What would you do?

Hey dears,

So picture yourself in this scenario as the employee....You ask for permission to leave to attend your grandmothers funeral then the next day you return at work and you get greeted by this;

Employer: "Do you believe in life after death?"
Employee: "Yes sir/madam."
Employer: "Well then, that makes everything just fine....after you left early yesterday to go to your grandmother's funeral, she stopped in to see you." 
Employee:_________________________

Hahahaa! Caught red handed!right there on spot!
Uwiiiiii so, if you were the employee,what would you have done?

Labour Factfile

 Today's thought by Sam Goldwyn,

"I don't want any yes-men around me. I want everybody to tell me the truth even if it costs them their jobs."

Mmmhhh would you? Are you one of them who isn't afraid to speak nothing but the truth to your boss???















Till then xx

Laugh Out Loud

Hey Dears,

Happy Saturday! Enjoy the first MonLabourWorld joke!

 If a train station is where the train stops and,

a bus station is where the bus stops, 

what is a work station?

Till then xx

Pensions & Benefits

Hey Dears

   So this time, one of my summer courses is Pensions & Benefits (LABR3140) taught by Karen Naylor. It is quite interesting to learn about Pensions. I know most people hardly know anything about Pensions beside them being deducted off their pay check. Well, its important to get some knowledge on them. One should know the kind of pensions he or she is eligible to...is it a defined benefit or contributory? A defined benefit pension is the one which an employer promises to give you a certain amount of money after you retire- Usually every month. There are terms and conditions that come with this...for instance, how many years you have worked with the employer?...It usually depends how the amount of money will be calculated. Again, there are ways to calculate it like by taking:

the accural rate x salary/earnings x pensionable service 

for instance 3% x 60,000 x 30yrs

The common used way of calculating pension benefit also known as the "gold plate" where the calculation will be based on your best working years for instance the highest period within the ten years so your last five years. It depends. I'm just giving examples. Or the other method of pensions benefit plan is by unknown earnings where it will depend.

The other type of pensions is called defined contribution pension. As it says, "contribution" so both the employee and employer do have to put in a certain amount of money into the plan. It will be difficult to have an actual figure on how much pension will be given back once an employee retires. So the actuaries become useful here, they help in assuming how much will be given back based on the life expectancy and the investment returns from the funds.

So my dears, don't just let that money go off the pay check without knowing whats going on...its good to find out & understand how things are running. I'm always happy with a clear mind. Besides, Its your right to acquire knowledge about anything based on given opportunities... You have a Right to know, Right to Participate and Right to Refuse. There you go...Be sure to find out what type of pension plan you are in? In the first place, Does your workplace have pensions plan?

xxx

Bullying

Hey dears,

Did u know bullying, violence and harassment happens at the workplace too?

Have u ever felt bullied while working?

Today, i'll write about bullying. 

Actually, instead of writing....i'll share my notes with you since they are straight forward and worth knowing.

There are different types of bullying as illustrated below:

The Constant Critic

Dear Managers please be sure to differentiate between good management vs Bullying.

I hope you have become a step wiser by adding more knowledge on bullying at the workplace xxx

Social Networks

Hey dears,

When it comes to the issue of social networks.....I Shake My Head!

    There is facebook for everything, Twitter for tweets and more of current issues alert, Instagram for uploading pictures only, then Keek for 36 seconds videos and now even for 6 seconds video( I forgot the name). well, there are just too many social programs, the ones i mentioned are just a few common ones. Oh well, then dont forget Whatsupp Viber Ebuddy Bbm and other mobile chatting programs.

     All these programs help us to stay connected. So even no, as i am blogging, all these Blogs help us to connect...making uniting possible.

   However, at the workplace, the use of social networks is strictly prohibited unless during break times and in the exception of certain company's policies. Its even worse when an employee is using the company's asset. In most cases employers premises are monitered. So when u dare facebook or tweet, it directly sends signals to the employer. Therefore to be on the safe side, just avoid social networks at the workplace.

That's all. Till then, xxx

A "village idiot"

Hey Dears,

As i said this semester alot will be going on, as all my courses are based on "Labour relations".

As for last week, I learnt another important work aspect on "Behaviour Based Safety Programs" by Cathy Walker. 

Workplace Behaviour is a very interesting topic to understand because you get to know:

• Aspects like whether it is the employee to blame when incidents like injuries occur at the workplace
• Employer's take on an incident?
• Should Financial incentives at work be enhanced?
• Whats good between internal responsibility system or external responsibility?

So such concepts are well covered by Cathy Walker concerning Behavior Based Safety Programs.

At most times when incidents happen, it is well known to be the employee's fault for being careless or a "village idiot" as referred by Robert Sass, the father of the three worker health and safety rights. Basically the theory assumes that workers are stupid and choose to make bad choices that could be prevented instead of hurting themselves.

Well, I could argue for the rest of my life but to pick a few : 

• The nature or kind of work matters
• Employer's supervision is necessary
• Proper working equipment 
• Proper training and enough knowledge
• Unsafe acts--->unsafe working conditions

Such issues should be taken into consideration before pointing fingers to the employee as being the one at fault in workplace accidents.

With regard to financial incentives, organisations are rewarded for having less injuries. There has been criticism on organisations giving financial incentives to make them not report accidents which is why i asked earlier on should they be improved? is it necessary to have financial incentive?

Last but not least, health inspectors??? is it better for the organisation (internal responsibility) to have their own health and safety committee in the workplace instead of an external source like health inspectors having to monitor their working standards now and then?

Such cases are interesting to know as a worker you should know your right when to be safe.

What do you think of the video? 

Occupational Health and Safety

Hey Dears!

I know its been a while. I did not keep my "stay tuned" promise but again I must say, the workload is just too heavy to handle. I have soo much to tell but the thought of typing kills it. Anyways I still enjoy sharing my "Labour Relations" experience so whenever I can I will.

As for today, I picked one of the current issue assignment i presented on in my Occupational Health and Safety class. It was about the safety of Miners. As we all know each job has a health and safety measure entitled to it. How well do we, employees, feel safe at our workplace? Do we look forward into working in a secured environment each morning? These are just some of the things that need to be taken into account as we proceed working.

So back to Mining!

 I think Mining is one of the most dangerous jobs on this planet! Eish, the thought of going under the ground and not knowing what to face down there, is a bit challenging. So respect to our miners and  a better & safer working environment should be created for them.

There are so many mining incidents that occur. Some are a success story like the one in Peru where the mining rescue team did great to get the miners out of the pit after staying for six days underground. However the success does not come all the time.There are other mining incidents like in China, the Xiaojiawan coal mine disaster that was caused by gas explosion which led to deaths and injuries. Not just in China, but even in Tanzania, we have had severe numbers of mining deaths in the past. 

Again I repeat, Miners face alot of physical hazards like danger of dusts, fire, explosion and electrocution and other hazards like vibration, extreme temperatures, noise, slips, falls, cuts etc...

To think!

So what happens to the families of the victims? Is there any compensation? Is it a fair compensation? Are there any measures to minimize such incidents so as to ensure unsafe work conditions are eliminated from the work place? What happened to Emergency preparedness programs? Will having Unions help?

Have a great Week!

Back to school

Happy 2013 Dears,

Oh wells, another year, another era, another SCHOOL SESSION :)

New challenges, New chances, New opportunities and New professors except for David Camfield whom i took labr1260 with in the last semester.

So im back to school. I had a well rested Christmas Break that i would not trade it for anything. 

This semester I will be doing labour courses alone without any electives, so there will be soo much to talk about in building a better workplace for both employers and employees. 

Stay tuned xxx