City Hive’s Post

EMERGING PAY DISCLOURE LEGAL COMPLIANCE REPORTING SHIFT, WILL IMPACT THE ROLE AND VOICE OF THE CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTOR ACTIVIST AND ENLIGHTENED SHAREHOLDER' AND THAT OF UNION LEADERSHIP, ON PAY POLICY, MORE READILY ARMED WITH ANUALLY PUBLICLY VISIBLE, UPDATED DATA, ON PAY DYNAMICS IT WILL ALSO MAKE FOR A TOUGHER TUG OF WAR FOR TOP TALENT LURING AND RETENTION AS COMPANIES, MORE AND MORE, CAN NO LONGER HIDE BEHIND A VEIL OF SILENCE.

#standingonbusiness #faithbasedinvestors What’s good for workers is what’s good for business. What’s good for business is good for investors. What’s good for faith based investors is good for people and planet

Power is the ability to create a crisis. Powerful people and organisations don't just influence events - they can create situations that threaten significant disruption unless their demands are urgently met. Employers have power over employees who depend on them for their livelihoods. They have particular power over casual employees living pay cheque to pay cheque - where losing a shift could represent a material crisis. Labour unions have power because industrial action can bring company operations to a standstill. Unions can leverage this threat of creating an operational crisis to collectively bargain for better conditions. The media has power because it can shine a light on scandal or wrongdoing - creating a reputation crises. On the other hand, Australian defamation law insulates the rich and powerful from the media's power - by arming plaintiffs with the ability to create a material crisis for media publications via the threat of costly defamation lawsuits. Activists wield power through their ability to mobilise public opinion. By drawing attention to injustice or hypocrisy, they can create a crisis of legitimacy for those in authority, pressuring them to address the grievances or otherwise face backlash. Looking at power through this framework - what can we learn about how to accrue it and how to wield it to achieve our goals? What do we realise about systems of power, and how to disrupt them? I will be joining the excellent Lauren Capelin, Simon Thomsen, and Joan Westenberg to discuss all this and more at _SOUTHSTART today at 2pm in the Town Square section! Come check out our panel and say hi afterwards! #power #southstart

Private equity firms are increasingly grappling with labor rights scandals within their portfolio companies. As a result, campaigners and investors are questioning their business model. Considering this, the Financial Times poses essential questions: “Do private equity firms or their investors bear any responsibility for labor rights violations by their portfolio companies? Should private equity firms seek to address the human rights risks posed to those working in their supply chains, regardless of whether they directly or indirectly own or operate the facilities involved?” https://lnkd.in/dJhXW357

Some investors have been hesitant to engage trade unions, viewing them as "external stakeholders" that intervene from the outside. This perspective is influenced by decades of corporate anti-union lobbying and communications campaigns. The firewall is finally starting to fall. Unions are democratic entities formed by the workers who sustain companies. Their presence has been associated with multiple benefits - not just for the workers themselves, but for companies and broader communities. Investors are starting to understand the positive role that unions play in building value, informing due diligence and mitigating risks. This article does a nice job of summarizing some of the ways that investors are interacting with unions, including through the newly-formed Labour Rights Investor Network (LRIN) at the Committee on Workers' Capital, which now convenes investors with over USD $3.4 tn under management or advice. Feel free to get in touch for more information on joining. https://lnkd.in/g9wT3iRM

Private equity firms are increasingly grappling with labor rights scandals within their portfolio companies. As a result, campaigners and investors are questioning their business model. Considering this, the Financial Times poses essential questions: “Do private equity firms or their investors bear any responsibility for labor rights violations by their portfolio companies? Should private equity firms seek to address the human rights risks posed to those working in their supply chains, regardless of whether they directly or indirectly own or operate the facilities involved?” https://lnkd.in/dJhXW357

Honest CEOs, It’s Time to Level the Playing Field. Wage theft and misclassification are not just worker issues; they’re CEO issues. A recent article in The Hill from Anna Stansbury argued for better labor law enforcement—and we couldn’t agree more. The reality? Honest businesses are being undercut by those who exploit workers and skirt the law. The Macroeconomic Shift is Here: With billions in federal funds rolling out through the CHIPS Act, Inflation Reduction Act, and Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, wage reporting requirements have tightened. It’s a new era, and CEOs need to get on board or get left behind. Verfico Technology’s Solution: We offer the tools to empower ethical businesses to stay ahead. Our real-time wage assurance platform helps ensure every worker is paid what they deserve, mitigating your financial and reputational risks. Transparency Wins: Competing against companies that cut corners? Verfico provides transparency at every tier, ensuring you’re on the right side of compliance and integrity. This isn’t just about avoiding fines; it’s about sending a message that fair play wins in business. Ready to lead the industry in doing what’s right? #WageAssurance #EthicalBusiness #MacroeconomicShift #Verfico #LaborCompliance #CHIPSAct #InflationReductionAct #InfrastructureInvestment

According to a poll of business decision-makers commissioned by the TUC and the thinktank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), the government's plans to boost workers’ rights have widespread support among senior managers. The IPPR claim that a stronger baseline of workers’ rights is essential for the UK economy to break out of the low-productivity, low-investment trap. The FSB predict potentially devastating consequences for small companies. The Institute of Directors blame the plans, together with fears of tax rises, for a drop in business confidence. The survey results indicate .... ▪️68% of managers agreed with the general statement that ordinary workers’ rights should be strengthened ▪️74% thought it would help with retaining staff ▪️73% supported giving workers protection from unfair dismissal on day one ▪️74% backed making them entitled to statutory sick pay from their first day of illness We want to hear your views.

🟠 Consultation and gradual approach key to fair labour market  As highlighted in a recent Financial Times article, UK businesses are expressing concern over Labour's proposed overhaul of workers' rights, fearing increased costs and hiring challenges due to lack of clarity in implementation. The reform, presented by Sir Keir Starmer, aims to protect employees against unfair dismissal from the first day in a job, ban exploitative zero-hour contracts, and enhance trade unions’ influence.  Key changes include:   🔸extended coverage of statutory sick pay,   🔸enhanced protections for new mothers,   🔸deterrents against “fire and rehire” tactics.     Caspar Glyn of the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA) acknowledges the significant shift for both workers and employers but warns of potential increased costs. Labour insists these reforms are essential for economic growth, arguing that enhanced worker security will boost #jobmobility, wages, and productivity. However, #employers fear complex and costly hiring processes and a surge in litigation if the bill is rushed.  📌 Key takeaway: the proposed changes in #employment laws must be carefully balanced and phased in to ensure they provide the intended protections for workers without overwhelming business. Only through thorough consultation and a gradual approach can we create a sustainable #labourmarket.  Check out the full article below 📰   https://lnkd.in/dWA36yyx     

My latest for MSNBC: Biden’s FTC just exposed one of the GOP and businesses’ biggest lies to workers: "The Federal Trade Commission earlier this week voted to ban noncompete contracts for most workers in the United States. These contracts, research shows, depress wages, stifle entrepreneurial innovation and trap people in jobs they’d prefer to exit. Taken all together, says FTC head Lina Khan, they are “robbing people of their economic liberty.” Who would want to be against economic freedom, not to mention raises for America’s workers? The answer is both Republican FTC commissioners and business interests. And in so doing, they proved that President Joe Biden’s FTC is calling out both the GOP and the business lobby on one of their biggest lies to workers: that they are defenders of economic liberty. . . It’s hard not to suspect that the squawking employers have a bottom-line concern. The FTC’s ban exempts high-ranking executives who have a policymaking role. Businesses have other ways to ban former employees from sharing proprietary trade secrets and intellectual property, after all. But it’s well known that the best way for a worker to boost their wages is to go out and get another job. The FTC estimates that doing away with noncompetes will add $400 billion to $488 billion to workers’ wages over the next decade. That’s hardly chump change. That’s only the start of the economic costs. The use of noncompetes also stifles economic innovation. Last year, a poll released by the Small Business Majority found 46% of entrepreneurs claimed such contracts prevented them from starting or expanding their businesses. And business historians say the reason Silicon Valley developed around Stanford University and not East Coast rival MIT is because California’s strict ban on noncompetes in almost all circumstances — which has been in place since the late 19th century — gave workers the freedom to easily move from one company to another or just start up a venture of their own. The result is that the state currently ranks as the world’s fifth largest economy ... But there’s a larger issue here. We are a nation that claims to value liberty above all else. Any time government agencies even think about issuing a new regulation, politicians and lobbyists leap in screaming about threats to economic freedom. But the existence of noncompetes not only gives the lie to that myth, but it also highlights the not infrequent hypocrisy of business interests wrapping themselves in that mantle. There’s nothing — and I mean nothing — freeing about a practice that effectively keeps millions of Americans trapped in their jobs. #noncompetes #FTC #FederalTradeCommission #LinaKhan #NonCompeteAgreements