October 2018

Maternity leave with full pay if you work one year completely in UAE

This is in accordance with Article 30 of the Federal Law No. 8 of 1980 regulating Employment Relations in the UAE (the ‘Employment Law’). Which states: “A female employee shall be entitled to maternity leave with full pay for a period of 45 days, including the period preceding and the period following her confinement, on condition that she has been in her employer’s service for a continuous period of not less than one year. If she has not completed the aforesaid period of service, she shall be entitled to maternity leave with half pay.

On the expiry of her maternity leave a female employee may be absent from her work without pay for a maximum period of 100 consecutive or non-consecutive days, if such absence is due to an illness preventing her from resuming her work and if the illness is confirmed by a medical certificate issued by the medial service specified by the competent health authority or if the latter authority confirms that the illness was caused by the women’s work or confinement.

Source: Khaleej Times


How Unions Help Moms Take Maternity Leave

A working woman who is expecting faces a litany of tough questions before giving birth: Can she afford to take maternity leave? Will her employer compensate her if she does? Will the government help stabilize her pay?

Most industrialized countries have laws ensuring that mothers can stay home to care for their newborns without losing pay. But in the United States, the only federal law that protects a new mother’s right to time off is the Family and Medical Leave Act, which guarantees that she will still have a job when she returns from maternity leave, not that she’ll be paid while she’s away.

Source: The Atlantic


New minimum wage: Ortom states position

Benue Governor, Samuel Ortom has promised to pay any amount agreed upon by the negotiating committee on minimum wage.

Ortom stated this on Tuesday in Makurdi, when members of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and other sister unions visited him to register their support for the upward review of wages.

Ortom, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Mr Terwase Orbunde, said that he was not against the upward review of workers’ minimum wages “in spite of the current economic challenges bedevilling the country”.

Source: Daily Post


Missouri and Arkansas To Vote On Raising The Minimum Wage On Election Day

Voters in Missouri and Arkansas will decide next week whether to do what Congress hasn’t done in more than a decade: boost the minimum wage.

Both states have referendums on the ballot on Nov. 6 that would bypass their legislatures to gradually raise the minimum wage employers are required to pay. In Missouri, Proposition B would increase it from the current rate of $7.85 per hour to $12 by 2023. In Arkansas, Issue 5 would increase it from $8.50 to $11 by 2021.

The Fairness Project, an advocacy group coordinating minimum wage campaigns around the country, said it is confident both ballot measures will pass, despite Missouri and Arkansas being red states. Support for higher minimum wages often crosses party lines, and such proposals have fared very well when put directly to voters in recent years.

Source: HuffingtonPost


Minimum wage may phase out low-skilled workers – Thai Land

A normal, competitive labour market should not have to resort to a minimum wage to keep the low-skilled and those with disabilities employed (Tommy Koh’s post on ST report sparks online debate; Oct 28).

A free market economy should be independent of government handling and instead relegated to employers.

If employers can economically afford to raise wages while providing goods and services for their customers at an acceptable profit, they should, by all means, go ahead.

Source: Straits Times


Minimum Wage in Switzerland

There is no national minimum wage in Switzerland. However, collective bargaining agreements and standard employment contracts may provide for minimum wages.

Source: WageIndicator.org


Govt Asked To Ensure Implementation Of Labour Laws In

Women workers on Tuesday asked Labour Department to ensure implementation of labour laws in factories by making inspection system more efficient and gender friendly, to check non-payment of wages and in many cases less than the official minimum wages.

The workers complain that they work for more than 12 hours instead of 8 hours a day and no overtime is paid for their extra work, the workers are not allowed to avail leaves and in case of emergencies, their wages are deducted for availing leave.

Source: Urdu Point


Retail Council of Canada Applauds Ontario Government’s Move to Revisit Labour Laws

Retail Council of Canada (RCC) issues the following statement in response to today’s Government of Ontario’s announcement about labour laws:

“In stark contrast to the previous Ontario Government’s sweeping labour reforms passed less than a year ago, we are pleased to see this government taking a responsible and sensible approach in reforming the effects of the flawed Bill 148.

From the outset, we have been clear that our position was never to oppose a minimum wage increase – everyone deserves a decent wage. Our primary concern with Bill 148 was always the cumulative impact of its provisions, and the extraordinary pace at which they were implemented.

It is encouraging to see a government that has understood and acted upon the major pain-points of our industry; namely, in the areas of full-time/part-time work, public holiday pay, scheduling and leaves. 

Tying future minimum wage increases to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) – the approach taken prior to Bill 148, and one long-advocated by RCC – provides employers with the predictability they require and ensures that employees’ wages keep up with price increases. 

Source: CISION


The amount of arrears of wages in Ukraine increased

The total amount of arrears of wages in Ukraine in September 2018 increased by 6.5% and Kostanai at the beginning of October amounted to 2 billion 889 million UAH.

These data are reported by the State statistics service, reports the online edition of the Chronicle.info with reference to nv.ua.

In September, the debt of economically active enterprises increased by 11.9% to UAH 1.7 bn.

The growth of wage arrears in the last month was recorded in Khmelnytskyi (64.5%), Kirovohrad (by 43.7), Volyn (by 34.9%), Ternopil (33.3%), Kherson (by 27.8%), Zakarpattia (by 25.3%), Kiev (16.3%) and Donetsk (12.9%), Luhansk (7.2%), Chernihiv (6.1%), Kyiv (5.7%), Ivano-Frankivsk (4.3%), Odessa (4.2%),Sumy (3.6%), Chernivtsi (by 2.6%), Mykolaiv (2.2%), Lviv and Kharkiv (2%), Poltava and Dnipropetrovsk (1.6%) regions.

Debt reduction in the payment of salaries was observed in Rivne (9.1%), Zhytomyr (8.7%), Vinnytsia (2%), Zaporizhzhya (0.6%), Cherkasy (by 0.2%).

Source: The Bobr Times


New Compensation Act promulgated, increases disability payouts – US

The current law allowed the compensation rate to be multiplied by up to 15 years only in the event of disability.  In events of deaths, the new law promises a compensation rate multiplied by 10 years – up from eight years. If employees are unable to come to work, they would also get compensated from the first day of their absence – not after three days of absence as is the case currently.  Moreover, the new law will extend coverage to the local staff of embassies and international organisations. Social Security Office’s acting secretary-general Ananchai Uthaipattanachep said on Thursday that the new Compensation Act was promulgated in the Royal Gazette on October 11. 

Source: Nation MultiMedia


The Minimum Wage of $14 per hour bad for public health

The decision to keep the minimum wage at $14 will take a toll on health. Avoiding health impacts will come at a cost. We need to decide who is going to pay and whether low-paid jobs are the way forward for Ontario.

The Making Ontario Open for Business Act aims to bring jobs back to the province, lighten the burden on business and make sure hard work is rewarded. It is not clear that repealing Bill-148 will have all those effects or exactly what the impacts the alternate government measures will be. But we do know that keeping the minimum wage at $14 an hour for nearly three years will be bad for public health.

Source: The Star


South Africa prez signs $266 minimum wage bill, 6 million to benefit

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a new minimum wage bill, local media portals in the country reported on Friday.

Although signed today, the new minimum wage of 3,700 rands (about $266) a month is expected to take effect on January 1, 2019. It is set to benefit some six million workers currently earning below the amount.

The minimum wage, a policy championed by President Ramaphosa is seen as an important step to tackle labour instability and wage inequality.

Source: Africa News


We can’t pay new minimum wage –Govs

Even as the Federal Government is trying to smoothen the rough edges and resolve the controversy surrounding the demand by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) for an increase in the minimum wage for civil servants, the state governors said they lack the capacity to implement it. The governors, who met in Abuja on Wednesday under the auspices of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF), noted that they are still having problems implementing the existing N18,000 minimum wage. But the NLC said an increase in the minimum wage for workers is due and everybody must be committed to it. NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, was at the NGF meeting and spoke with journalists after making his presentation before the governors. Labour is demanding N30,000 as new minimum wage while both state and federal governments are insisting on N20,000 and N24,000 respectively. NGF chairman, Governor Abdualaziz Yari of Zamfara who spoke to journalists at the end of the meeting, said that the issue of the minimum wage was not discussed “because we leave it in the hand of Federal Government because it is (in the) exclusive list.” “It is not about only reviewing it but how we are going to get the resources to cater for it.

Source: New Telegraph


Jakarta Businesses Unhappy with 8.03 percent Minimum Wage Raise

The government plans to raise the provincial minimum wage by 8.03 per cent in 2019. Businesses are concerned that the new wage will burden their operations. 

Sarman Simanjorang, deputy chairman of the Jakarta Chamber of Commerce, said that business actors in Jakarta object to this plan; especially during a time when they are faced with negative external sentiments such as the rupiah depreciation against the US dollar.

“There are questions whether this wage increase is something that businesses can agree on. The government needs to reconsider,” he said on Wednesday, October 17. 

Source: Tempo.co


California Court of Appeal Approves Variable Hourly-Based Compensation Plan

In recent years, California courts have complicated the lives of employers that utilize commission and piece rate compensation systems (i.e., “activity-based compensation”).  Federal and state courts have repeatedly found activity-based compensation plans to be unlawful under California law, even when they result in per-pay-period compensation that exceeds the minimum wage.  Courts reasoned that these plans violate California law because they do not separately compensate employees for each hour worked, such as time spent performing non-commission or non-piece-rate earning tasks (e.g., waiting for work, cleaning, attending meetings, etc.).  See, e.g., Vaquero v. Stoneledge Furniture LLC, 9 Cal. App. 5th 98 (2017); Gonzalez v. Downtown LA Motors, LP, 215 Cal. App. 4th 36 (2013). 

Source: National Law Review


New minimum wage: FG restates what workers will get monthly

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, on Wednesday, restated federal government’s stance on the new minimum wage.

He spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The minister said the N24,000 per month stands, a figure the organised labour has kicked against.

He said that once minimum wage was fixed, any organisation or state that had the capacity to pay more could do that.

Source: Daily Post


Average rent in Queenstown more than minimum wage weekly pay, new figures show

Queenstown’s average weekly rent has hit a record, with the resort now the most expensive place to rent in New Zealand, new figures show.

For people on the minimum wage of $16.50, rent is now higher than their entire take-home 40 hour weekly home pay.  It comes as the waitlist for housing help in the resort town skyrockets, prompting the head of the area’s housing trust to warn the situation may get worse.

Queenstown Lakes’ average weekly rent hit $616 a week for the September quarter, according to figures compiled by business website interest.co.nz- the only place in New Zealand to break the $600 mark.

That was more than the entire take-home pay for someone earning a minimum wage of about $564.

Source: News Now


Minimum wage would ‘raise up’ to $12 an hour if voters approve hike

At the end of an expensive and contentious Democratic primary contest, St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said in his Aug. 7 victory speech that with their battles against each other behind them, there were two things Democrats needed to unite to do in November: Re-elect U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and raise Missouri’s minimum wage.

Voters will weigh both options on the statewide ballot Nov. 6.

The minimum-wage measure, called Proposition B on the ballot, would gradually increase the lowest hourly pay in the state to $12 an hour in five years.

“Working families deserve it,” Stenger said of the pay hike. But business interests say that ramping up the minimum wage will hurt their bottom line in a time when they’re just recovering from the Great Recession.

In the arguments about whether raising the minimum wage will benefit or harm workers and businesses, critics say raising the minimum wage will cause layoffs, price increases and fewer hirings.

Missouri Republican Party Executive Director Ray Bozarth told the Concord- Lemay-Gravois Republican Club Sept. 20, “It’s probably going to pass, but it’s bad for business. You’ll probably see automation coming to the fast-food industry, everybody knows that.”

Source: Call NewsPapers