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iammayradavis-blog · 5 years ago

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Metals trader, Gerald Group is leading the way in an industry starting to redress gender balance

According to a 2018 Bloomberg report, ‘Going into the Lion’s Cage, figures show that in the top echelons of leadership at the world’s biggest commodity traders, less than 5% are women. In commodity houses predominantly led by men, and in an industry valued at approximately $2 trillion worldwide, women account for a minority of senior management. An analysis of data for 125 common occupations – conducted by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research in 2018 – showed that the sector where the gender pay gap was the widest was in financial services: commodities, securities and sales agents. For fulltime work in this sector, women can expect to be paid on average 36.1% less than men.

Since April 2017 in the UK, changes in the Equality Act, require all UK companies employing 250 people or more to report on the gender pay gap, alongside the on-going review of obstacles preventing more women from reaching senior positions in business and FTSE- listed corporate boards. This change in the Equality Act, is not the same as equal pay for equal work but is calculated based on six separate figures that are then averaged out. These include both the mean and median pay gap, the mean and median gender gap for bonus payments, the proportion of men and women who receive bonuses, and the proportion of men and women working in each quartile band. As of 2019, both the mean and median figures across almost every occupation show that women are on average earning less than their male counterparts.

March 8th is International Women’s Day, the date was moved in 1913. It also focuses on helping women gain full and equal participation in global development

In terms of addressing the gender pay gap and the lack of women in senior roles in the commodities industry, some of the biggest names in the sector don’t have a single female employed in a senior executive role. Some companies in the typically male-dominated sector are working to redress the balance and place a higher value on diversity with no gender pay gap; however, many of these companies are overlooked when official figures are released, which tend to focus on the biggest players in the industry. In this respect, it is smaller companies, such as the independently owned Gerald Group, one of the world’s oldest metals merchants, that are leading the way. The commodity trading company has a better gender balance than most trading houses.

On the other hand, Mercuria Energy Group in Geneva has a third of its top leadership positions filled by women. There are also several females heading up smaller trading merchants, such as Kolmar Group AG and Petraco Oil Co. Mining group Rio Tinto, recently announced the addition of 3 female non-executive board members, the Group had one of the least diverse boardrooms of world’s biggest companies. Last year, BHP promoted three women to its senior executive team as the company looks to rebalance its workforce to be 50% female by 2025. Key recommendation in the Hampton-Alexander Review, which published its first report in 2016 and has published annually thereafter include a 33% target for women on FTSE 350 boards and senior leadership roles, respectively, by the end of 2020.

Research shows that companies can be their best by cultivating a diverse and strong leadership team and workforce. People think differently based on their own personal backgrounds, experiences, culture, education, and they bring different perspectives, thoughts and ideas, which can only be positive. It starts a dialogue for a creative and collaborative process that inevitably has a positive impact on the organisation. Understanding the business culture of the company is important, so is supporting a diversified workforce - this is not necessarily specific to gender but diversity in general.

Companies need to have the right polices and environment in place to support a level playing field and to support women as they navigate work-life balance as well. Gerald’s senior management works together with HR to actively monitor and manage compensation levels to ensure that imbalances don’t exist among staff, because of gender. The Group fosters a merit-based culture, where individuals can achieve great things based on abilities, rather than because of/in spite of their gender and believes in mentoring and nurturing employees to attract, develop and retain diverse skills, whether man or woman. As it aims for equality, it believes it is ‘hedging’ its bets in the right way. Gerald Group’s Chief Operating Officer and member of the Board of Directors, Pat Crepeault has been with the Group for 25 years, “The Group has always invested in me, supported and promoted me. Gerald does not look at gender, they look for people who are going to support the Group, in all of its endeavours and help to achieve its goals.”

January 2020 saw Gerald Group appoint its third woman, Patricia Nikolopoulos to the Group’s Board, alongside promoting her to Group CFO. Commenting on the appointment Craig Dean, Gerald Group’s CEO, “I am proud that fifty per of executive seats on Gerald’s Board of Directors are represented by women, which I believe is an industry first. Collectively, our seven board members have around 150 years of experience in the global commodities sector, which demonstrates a strong leadership team, and tremendous commitment, perseverance and loyalty to the Group.” 50% of Gerald Group’s trading desks (Copper Concentrates, Iron Ore and Precious Metals) respectively, are led by women, Min Zhang, who has worked at Glencore, Shan Radstone and Zhuoying Jing. Of the current employees, 40% are women, many of whom have worked at the Group for several years. However, figures from Bloomberg research demonstrate that these figures are still the exception rather than a general code of practice.

Women bring more to the trading nature of the industry, with inherent skills such as ‘helicopter vision’ to help tackle the increasing challenges that the industry is seeing in general. The London Metals Exchange (LME) rolled out its “code of conduct” to traders, members and clients for the first time in 2019, to help curb excessive drinking and the negative spotlight on the industry. Part of the problem could be that women are still not made to feel welcome in commodities trading, resulting in a lack of talent entering into the industry. One female oil trader who has worked in the derivatives and physical markets for more than a decade spoke to the Financial Times in 2018 about a conversation she had with another young female graduate. The graduate stated that she had been advised at almost every turn to enter into a more sales-oriented role rather than pursuing a career in trading. That the situation had not changed much in ten years seemed shocking, but it appears that there are still many barriers for women considering entering the commodities trading markets.

Some of the barriers that women come up against are simply preconceived notions about the type of personality required to be a successful trader. Attributes such as logic, aggressiveness, being analytical, book building and taking risks are still seen as positive in terms of hiring traders. However, experienced traders have shown that often, it is not having any one trait or combination of traits that works, but more being able to recognise one’s own strengths and weaknesses and formulate a trading strategy that consistently plays to those strengths. One benefit of the trading pay scheme is that it is mostly performance related. This means that the women who have the tenacity to get and maintain roles within commodities trading, may soon find that their pay is equal to or even greater than that of their male counterparts if their strategies are sound.

Much still needs to be done to equalise the gender balance and the pay gap in reality across all industries, along with the knowledge that that as more women take on senior roles, this can have a positive effect on a business adding billions to national economies. For companies where the cultural shift has largely happened, and there is a top down drive to real equality, change is already happening.

References:

1. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/there-are-316-men-leading-top-commodity-houses-and-only-14- women

2. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/feb/21/rio-tinto-appoints-three-women-as-non-executive-directors-mining- gender-diverse-board

3. https://www.ft.com/content/0ead55ca-1d85-11e9-a46f-08f9738d6b2b

4. https://www.gerald.com/gerald-group-appoints-patricia-niko

5. https://www.ft.com/content/62001b10-90de-11e8-9609-3d3b945e78cf

6. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/women/gender-pay-gap-equal-pay-women-paid-less-motherhood-a8856121.html

7. https://iwpr.org/publications/gender-wage-gap-occupation-2018/https://iwpr.org/publications/gender-wage-gap-occupation-2018/

https://ftsewomenleaders.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/V3PressReleaseHamptonAlexanderReview2019-FINAL.pdf

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years ago

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Keba Konte’s Caffeinated Revolution

The coffee industry can be a hotbed of exploitation and exclusion. Red Bay Coffee is pushing for change

One of the walls at Red Bay Coffee headquarters is taken up by a huge living sculpture of Africa, all sorts of plants dangling from the continent’s outline. The space, on a quiet block in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, California, is both cafe and coffee roastery. The hum of machines joins with the buzz of conversation as the space fills up and a line winds out the door. This is a community hub for the neighborhood. That’s fitting, since Red Bay isn’t an ordinary coffee company.

Started in 2014 by Oakland artist and entrepreneur Keba Konte, Red Bay is in many ways a response to the failings of third-wave coffee culture, which saw an increased emphasis on the quality of coffee and its sourcing, but resulted in mostly white-owned cafes and often-underpaid employees. Konte’s mission is to adjust how coffee is treated every step of the way. He wants more demand for high-quality coffee in the countries where it’s produced, so farmers depend less on exploitative overseas markets. He wants customers who haven’t felt comfortable dipping their toes into the world of fancy coffee to have a place to ask questions and sip in peace. He wants to create a home behind the counter, where queer folk, people of color, and those who have been incarcerated can learn a skill and make a meaningful income.

If that sounds like a lot for one coffee company to tackle, that’s because it is. But as Red Bay quickly grows, Konte is well on his way to realizing this vision, setting a new standard for the coffee industry. Red Bay is the product of Konte’s ideas about how the world of coffee could be. So when I started thinking about the future of food, and of the restaurant industry, Konte was the first person I called.

Eater: What are the weaknesses and the biggest issues that you’re seeing right now in your industry?

Keba Konte: The industry still lacks Black leadership at the highest levels. At a Peet’s, at a Starbucks, and even some of these other third-wave roasteries and companies, you’ll see more and more Black and brown baristas: The front line almost feels like it’s getting a little bit more integrated. And we’re still talking about integration. But when you look past the veil at the leadership roles at most of these coffee companies, we’re still looking at mostly white men who are the decision-makers, who are driving the culture at these places. That’s a problem.

There’s still a lot of exploitation that happens at the farm level. That’s probably the single biggest challenge and weakness of this entire industry. The people who are doing by far the most labor-intensive portion of the entire supply chain are at origin, and they’re getting the smallest piece of the pie in terms of compensation and how the dollar is divided up. The level of exploitation and poverty that exists for the farmers and producers is a tragedy.

When you look at these issues from the origin through production to the baristas, where and how do you see Red Bay and yourself intervening?

It doesn’t stop at the barista. It starts, obviously, at the farm and all the way through the value stream, from the importer to the exporter to the local trading houses to the individual roasters to the QC [quality control] and production and the marketing and then, the barista. After that, it is the spaces: From the coffeehouses to the streets and the consumer. I make that distinction because a couple of years back in a Starbucks in Philadelphia, they called the police on these two [Black] guys who were just there for a meeting.

Where we intervene — starting at the very end — is creating spaces that are flipping the script by making our spaces unapologetically welcoming to Black and brown people: By putting Africa on the wall, by not exploiting our farmers with pictures of them smiling with sweat and dirty hands that they’re not directly benefiting from. We are hiring some of these underrepresented and underestimated communities at every level of production. That includes roasters.

And we’re not just talking about race. Race is definitely one major component, but we’re talking about gender, we’re talking about LGBTQ people, we’re talking about disabled folks, we’re talking about the formerly incarcerated. We are very intentional about creating opportunities for folks with unnecessary barriers to entry into the industry. Sometimes, those barriers are people not getting promoted from barista to a trainer to a manager. Sometimes, those barriers are not getting hired in the first place. They might be in a wheelchair or have a police record and have to check that box on the application: Have you been convicted of a felony? Sometimes, the barrier is none of those things; it’s just that when they walk into these spaces, it doesn’t feel welcoming.

Us breaking down these barriers is incentivizing our farmers for quality and paying them even more than fair-trade rates. It’s meeting people where they are with their coffee education. We use our platform to let Black people know, to let African Americans know that coffee came from Africa and that this is our heritage. That is our inheritance. Since we’ve been under the Red Bay brand for 6 ½ years, we’ve seen an emergence of a Black coffee movement. There are coffee shops opening up that are not just owned by Black people, but are also unapologetic about claiming their culture and flexing it within the coffee space.

So what should the coffee industry look like in 2025? And what would it actually take to get there?

Well, it is going to take a struggle. These things don’t just happen by themselves. Let me first address our crystal ball and [the idea of] looking into the future: We’re going to have to think about wages. We’ve been paying a minimum of $15 per hour as our starting wage for our employees, baristas, and production-line crew, ever since the minimum wage was $10. Now that the minimum wage has caught up to what we have been paying for the last six years — and we’ve made incremental increases there — we’re trying to raise the bar again. We would like to continue to push the envelope in terms of wages.

I would like to think that in five years’ time, there will be a growth in the consumption of coffee in origin countries around the world: That means more coffee shops, coffee culture, and coffee business in countries like Kenya, Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala. What that does is drive the price up, and it makes those coffee producers less dependent on exporting to Europe, America, and Japan. We really have to get that right.

Right now, farmers are being paid at almost an all-time low. The commodity price is under $1 for one pound of coffee. It’s hard to explain how much work goes into processing one pound of coffee, and the farmer, the producer, and the collective has to share that dollar.

The Black Lives Matter movement has hit a chord that is reverberating globally. This is not just a blip; this will continue. Those changes are starting to impact corporate movements, decisions, and structures. The first layer is more surface-level talk and brown-washing, if you will. [Corporations are] reaching out to companies like Red Bay to become the face of a campaign or an ad. We’re participating in some of these campaigns. There are also other initiatives where they’re actually starting to really consider Black businesses as vendors. So now, we’re getting opportunities from [some of the traditional gatekeepers] to become coffee providers — Good Eggs, Thrive, Target. I think if they’re reaching out to us, they’re reaching out to others, as well.

Even before this last wave, Starbucks hired a chief operating officer who is a Black woman. You’re seeing more infiltration on the upper corporate level. That’s the more critical part of the diversity piece. I think that will continue to happen, and it will happen because people are pushing for it — not just Black people, but the mainstream of America are pushing for some of these changes.

Do you see space for there to be a major change in how a wider swath of people is interacting with coffee?

What comes to mind is whenever you have Black people taking over in an industry, or really influencing that industry, Black people have this certain sort of swag, a certain way of doing things and including different flavors. So many things in this industry — for example, tasting notes on a coffee or a wine — are so subjective and they’re so culturally based.

When you’re trying to taste and identify a flavor, all you have is the references from your own personal experience. We’ve had experiences in the cupping lab when we’re tasting coffee and — one example, we had this Navajo brother, Kelvin, and when we were talking about tasting notes, he started talking about saddle leather and the morning smell of riding a horse through a forest, and roasted yams. People will bring their life experience and it’s what you’re missing when you don’t have that diversity of culture and cultural references.

But who knows? We’ve been trying to do the best we can — we introduced a candied yam latte a couple of years ago that Jessica helped create. We are working on a cocoa butter product right now. We’ve been doing a charcoal black latte. We’ve got a couple more things in the pipeline with traditional African spices. I’m not sure what everyone else is planning, but I know they’re going to bring it.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michelle Min is a food and travel photographer based in San Francisco.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/32RFJTY https://ift.tt/2EFsqOm

The coffee industry can be a hotbed of exploitation and exclusion. Red Bay Coffee is pushing for change

Eater: What are the weaknesses and the biggest issues that you’re seeing right now in your industry?

When you look at these issues from the origin through production to the baristas, where and how do you see Red Bay and yourself intervening?

So what should the coffee industry look like in 2025? And what would it actually take to get there?

Do you see space for there to be a major change in how a wider swath of people is interacting with coffee?

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Michelle Min is a food and travel photographer based in San Francisco.

from Eater - All https://ift.tt/32RFJTY via Blogger https://ift.tt/3jyp1j2

#Blogger #cooking #Eater #food #recipes

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hackzhub-blog · 5 years ago

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New Post has been published on https://www.hackzhub.com/6-effective-strategies-companies-use-to-help-employees-tackle-their-student-debt/

6 Effective Strategies Companies Use to Help Employees Tackle their Student Debt

Most people graduate from college with high expectations and a great plan for the future until the reality of their student loan debt hits. The search for a job becomes less about career satisfaction and more about the money. Dreams come to a pause as the focus shifts to clearing the debt.

This scenario does not just apply to a few cases. Statistics show that forty-five million Americans carry the $1.56 trillion student loan debt in the country, and these numbers continue to rise.

Student loan debt does not just affect the graduates, but it affects the economy as well. High levels of debt discourage people from investing, venturing into entrepreneurship, owning homes, and saving. With most money going towards debt repayment, graduates hardly manage to have any assets.

Companies have, in recent times, begun contributing towards the end of this crisis. They are introducing employee benefits aimed at assisting workers to pay off their student loan debt. They achieve this with the help of companies such as Gradifi and Tuition.io that specialize in helping companies enact their student loan repayment benefits.

Although the employees benefit most from these loan repayment assistance programs, the employers gain as well.

Why Companies Offer Loan Repayment Assistance

Let’s look at three reasons why companies are willing to spend money on employees’ loan repayments.

1) It offers a competitive advantage

Millennials take the largest percentage of the workforce and yet are heavily affected by student loan debt. For this reason, most people in this generation will be keen on checking the capability of a job’s remuneration package in making debt repayment easier and faster, before accepting a job offer.

Companies that offer student loan repayment assistance are thus more attractive to job seekers enabling the companies to hire the best skills in their respective field.

2) It boosts productivity

Employees who are under financial strain due to their student loan are less productive in the workplace. They are almost always stressed out by their inability to save for retirement or buy a home.

Companies that offer peace of mind through loan repayment programs or easy installment loan like this website, therefore, do not just work with the best in the field, but they motivate them to deliver to their fullest potential.

3) Prevents high turnover

An employee will always look for the employer who benefits them the most, and with the high level of debt in most households, assistance with student debt repayment is a juicy deal.

Employers who offer this benefit experience less labor turnover and hence use less money on recruitment. Eighty-six percent of employees are likely to stay with an employer for five years if they helped with their student loan.

The quality of the labor force a business has plays a vital role in its overall performance. Companies are, therefore introducing student loan repayment benefits in unique ways.

Here is a look at six strategies employers are using.

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READ ALSO: 10 Areas That Project Management Students Must Concentrate On

Student Loan Refinancing

Most people choose to refinance their student’s loan, which enables them to save some money and reduce their monthly payments. Refinancing only offers benefits when the new loan is at a lower interest rate than your student loan.

Credit Suisse decided to help its employees with their student loans after realizing that it affected their participation in the retirement program. Being a financial services company, it makes sense for the company to guide their employees towards achieving financial freedom.

It has come to an agreement with Social Finance Inc., which is an online lender, to offer an additional 0.25% interest rate reduction on top of their already reduced rates, to the bank’s employees who choose to use Social Finance Inc. to refinance their student loans.

Unused Vacation day’s Wages Tradeoff

If you have had student debt, you understand how stressful it is, and any extra money that goes towards it makes a huge difference.

Unum allows its employees to forego up to five of their 28 paid vacation days in exchange for cash that goes to paying off their student debt. The insurance company uses the employee’s hourly rate to calculate the worth of each vacation day worked.

Research by the Tennessee-based company on their US employees revealed that approximately 30% are burdened by student loan that either they, themselves carry or their children.

By giving them a practical solution to increase their contribution towards the loan repayment, the employees become more productive

Matching Loan Program

The high level of student loan debt is not just keeping college graduates from saving for retirement, making investments, and buying homes. It is also discouraging people from pursuing other degrees, which can make them more productive in their careers.

Besides increasing its minimum base hourly wage for its workers, Aetna, a health care company, has developed a program that helps its employees tackle their student loan debt with ease. They match their full-time and part-time employees’ annual student loan repayment up to $2000 and $1,000 respectively, with a lifetime maximum of $10,000 and $5,000 respectively.

The program applies to anyone who has earned a graduate or undergraduate degree from an accredited university within three years of applying for the matching loan payment program.

Aetna also reimburses its full time and part-time employees 80% of the approved expenses incurred when pursuing job-related courses.

401(k) Benefits

One of the main problems graduates with student loan debt face is the inability to save for retirement. Crippled by the debt, most people forego contributing to their retirement fund and instead channel the money to the student loan.

Companies such as Abbott Laboratories have come up with an exciting solution. For all part-time and full-time employees eligible for the 401(k), Abbott deposits an amount equivalent to a five percent match to their 401(k) account in a program known as Freedom 2 Save.

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READ ALSO: 5 of the Best Ways to Improve Education System

It is done under the condition that the employee pays two percent of their salary towards their student loan through a direct payroll deduction. The employees receive the 401(k) match without making any contribution.

The program enables Abbott’s employees to concentrate on clearing their debt while the company takes care of securing their retirement.

Student Loan Pay Down

If you thought that only millennials are affected by the menace that is student loan debt, you are wrong. Seniors are struggling to clear their loans too. Over 2.8 million Americans of sixty years and above carry student debt.

No one desires to retire in debt. And yet while managing only to meet their minimum student loan debt, most people will not just retire in student debt, but die in it as well.

Penguin Random House offers a student loan assistance benefit to their employees that makes it possible to clear the debt faster. The company, through Gradifi, directly pays up to $1,200 of their employees’ student loan annually, to a maximum of $9,000. The employee has to have worked in the company for one year to be eligible for the benefit.

The amount of $100 paid monthly covers the employee’s principal reducing their repayment period.

Use of Company Stock

Considering that employers benefit from the education their employees possess which they acquired using student’s loans, it is only fair that they offer a hand in clearing these loans. It is with this understanding that Chegg, an American education technology company, is helping its employee’s clear their debts.

In addition to a $1,000 annual cash payment that employees with student loan receive, the company is offering stock to help with the payment of their student debt. For employees who have been with the company for at least two years, those in entry and managerial level qualify for up to $5,000 annually in company stock while those in senior levels receive $3,000 annually.

Chegg sells the stock on behalf of the employee’s and the proceeds after the tax goes to Tuition.io, which takes care of remitting the amount to the respective source.

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READ ALSO: Where you can get a quick cash loan without a job in the Philippines?

In Conclusion

The burden of student loan debt does not just affect the graduate involved, but employers as well. When stress and distractions compromise the productivity of the employees, the profitability of the company is affected as well.

Companies have opened their eyes to this ripple effect and are taking measures to curb it. They are taking steps to help reduce the student loan burden through direct cash payments, reimbursements, and juicy incentives such as retirement benefits.

Although only 4% of employers are currently offering student loan repayment assistance, other companies are catching on.

With the existence of these unique programs and more expected to emerge, the future is bright, and student loan debt may cease to be a nightmare for many graduates and a threat to the economy.

#Debt #Education Loan #Student Debt #Study Loan

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sandramsizemore · 6 years ago

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NJ Governor Murphy Signs Legislation Providing Information on Public Works Projects

Nj Governor Phil Murphy today signed S3129 into law, which will require the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to create a list of labor organizations that represent workers who engage in public work projects.

Under the law, the list will include hourly rates, required fringe benefit rates, and regions in which the labor organizations represent workers. The list will be available on the Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s website as a tool for municipalities to utilize when planning public work projects.

“Municipalities planning public works projects should have access to information about the wages and benefit levels received by employees who are represented by organized labor,” said Governor Phil Murphy. “I’m proud to sign this bill into law and require the creation of such a list to assist municipalities.”

“The public list of regionally based wage rates and benefit requirements will help municipalities and others engaged in public works budget for upcoming projects both large and small, ensuring quality work gets done quickly by skilled tradesmen and women,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo. “The Labor Department looks forward to administering this new law.”

“Labor organizations play an important role in our country's work force and for the quality of life for working families,” said Speaker Craig Coughlin. “This bill will provide localities with a more streamlined process to secure workers for public projects which will help to boost our state’s economy and improve workers’ economic status and working conditions. Another goal of this bill is to generate savings for municipalities which will help ease the burden on New Jersey taxpayers.”

“When a town has a project to get done, they want to do so in the most cost-effective way possible,” said Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson. “With this law, it will be incredibly easy for municipalities to search for laborers who will deliver quality work for a fair price. By giving towns a way to minimize costs, we will ultimately save property taxpayers money.”

“The process of finding workers to complete construction projects can be tedious and time-consuming,” said Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling. “The list created through this law will serve as a one-stop shop for localities looking for workers in their area and will help ensure they get the best price for the job. When municipalities save money, taxpayers are the winners.”

“New Jersey will become the only state with a compiled list of all labor organizations which represent workers on public contracts,” said Senator Troy Singleton. “The list will include employers who have been found to not have paid workers the prevailing wage. This list will also be incredibly beneficial for public works projects, allowing for the right workers to be found in order to complete a project.”

“This law provides local, municipal and county administrators with a new tool to more expeditiously hire skilled labor for public works jobs,” said Senator Joseph Vitale. “Some towns already employ the practice, but this law will require the Department of Labor to create the list for all mayors statewide to use. It’s another tool in a mayor’s tool box and reduces the need to add new, permanent government employees to the payroll.”

“This bill will provide information about public works projects that will demonstrate the wages and benefits that organized labor has been able to secure for its members,” said William T. Mullen, President of the New Jersey State Building and Construction Trades Council. “I applaud Governor Murphy for his leadership and his consistent support for organized labor.”

See also:

NJ Monitors Wages: A Benefit for Injured Workers

…. Jon L. Gelman of Wayne NJ is the author of NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thomson-Reuters). For over 4 decades the Law Offices of Jon L Gelman 1.973.696.7900 [email protected] has been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px 'Helvetica Neue'; min-height: 14.0px} span.s1 {color: #dca10d}

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atticusblog2016-blog · 8 years ago

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New Post has been published on Atticusblog

New Post has been published on https://atticusblog.com/long-lines-at-property-tax-offices/

Long lines at property tax offices*

As the May 22 deadline methods, citizens are joining lengthy strains to put up property tax files. Tobagonians were yesterday looking to document documents from as early as 6 a.M. Outdoor the Ministry of Finance Valuation Division. The Express found rankings of citizens outside the Valuation Office, uptown Scarborough, some sitting on the steps, anticipating the office to open at eight a.M. Into the afternoon, more than one hundred human beings have been accrued out of doors. Included in those accumulated outdoor became former Tobago East MP and leader of the Movement for Transformation Eugene Job-Davis, who said: “This is absolute madness and the THA (Tobago House of Assembly) has to determine how this issue ought to be accomplished.

Funny Pick Up Lines – “Closing” the Pickup

The reason for this text isn’t best to provide you a few humorous select up strains you could use to ‘break the ice’ and get a verbal exchange going, but also focusing on what you need to do to convince the girl you’re ‘capability’ so she consents to a date down the tune. After all, if you are clearly critical approximately the final results, a funny pick out up line certainly is not a lot use except you may take the relationship beyond that first meet! Read on.

Funny Pick Up traces:

– “Excuse me, I’m new in town … Can I actually have instructions on your location?”

– You: “My magic watch says you’re not carrying any underclothes.” Her: “Yes I am!” You: “Ohh, it ought to be 20 mins fast”.

– Her: “Excuse me, do you’ve got the time?” You: “Umm, do you have got the strength?”

– “You’re like a prized fish. I dunno whether I need to mount you or consume you”.

And what now? ‘Closing’ the Pickup:

Okay, so you’ve grabbed her interest. Great! But grasp on, grabbing her preliminary interest is not going to maintain her interested by you. Just due to the fact you already know an exceptional funny pick up strains doesn’t place you in ‘alpha’ fame.Line free video call.For her to provide you a closer appearance, there are a few belongings you want to deliver to her thru your frame language and speech. These include self-assurance, ‘charisma’, the reality that you’re a scarce useful resource, however additionally the face which you are detached to the final results of this meet – all in all, you need to realize how to create the ideal situation so you do not reply to her the same as each different man within the membership, which for her could be a humdrum repetitive procedure.

So preserve these things in thoughts whilst seeking to ‘near’ the choose up: – Confidence – Time restrict – Indifference to final results – Knowledge of how to boost the usage of ‘keno’ – Sense of humor and playfulness inside the proper approaches.

By being capable of tick off each any such, you will be in a far better role to exhale ‘alpha’ vibes and to differentiate me from all the different guys.

A List Of Property Definitions

There are numerous styles of property available on the market that are being marketed at any given time. Some of those names for different houses can be confusing, so it’s miles vital which you realize what to expect, here are the names of the property sorts and their definition.

Terraced Housing:

Terraced Housing is an old skool assets set up wherein extra than (generally 3 or 4) homes are joined together. To keep away from using the word terraced, property marketers will now use the word hyperlink. A terraced residence or a mid hyperlink house is one of the houses which is between others.

A cease of terrace, or give up on link house is the assets which are the last one inside the row of houses.Guru property Malaysia.

Town House

Usually, the term Town House is used to describe a widespread story terraced house which is more contemporary. Some Estate Agents will even use this time period to explain more modern properties that have 3 or more flooring.

Semi-indifferent House

A semi-indifferent residence or belongings are used to explain of the pair of houses which might be generally attached to the center. Semi-detached properties tend to offer their owners back and front gardens, with many additionally offering force way space in greater rural regions.

Detached House

A detached property is a solo asset with its own land which isn’t adjoined through or to some other assets in any way. This kind of assets is typically greater fashionable by means of families who need greater privateness.

Bungalows

A Bungalow is an unmarried story property which may be terraced, semi-indifferent or detached. Bungalows are often considered to be smaller residences, which generally have two bedrooms. Big loft spaces are typically found in bungalows, which permit their owners to transform a 2d table residing space if preferred. Bungalows tend to preserve their fee and may be extra expensive as compared to houses of comparable size.

Flats

Flats basically are available forms. The first in which a present house has been cut up (typically into separate dwellings). The second is a block of apartments in which there might be many separate flats in one construct.

There is a few terminology which you want to be aware of, a communal entrance is a first-rate entrance that lets in its citizens to get admission to their properties. Communal gardens is a shared garden, which you usually are required to pay a maintenance charge. Flats are frequently known as flats, mainly in newly built traits.

There are also variations of flats that you want to be privy to, right here are the greater typically observed editions.

Duplex Apartment

A Duplex Apartment is a condominium which has multiple grounds, commonly. These can be discovered in converted houses or condo blocks. Usually, these kinds of apartments are determined closer to the top of the buildings if they’re in a block.

Tax Tips for Seniors And Caregivers

Taxes may be a hassle and plenty of human beings land up placing them off, but it is important to set some time aside to study what you owe and what you’re receiving. This isn’t always just because you want to be taxed the proper quantity, however due to the fact you can also discover approximately sure allowances you will be entitled to in case you are of a sure age.

Here are 5 hints for purchasing the most from your annual taxes:-

1. Claim again overpayments

You may also discover that within the beyond you have paid too much in taxes because you haven’t been claiming relevant allowances and are consequently entitled to the credit score. It may additionally sound unfair, but do not assume to be knowledgeable in case you’ve paid an excessive amount of in tax. The government is satisfied to hold that money indefinitely until you ask for it returned.

The money you have in credit won’t be considered whilst calculating your next tax invoice both. Every from time to time, get in touch with HMRC and ask in case you’re able to declare returned any of the money you’ve got paid them in the beyond.

2. Research what you are entitled to

There are plenty of allowances which you might be entitled to depend on your age, whether or not you’re married, a widower or be afflicted by a disorder. For instance, in case you’re blind or suffer from impaired imaginative and prescient, you may be entitled to Blind Person’s Allowance, which presents you an additional £2,290 a year.

Couples have precise allowances that they are able to practice for too. If you or your partner changed into born earlier than sixth April 1935, you may get hold of Married Couple’s Allowance, that allows you to reduce your yearly tax expenses by means of £835.50 a year.

Contact HMRC and explain to inform them of any illnesses you have got and see if there may be an allowance you will be entitled to.

3. Alert HMRC to any modifications

To make certain that you’re getting taxed the right quantity you want to make sure that HMRC is up to date with your modern situation. Anything relating to your job can have an effect on how a lot of tax you have to pay.

If you’re soon to retire, you need to allow them to know that you are going to start receiving pension credit to assist them to recalculate your tax invoice. The same applies if your paintings hours trade.File taxes online free federal .and state

Certain circumstances can result in a larger tax bill, so it’s tempting to chorus from telling HMRC that info, however, if you positioned it off they will discover ultimately and end up sending you an invoice disturbing tax lower back.

Four. Check your tax code

A wrong tax code will result in a wrong tax bill, which could result in overpayment or underpayment of taxes over a protracted time period. The tax code basically instructs your pension company and your agency how much of your wage you’re entitled to tax-free.

With the wrong code, you may wind up with a smaller paycheck on the quit of every month, so double-test with HMRC and get the code amended in case you suppose it is wrong.

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easyfoodnetwork · 4 years ago

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The coffee industry can be a hotbed of exploitation and exclusion. Red Bay Coffee is pushing for change One of the walls at Red Bay Coffee headquarters is taken up by a huge living sculpture of Africa, all sorts of plants dangling from the continent’s outline. The space, on a quiet block in the Fruitvale neighborhood of Oakland, California, is both cafe and coffee roastery. The hum of machines joins with the buzz of conversation as the space fills up and a line winds out the door. This is a community hub for the neighborhood. That’s fitting, since Red Bay isn’t an ordinary coffee company. Started in 2014 by Oakland artist and entrepreneur Keba Konte, Red Bay is in many ways a response to the failings of third-wave coffee culture, which saw an increased emphasis on the quality of coffee and its sourcing, but resulted in mostly white-owned cafes and often-underpaid employees. Konte’s mission is to adjust how coffee is treated every step of the way. He wants more demand for high-quality coffee in the countries where it’s produced, so farmers depend less on exploitative overseas markets. He wants customers who haven’t felt comfortable dipping their toes into the world of fancy coffee to have a place to ask questions and sip in peace. He wants to create a home behind the counter, where queer folk, people of color, and those who have been incarcerated can learn a skill and make a meaningful income. If that sounds like a lot for one coffee company to tackle, that’s because it is. But as Red Bay quickly grows, Konte is well on his way to realizing this vision, setting a new standard for the coffee industry. Red Bay is the product of Konte’s ideas about how the world of coffee could be. So when I started thinking about the future of food, and of the restaurant industry, Konte was the first person I called. Eater: What are the weaknesses and the biggest issues that you’re seeing right now in your industry? Keba Konte: The industry still lacks Black leadership at the highest levels. At a Peet’s, at a Starbucks, and even some of these other third-wave roasteries and companies, you’ll see more and more Black and brown baristas: The front line almost feels like it’s getting a little bit more integrated. And we’re still talking about integration. But when you look past the veil at the leadership roles at most of these coffee companies, we’re still looking at mostly white men who are the decision-makers, who are driving the culture at these places. That’s a problem. There’s still a lot of exploitation that happens at the farm level. That’s probably the single biggest challenge and weakness of this entire industry. The people who are doing by far the most labor-intensive portion of the entire supply chain are at origin, and they’re getting the smallest piece of the pie in terms of compensation and how the dollar is divided up. The level of exploitation and poverty that exists for the farmers and producers is a tragedy. When you look at these issues from the origin through production to the baristas, where and how do you see Red Bay and yourself intervening? It doesn’t stop at the barista. It starts, obviously, at the farm and all the way through the value stream, from the importer to the exporter to the local trading houses to the individual roasters to the QC [quality control] and production and the marketing and then, the barista. After that, it is the spaces: From the coffeehouses to the streets and the consumer. I make that distinction because a couple of years back in a Starbucks in Philadelphia, they called the police on these two [Black] guys who were just there for a meeting. Where we intervene — starting at the very end — is creating spaces that are flipping the script by making our spaces unapologetically welcoming to Black and brown people: By putting Africa on the wall, by not exploiting our farmers with pictures of them smiling with sweat and dirty hands that they’re not directly benefiting from. We are hiring some of these underrepresented and underestimated communities at every level of production. That includes roasters. And we’re not just talking about race. Race is definitely one major component, but we’re talking about gender, we’re talking about LGBTQ people, we’re talking about disabled folks, we’re talking about the formerly incarcerated. We are very intentional about creating opportunities for folks with unnecessary barriers to entry into the industry. Sometimes, those barriers are people not getting promoted from barista to a trainer to a manager. Sometimes, those barriers are not getting hired in the first place. They might be in a wheelchair or have a police record and have to check that box on the application: Have you been convicted of a felony? Sometimes, the barrier is none of those things; it’s just that when they walk into these spaces, it doesn’t feel welcoming. Us breaking down these barriers is incentivizing our farmers for quality and paying them even more than fair-trade rates. It’s meeting people where they are with their coffee education. We use our platform to let Black people know, to let African Americans know that coffee came from Africa and that this is our heritage. That is our inheritance. Since we’ve been under the Red Bay brand for 6 ½ years, we’ve seen an emergence of a Black coffee movement. There are coffee shops opening up that are not just owned by Black people, but are also unapologetic about claiming their culture and flexing it within the coffee space. So what should the coffee industry look like in 2025? And what would it actually take to get there? Well, it is going to take a struggle. These things don’t just happen by themselves. Let me first address our crystal ball and [the idea of] looking into the future: We’re going to have to think about wages. We’ve been paying a minimum of $15 per hour as our starting wage for our employees, baristas, and production-line crew, ever since the minimum wage was $10. Now that the minimum wage has caught up to what we have been paying for the last six years — and we’ve made incremental increases there — we’re trying to raise the bar again. We would like to continue to push the envelope in terms of wages. I would like to think that in five years’ time, there will be a growth in the consumption of coffee in origin countries around the world: That means more coffee shops, coffee culture, and coffee business in countries like Kenya, Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala. What that does is drive the price up, and it makes those coffee producers less dependent on exporting to Europe, America, and Japan. We really have to get that right. Right now, farmers are being paid at almost an all-time low. The commodity price is under $1 for one pound of coffee. It’s hard to explain how much work goes into processing one pound of coffee, and the farmer, the producer, and the collective has to share that dollar. The Black Lives Matter movement has hit a chord that is reverberating globally. This is not just a blip; this will continue. Those changes are starting to impact corporate movements, decisions, and structures. The first layer is more surface-level talk and brown-washing, if you will. [Corporations are] reaching out to companies like Red Bay to become the face of a campaign or an ad. We’re participating in some of these campaigns. There are also other initiatives where they’re actually starting to really consider Black businesses as vendors. So now, we’re getting opportunities from [some of the traditional gatekeepers] to become coffee providers — Good Eggs, Thrive, Target. I think if they’re reaching out to us, they’re reaching out to others, as well. Even before this last wave, Starbucks hired a chief operating officer who is a Black woman. You’re seeing more infiltration on the upper corporate level. That’s the more critical part of the diversity piece. I think that will continue to happen, and it will happen because people are pushing for it — not just Black people, but the mainstream of America are pushing for some of these changes. Do you see space for there to be a major change in how a wider swath of people is interacting with coffee? What comes to mind is whenever you have Black people taking over in an industry, or really influencing that industry, Black people have this certain sort of swag, a certain way of doing things and including different flavors. So many things in this industry — for example, tasting notes on a coffee or a wine — are so subjective and they’re so culturally based. When you’re trying to taste and identify a flavor, all you have is the references from your own personal experience. We’ve had experiences in the cupping lab when we’re tasting coffee and — one example, we had this Navajo brother, Kelvin, and when we were talking about tasting notes, he started talking about saddle leather and the morning smell of riding a horse through a forest, and roasted yams. People will bring their life experience and it’s what you’re missing when you don’t have that diversity of culture and cultural references. But who knows? We’ve been trying to do the best we can — we introduced a candied yam latte a couple of years ago that Jessica helped create. We are working on a cocoa butter product right now. We’ve been doing a charcoal black latte. We’ve got a couple more things in the pipeline with traditional African spices. I’m not sure what everyone else is planning, but I know they’re going to bring it. This interview has been edited for clarity and length. Michelle Min is a food and travel photographer based in San Francisco. from Eater - All https://ift.tt/32RFJTY

http://easyfoodnetwork.blogspot.com/2020/09/keba-kontes-caffeinated-revolution.html

#EasyFoodNetwork #ComfortFoodRecipes #EasyRecipes #GoodFood #BestComfortFoodRecipes #TastyFoodv

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