Fairtrade NAPP and the National Institute of Labor Studies Conduct a Workshop with Hatton Plantations PLC on Workplace Management, Labor Relations and ILO Convention 190 in Sri Lanka
A one-day workshop held on 12 August 2026 at the Dickoya Training Centre in Darawella brought together 26 supervisory grade staff and executives of Hatton Plantations PLC, a Fairtrade certified tea company in Sri Lanka. The program was facilitated by the National Institute of Labor Studies, Colombo, under a working arrangement with Fairtrade NAPP to support Fairtrade certified estates
The People Who Run the Estate Floor Spend a Day on How It Works
Field and factory supervisors are where an estate's plans meet its people. On 12 August 2026, 26 of them from Hatton Plantations PLC, 19 women and 7 men, spent a day looking closely at that role. The workshop was facilitated by the National Institute of Labor Studies (NILS), Colombo, under a working arrangement with Fairtrade NAPP to support Fairtrade certified estates in Sri Lanka. Mr. Torans Jayasange, Manager Quality Assurance at Hatton Plantations PLC, opened the day, and Mr. Priyantha Kumara, Assistant Director at NILS, set out what the program aimed to do.
Teamwork Read as a Productivity Tool, Not Only as a Value
The session led by Mr. Thusara De Silva of NILS worked through what makes a team function and brought each point back to the plantation, where a single shift depends on several groups doing their part on time. It closed on the link between teamwork and productivity, giving supervisors a way to explain to their own teams why cooperation is part of how the day's targets are met.
Labor Law Supervisors Can Use, Not Only Refer To
In the session led by Mr. Ranjith Abeyrathne of NILS, participants moved through industrial relations, applicable labor law and the management of industrial disputes. Supervisors usually meet a workplace issue at its earliest stage. They left with a clearer sense of which matters can be settled through the estate's existing processes and which need to be raised further, which is often the difference between a quick resolution and a formal dispute.
ILO Convention 190 With a Practical Meaning for the Estate
Participants were introduced to the principles of ILO Convention No. 190 on violence and harassment in the world of work, through what those principles ask of people who supervise daily work: how to recognize behavior that falls under it, how to respond, and how prevention becomes part of ordinary supervision. With 19 of the 26 participants being women in supervisory and executive roles, the discussion sat with people well placed to carry it into their teams.
Social Dialogue as a First Step Rather Than a Last Resort
The closing discussion looked at how structured conversation between management and workers resolves issues before they harden, and at where this fits within the estate's workplace management plan. Participants then worked out how each part of the day applies on their own divisions, giving Hatton Plantations PLC a shared way of describing teamwork, labor relations and workplace cooperation across divisions.
What Comes Next
Fairtrade NAPP will gather feedback from Hatton Plantations PLC on how far the learning has been applied, and participants asked for programs of this kind to continue as teams change and new supervisors take up these roles. The workshop was fully facilitated and sponsored by NILS. Fairtrade NAPP and NILS are now exploring further programs for other Fairtrade certified organizations in Sri Lanka, and ways for estates to share good workplace practices with one another.
