WorkConnexions

With economic turmoil at our shores it is easy to forget that others around the world are facing similar hardships. I was reading today that Japan’s economy isn’t looking too hot at the moment. The base rate is set to 0.1% (lower that the UK or the US), unemployment has risen to 4% and output has dropped 8% in November with another expected 8% drop in December.

The problem is that forcast sales of the goods produced by the Japanese economy is down. This is felt by factories and support industries, all the way down janitor and programmer jobs, everyoen is affected. Unfortunately until a positive outlook appears, everyoen is going to be affected and this is the net effect of the economic crisis we are facing.

With holiday season fast approaching, consumers are entering into the most active spending period of the year. Reinforced by the soft economy, this is "high season" for identity theft with identity thieves seeking to take advantage of shoppers. Identity theft generally rises during the holidays because thieves assume that consumers aren't paying attention to their credit card purchases, debit card purchases, receipts etc. as closely.

Why join a Group?

To share an interest, discover more about something? There are hundreds of groups from writers to sport fans all blogging on the internet. There are groups within groups such as Face book, and than for example the David Bowie group page. There you have a public and private group. You could just join David Bowie website group instead of the facebook group. Interesting!

What can you add to a group?

What do you expect from a group?

What groups are worth pursuing? Is there communication within the group? Do they achieve anything?

How can you tell?

First know what you want from the group and than start by asking questions.

An undercover reporter is said to have found the following practices at work in the Amazon distribution centre in Bedfordshire:

– Warned that the company refuses to allow sick leave, even if the worker has a legitimate doctor’s note. Taking a day off sick, even with a note, results in a penalty point. A worker with six points faces dismissal.

– Made to work a compulsory 10½hour overnight shift at the end of a five-day week. The overnight shift, which runs from Saturday evening to 5am on Sunday, means they have to work every day of the week.

– Set quotas for the number of items to be picked or packed in an hour that even a manager described as “ridiculous”. Those packing heavy Xbox games consoles had to pack 140 an hour to reach their target.

In his Pre-Budget Statement on Monday Alistair Darling quietly dumped legislation intended to outlaw income splitting arrangements among individuals that would have effectively forced small, family-run businesses to pay more tax.

For some years now the Labour government has tried to take action against income splitting arrangements which it considers “unacceptable tax avoidance”. Leaving aside the legal fact that tax avoidance is legal and that it is tax evasion which is illegal, the burden of their complaint is that too many small companies (an estimated 85,000) operate by generating income using one partner's efforts and skills and then split the profit between both partners, so as to reduce the total tax that is payable.