its full part in the economic and social development of the country, employment practices must be fair to all. Corporations need to address this in a code of ethics, an essential component of good governance. Workers’ rights 711. The social partners have debated the new major acts for workers’ rights and bargaining powers robustly. The most controversial points are: (i) flexible working hours, especially when some industries demand that employees work on Sundays; (ii) the role of the Termination of Contract Board (a specialised court) when jobs are lost for economic reasons; and (iii) collective bargaining procedures and flexible employment remuneration. While the employers’ associations see the new laws as the beginnings of a modern and flexible framework for labour market regulations, the labour unions see them as a massive attack on workers’ rights. 712. It is expected that the new laws will help to move Mauritius to a new model in which economic stakeholders play more determining roles while the state facilitates. In other words, the new laws place much emphasis on the process of collective bargaining and negotiations. Furthermore, they adopt the flexicurity model for terminating agreements. ‘Flexicurity’ is the term used to describe a policy that encourages labour market and employment flexibility. In contrast to this new model, the old labour laws were based on the premise that minimum terms and conditions of employment are best determined by the state through regulations. At least 29 separate employment sectors adopted Remuneration Order Regulations. The state acted more as a regulator than as a facilitator in the old model. 713. In summary, the new legal developments that govern workers’ rights introduce more flexibility to labour markets, especially with regard Environmental sustainability 709. Corporate Governance 35 - Report on Corporate Governance. First edition (revised). 2004. 257