Page 69 - Labor
'Workplace is changing drastically, thanks to new age tech'
The workspace is changing drastically and very soon there will be just two types of people employable in the augmented workplace and unemployable, a senior official at tech giant Oracle said. Besides, he said, there is a dichotomy emerging in today's workplace -- automation is taking up the repetitive jobs, which in turn means fewer jobs, while companies are struggling to get key talent for specialised jobs. On the other hand, tech experts maintain that though this trend is yet to take off in India, artificial intelligence has started featuring dominantly in HR conversations and while terms like AI, chatbots and machine learning may sound intimidating, these technologies will not remove humans from the workplace. While automation will eliminate some jobs, it will also create some jobs that will support the "automation economy". "Employees need to be more intuitive, irrespective of organisation function, more creative in the work they are doing," Shaakun Khanna, Head of HCM ...
Expecting work emails after hours may harm health: Study
Are you expected to monitor your work email even after office hours? Such an 'always on' organisational culture can be detrimental to your health and well-being - even if you do not actually engage in working off-hours, a study has found. The study shows that such expectations result in anxiety, which adversely affects the health of employees and their families. "The competing demands of work and nonwork lives present a dilemma for employees, which triggers feelings of anxiety and endangers work and personal lives," said William Becker, an associate professor at Virginia Tech in the US. Previous studies have shown that the stress of increased job demands leads to strain and conflict in family relationships when the employee is unable to fulfil nonwork roles at home - "such as when someone brings work home to finish up." The new study demonstrates that employees do not need to spend actual time on work in their off-hours to experience the harmful effects. The mere expectations of ...
Develop internal talent to become job providers: Manoj Sinha urges youth
Union Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha today urged the youth to develop their internal talent and become employment providers instead of job seekers. Speaking in Uttar Pradesh's Ghazipur, which he represents in Lok Sabha, during the inauguration of a skill development centre, Sinha said the central government has established a separate Ministry of Skill Development And Entrepreneurship to nurture the talent of the young people. He said the aim of the Skill Development Ministry is to make the young people "employment providers instead of job seekers". Later he tweeted in Hindi, "The skill development centre will impart training to the youth in mobile hardware repairing and computers. This will also help them in starting their own units." He posted a few photographs of the centre with the tweet. In one of the photographs, he was seen with students at the centre. The Union minister also inaugurated 'Ghazipur Mobile Vaani' scheme, which he said will help the people of the ...
Verizon union workers approve new four-year contract
(Reuters) - The union that represents many Verizon Communications Inc employees announced the ratification of a four-year extension of their labour contracts on Friday, paving the way for an 11.2 percent increase in wages over the four years.
Canada adds 54,100 jobs, unemployment rate back down to record low
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian economy unexpectedly added 54,100 jobs in July on strength in part-time hiring and the unemployment rate dipped to equal a record low 5.8 percent, Statistics Canada data reported on Friday.
Ryanair pilots strike in Germany, 4 other countries
Ryanair pilots in several European countries staged a strike over work conditions today that prompted the budget carrier to cancel 400 flights. Walkouts called by German and Belgian unions accounted for many of the cancellations, with strikes also called in Sweden and Ireland. The airline said that over 2,000 flights, or 85 per cent of its schedule, would operate as normal and that the majority of passengers affected have been re-booked on other Ryanair services. German pilot representatives had said this week they were joining the strike action with a 24-hour walkout, ending at 2:59 am Saturday, because they want pay and work conditions comparable to those at Ryanair's competitors. The company has pointed to recent pay increases and invitations to meet for negotiations. Ryanair urged the unions "to continue negotiations instead of calling any more unjustified strikes". Ryanair built its low-cost business model without unions, but said last year it would recognize them. Labour ...
Par panel raps Song and Drama Division for not acting on involving youths from J-K, Northeast
A parliamentary panel has rapped the Information and Broadcasting Ministry's Song and Drama Division for not implementing its recommendation to pay attention to Jammu and Kashmir, the Northeast and Left Wing Extremism-affected areas by involving youths from such places in their programmes. The Standing Committee on information Technology, headed by Anurag Thakur, also noted that another reason put forward for low productivity of the staff of the division, under the Bureau of Outreach and Communication, in terms of content creation is that the division is struggling with a number of court cases regarding pay scales, seniority etc. The committee recommended that the division should take immediate corrective steps for expeditious settlement of the court cases so that the services of the staff are utilised to improve the performance of the division. The panel said that its suggestion to pay special attention to J&K, Northeast and LWE-affected areas by involving the local youths in ...
Das vows to eradicate poverty from Jharkhand by 2022
Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das vowed to eradicate poverty and unemployment from the state by 2022 today, an official release said here. The vow came in commemoration of Mahatma Gandhi's 'do or die' slogan which was given on August 9, 1942, it said. "By 2022 we will make Jharkhand a place where there won't be any person without housing, without medicine and without employment," the release said quoting Das. Tribals have become aware and they want participation in development, he said adding that his government has set up the foundation for change of tribals and working for their empowerment. He was addressing a programme organised by the social welfare department under Jharkhand tribal empowerment and livelihood project, the release said. In the programme, the chief minister gave away Rs 43.60 lakh seed capital to 218 youth groups and cheques of Rs 1.66 crore to 40 Gram Sabha project implementation committees, it said.
Delhi govt to adopt Centre's minimum wage slabs: Gopal Rai
Days after the high court set aside the Delhi government's minimum wages notification, the AAP dispensation said it will adopt the Centre's minimum wages scheme to ensure employees are not affected in the city. Talking to reporters here, Delhi Labour Minister Gopal Rai said that the minimum wages offered by the central government are even higher than the 37% hike notified by the state government in March last year. "Since our March 2017 notification has been set aside by the HC on technical points, Delhi government has decided to adopt the minimum wage slabs that are currently applicable for the central government's departments," Rai said. According to the Delhi labour minister, under the GOI's scheme, skilled workers get Rs 17,498 per month as against Rs 16,858 under the Delhi government's earlier notification. Unskilled workers get Rs 14,378 per month, compared to Delhi government's Rs 13,896. Raid said the Delhi government will form a tripartite committee to implement the central ..
Planters appeal to unions to bring normalcy in Bengal's tea gardens
Amid continuing agitation at the tea gardens in north Bengal and an ongoing three-day strike over minimum wages, planters on Thursday appealed to the unions to call off the protest programmes and allow normalcy to be restored.
Himachal HC gets tough against striking ambulance staff
A day after drivers and technicians of the 108 Ambulance Service were restrained from going on strike, the Himachal Pradesh High Court on Thursday summoned government officials to explain the action taken against the erring employees.
Ryanair strike widens as German, Dutch pilots join Friday stoppage
BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Ryanair will cancel about one in six of its flights on Friday after pilots based in Germany voted to join 24-hour stoppages set to hit Europe's biggest airline in Ireland, Sweden and Belgium at the height of the holiday season.
Tea workers' strike could result in Rs 38-40cr loss: TAI
The ongoing three-day strike by tea garden workers in north Bengal over raising the minimum wage could result in an estimated loss of Rs 38-40 crore to the industry, the Tea Association of India (TAI) said today. The strike in 153 gardens of Dooars region and 48 gardens in Terai region called by a joint forum of tea garden workers yesterday, is likely to cause a crop loss of about 3.23 million kg, TAI president P K Bhattacharya said in a statement. "This estimated loss will definitely cripple the industry to pay bonus to the workers,. TAI urges the state government to intervene and resolve the matter, as negotiations in fixation of minimum wage was still continuing," Bhattacharya said. A meeting to find a solution to the impasse over raising the minimum wage of the tea garden workers remained inconclusive yesterday. Twenty-three labour unions of the 27 unions under the forum are supporting the protest. Another meeting to resolve the deadlock is likely be held on August .
Ryanair strike widens as German pilots join Friday stoppage
BERLIN/FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Ryanair will cancel about one in six of its flights on Friday after pilots based in Germany voted to join 24-hour stoppages set to hit Europe's biggest airline in Ireland, Sweden and Belgium at the height of the holiday season.
Odisha CM assures unmatched facilitation support to investors
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday assured the investors that his government would provide an 'unmatched facilitation support' and invited them to experience the opportunities.
German Ryanair pilots to join European strikes on Friday
Germany's Ryanair pilots will join a wave of strikes against the no-frills carrier across Europe on Friday, escalating a row over pay and conditions at the height of the summer season. Germany's powerful Cockpit union said it had asked its 400 Ryanair pilots to walk off the job for 24 hours from 03:01 am (0101 GMT) on Friday, affecting all of the airline's outbound flights. "We are extremely sorry for the affected passengers. The responsibility lies with Ryanair management," Cockpit president Martin Locher told a press conference today. The move piles pressure on the Irish budget airline after pilots in Ireland, Sweden and Belgium also vowed to strike on August 10, promising major disruptions for thousands of holiday makers. Europe's second biggest airline has been grappling with staff unrest since it recognised trade unions for the first time in December 2017, in a bid to ward off widespread strikes over the Christmas period. But unions say their calls for better wages and fairer ...
TTAADC initiative for skilling 425 tribal people in 2018-19
An autonomous district council for tribals in Tripura has taken the initiative to train 425 tribal people in five districts to create better job opportunities for them, a senior member of the tribal council said. The All India Society for Electronics and Computer Technologies (AISECT), a skill development service provider, has been given the responsibility of training the people, Chief Executive Member of the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), Radhacharan Debbarma said. The training would be held in Dhalai, Khowai, West Tripura, North Tripura and South Tripura districts. The exercise will be held in the trades of rod binding and motor mechanic at the district level as per the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) standards, he said. The AISECT has been associated with the TTAADC since 2016. In the last two years of its partnership with the TTAADC, the AISECT has trained 450 and 120 candidates in FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18 respectively. The
Medical officer suspended for dereliction of duty
Authorities have suspended a medical officer and terminated the services of two employees for alleged dereliction of duty at a health centre in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar district. Deputy Commissioner Angrez Singh Rana gave the order yesterday against the three persons posted at a primary health centre (PHC) in Chatroo, an official said today. The action was taken on the basis of an inquiry that found most of the staff absent at the centre during working hours and one woman brought in injured condition was denied treatment without any proper reason, the official said. Based on the preliminary enquiry, the district commissioner terminated the services of Sanjeev Sharma and Mohammad Ishaq, engaged under National Health Mission (NHM); and recommended termination of a permanent junior X-Ray technician, Sunil Kumar, he said. The medical officer of the health centre, Shafqat Javeed Zargar, was suspended for allowing nine employees to go on leave, which affected the healthcare delivery ...
Razorpay recognised as India's best companies to work for
Razorpay, India's first converged payments solution company, has been recognized as 'India's Top 50 Great Mid-Size Workplaces' by the Great Place to Work (GPTW) Institute.Great Place to Work recognition is one of the most prestigious workplace achievements for an organization across the globe and Razorpay has been ranked 25th as India's Best Companies (Mid-Size) to work for.The recognition is bestowed after a careful assessment of various parameters including level of trust that the employees feel towards the management, respect and fairness at workplace, the sense of pride they feel for being associated with the Company and the overall workplace camaraderie."Being recognized as one of India's Great Mid-Size companies to work for is truly humbling and encouraging at the same time. It is a strong testimony of the trust and confidence that our employees invest in us. Over the last three years, we have put in efforts towards cultivating a culture of ownership and belongingness amongst ...
Maha employees begin strike; 63% absent from work on 1st day
Around 17 lakh employees of the Maharashtra government began their three-day strike today to press for various demands, including implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission report. On the first day of the stir, around 63 per cent of the class 3 and class 4 employees remained absent from work, an official said. Though the unions claimed that the strike was "100 per cent" successful, the government suggested that the services in general remained unaffected. The unions had yesterday announced that class 3 and class 4 employees of Zilla Parishads, state hospitals, staff working at Mantralaya (secretariat) will participate in the strike. However, a General Administration Department (GAD) official said today that 70.64 per cent attendance was recorded at Mantralaya at the end of the day. The attendance registered for class I and class II officers was 83.32 per cent, and that for class III employees 70 per cent. The attendance for class IV officers was 37.28 per cent, he said. The average .