News Flash
Comment: The message is the medium
It’s many people’s favourite letter, the world’s most powerful sound, and the delightful Chinese word “Mamahuhu” (horses, tigers, or so-so) says it all. The letter “m” is everywhere that’s anywhere and a very important sound to note if someone is
Comment: Thermodynamics of the workplace
In trying to understand the world, we all seek shortcuts. The most intellectual of these is called a ‘conjoncture’ – a set of benchmarks against which all events can be compared, ordered and contrasted. The holy grail for HR, for
UK: Companies dash for deadline
80.1% of companies required to undertake gender pay reporting have hit the April deadline. In the 44 private sector companies with 20,000 + employees the median hourly pay gap between men and women was just 5.1%. The biggest gaps were
EU: Job growth rate slows
Although overall employment levels across the EU rose by 1.5% over the year to Q4 2017, there were signs of a declining momentum in job growth. The change between Q3 and Q4 were highest in Malta (+1.8%), Estonia (+1.6%) and
Germany: DHL make pay offer
The communications company Deutsche Post/DHL, in negotiations with the trade union Verdi, has offered a two-year wage deal for its 130,000 German employees. The offer consists of a 3% increase in basic rates from October 1st 2018 and a
Comment: The fallacy of talent
There are few subjects that attract bigger audiences to HR conferences than talent management. In many ways, the modern HR professional defines their reason for existence by the acquisition, development and retention of highly talented individuals – because that is
Comment: The new political morality
What modern US Presidents have learnt from the social media age is that both well-drafted laws and brute force have less political clout than fighting moral turpitude – and that moral life is not built on the continuum of right
Nigeria: African Trumpanomics
An executive order prohibiting the issue of visas for foreign workers to obtain jobs that Nigerians may equally undertake has just signed by President Muhammadu Buhari. The order also states that procuring authorities shall give preference to Nigerian companies and
Comment: False fraud
When posting workers to another EU country employers should beware of failures on behalf of the social security authority in the posting country, as this will allow the host country authorities to declare that E101 social security certificates are fraudulent
Canada: Single status on horizon
Employers in Ontario will soon not be able to differentiate between the hourly pay of workers because they are part-time, seasonal, temporary, casual or supplied by work agencies. From April 1st 2018 they will need to ensure that any
Chile: Battle lines drawn
The Santiago Court of Appeals has overruled the labour inspectorate by declaring that any group of workers may sign a collective agreement with their employer. It is not necessary that the agreement be signed by a trades union. This is
China: Open door for experts
“High-end foreign talent” such as technology leaders, entrepreneurs and scientists from in-demand sectors now will be able to apply long-term visas that are valid for between 5 and 10 years. The move comes after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said in
Comment: A legal qualification for HR
Why is it that even though companies invest heavily in HR systems they still find themselves suffering from legal compliance or HR standards problems? Surely, having an ERP or HR Service Delivery system in place and using its powerful, easy
Comment: Why politics matter
The two subjects people are most commonly advised to avoid talking about at work are politics and religion. Yet for multinational organisations both subjects cannot be totally ignored – especially the political situation in countries where they operate.
The conventional
Argentina: Unpopular austerity measures
President Mauricio Macri has pushed through pension reforms amidst violent public protests. Amongst the controversial changes is the raising of the retirement age from 65 to 70 for men and from 60 to 63 for women. Plus new ways to