EFC announces first ever ILO accredited Executive Diploma in Employment Relations

Collaborating with an employers’ organisation for the first time, the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization, (ITC – ILO) recently entered into an MoU with the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon (EFC) in launching an Executive Diploma in Employment Relations in October this year. The International Training Centre of the ILO is the training arm of the International Labour Organization; it runs training, learning and capacity development services for governments, employers’ organisations, workers’ organisations and other national and international partners in support of decent work and sustainable development.

In a recent press release by the EFC, Paolo Salvai, Programme Officer, Employers’ Activities Bureau Office at the International Training Centre of the ILO office states: “We are proud to support the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon in the delivery of the Executive Diploma in Employment Relations; students in the Executive Diploma will get access to online training material, cases and tools developed by the ITC ILO for its international training programs.” 

The partnership between EFC and ITC ILO, as Salvai asserts further, will mutually reinforce the two organisations and constitute a model for employers’ organisations in other countries which would like to set up similar diploma courses for the benefit of HR managers in different parts of the world. “Better employment relations practices bring better and more competitive companies,” he adds.

Commenting on this initiative at the EFC’s 88th AGM, EFC Chairman Suresh Shah noted the launching of the Diploma will mark a significant milestone as a first time collaboration of this nature between ITC- ILO and any of its stakeholders. “I hope that the member companies will make full use of the resources that have been made available to us by encouraging their staff to follow this course of study and receive a Diploma certified and branded, both by the EFC and the ILO.”

The Diploma as, Head of Training, EFC, Ayomi Fernando illustrates, is also an expansion of the Labour Law and Industrial Relations Certificate Programme which the EFC had been conducting for the last 19 years. “There had been an overwhelming demand by the participants for our existing Certificate Course to be further developed into a Diploma and this collaboration is a realisation of it,” says Fernando. The one-year Executive Diploma which will be launched in October is open to HR and Legal practitioners and other professionals dealing with employment and industrial relations. A concessionary course fee is offered to EFC members. “Candidates will be selected upon a screening test and we encourage all those who have completed our certificate course to apply for this practically-geared diploma.”

Comprising 10 modules entailing 45 hours of class room course work, the course will also expose the beneficiaries to on-line modules and practical realities of the world of work encompassing work place negotiations, grievance handling, etc. Conducted at the EFC premises, the course work will be delivered by eminent professionals in the industry drawn from the EFC and its member companies. The diploma, constituting of some novel modules such as ‘Sustainability’ and ‘Green Initiatives’, is promised to be a stimulating exercise adhering to ILO benchmarked guidelines and coming within the framework of SLVQ (Sri Lanka Vocational Qualification).