Latest news with #workplaceRelations
The Independent
18-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Survey reveals employees' top peeves at work
Slacking colleagues top the list of people's workplace frustrations, according to new research from Acas. A survey of 1,000 workers by the conciliation service revealed that half of those polled cited colleagues not doing their jobs properly as their biggest work-related annoyance. Other grievances included colleagues taking credit for others' work, overbearing bosses, and rude customers or staff. 'Anger over a lack of recognition, rudeness, their boss or a colleague seen as not pulling their weight can impact productivity and escalate to conflict if left unresolved at work,' Acas head of individual dispute resolution Stewart Gee said. 'Unresolved emotions over things that seem unfair can have a detrimental effect at work and it is important for workplace conflict to be addressed at the earliest possible opportunity. 'Acas's aim is to prevent, manage or resolve conflict. An informal resolution through an initial chat or mediation can help organisations prevent the cost and stress of more formal procedures such as an employment tribunal.' Acas recommended that employers encourage staff to raise issues informally, adding that dealing with conflict positively and quickly can build trust and improve relationships. 'Conflict at work is estimated to cost UK organisations £30 billion each year and getting the basics right plays a key part in helping to reduce it,' Mr Gee said. 'Workers can also help. Speaking to a manager early is almost always better than waiting for it to become a larger issue that requires a more formal response. 'This might also avoid costly discipline and grievance procedures.' 'Working hard brought its own reward' In January, Conservative shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Britons must increase their work ethic in order to compete on a global scale. Mr Philp claimed that while working at Sainsbury's, delivering newspapers, and cleaning people's vehicles in his early teens, he cultivated a strong work ethic. "I found that working hard brought its own reward and I've kept doing that ever since,' he said. "It is something I would like to infuse more into our national culture as well." Asked if he thought a belief in hard work was something that was missing in Britain, he replied, "I do a bit." The latest figures show Britain's jobless rate rose unexpectedly and the number of workers on payrolls has fallen by the most since the height of the pandemic.
RNZ News
15-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
How common is swearing in Parliament?
language politics 36 minutes ago The C-Word has taken up a lot of attention in the last 24 hours after the workplace relations minister Brooke van Velden enunciated in Parliaments debating chamber. But it's certainlty not the first time a swear has been uttered in the house. The Spinoff deputy editor Alice Neville spoke to Charlotte Cook.
RNZ News
08-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Pay equity-affected support worker challenges van Velden to do her job for one week
Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden has defended the pay equity law changes. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone A disability support worker affected by the [ pay equity law change] is challenging ACT Minister Brooke van Velden to do her job for a week. The Workplace Relations Minister's bill passed under urgency on Wednesday night and means 33 claims, representing thousands of workers, must be started again. Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden has defended the changes, saying she cares about and values the work of women, and this will make the process for claims clearer. Jo-Chanelle Pouwhare is among the affected claimants and told Checkpoint she believes the Minister would change her mind about whether they are fairly paid if she undertook their roles. "It's just really misogynistic, what they've decided to do. It's not just a huge slap in the face for women, but the impacts [on] families," she said. "They're worrying more [about] the economy. Look after the workforce, the woman in your workforce." She said being a care and support worker for the disability sector means she encompasses different roles. "People might be out there saying 'well get another job don't be social worker'. Well, why when this can be paid, we can get valued, in society we're needed," Pouwhare said. "Look at the pandemic crisis that we face. It's ironic that all these pay equity claims, the 33 of them, majority of them were the essential workers." In the organisation she works for, two of the pay scales are below the living wage. "We've got level one, level two, level three, level four. Two of those levels [are] below the living wage. It could even be three." Workers must train to get to the next pay scale, she said Level 1 sits just above minimum wage. "That's an atrocity in itself. You wonder why people may not want to go to work," Pouwhare said. At the top of the pay scale, the pay sits at $29.10 an hour, she said. "I've been with this organisation for five years. However, I was able to cross credit my Bachelors," Pouwhare said. "Somebody that's fresh into the industry has to start on a maybe $0.20 or $0.40 more than the minimum wage, then they have to train and go study, it's not funded." While she was studying, Pouwhare had to take out a student loan. "I was still paying it off when I started working here and I think the third year I was working here, I managed to pay it off and it was a huge chunk of my wage," Pouwhare said. She challenges van Velden to work in her role for at least one to two weeks. "I guarantee she'll go back, and they might re-think because I can guarantee she probably wouldn't last two days," Pouwhare said. "For a woman to do that to other women, who's come from a privileged background, wouldn't even probably know what a struggle looks like. "I challenge you to give it a go sister. If you can handle it and you still believe that these women in the care and support sectors, do in any of these claims, give it a go. You tell us how you can come up with a resolution to say that this is still just." The majority of the people being impacted by the pay equity law change are Māori and Pasifika, she said. She feels the government is flushing women's and their families lives down the toilets. "To take those 33 claims and the trees they wasted on [with] the paper that was printed out for those 33 claims, she just uses it for toilet paper," Pouwhare said. Van Velden said she still supported pay equity but the current thresholds were "a bit too loose". "I'm a woman and I support women who work," van Velden told Midday Report. "I also support removing gender based discriminations from our workforces but what I don't support are muddied laws and unclear laws. "So these changes are better for all women who are working where we can genuinely say hand on heart that what they are finding with their claims is genuine gender based discrimination." ACT leader David Seymour has congratulated van Velden, saying that she has saved the Budget for the government by billions of dollars through changing the law. Pouwhare said Seymour's comments are another slap in the face. "They've gone and given these landlords tax cuts, why can't they take the money from them?" Pouwhare said. "This coalition government, they need to be renamed demolition, that's what they're doing to these women and their rights to a fair and just wage." In this year's Budget, she said she wants the pay equity claims to be approved. "It shouldn't have even gotten to this point where we have to fight. They should be recognising the significance of all these different female dominated employments [sic] out there." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
