Business, Management, Marketing, Money, Tax, Law, People

Do fixed-term independent contractors have a duty to mitigate?

Fixed-term contracts are often complex and can create risk. Companies looking to terminate fixed-term contracts with their independent contractors can breathe a bit easier after an Ontario appeal court found that, generally, independent contractors under fixed-term contracts have a duty to mitigate their damages. This diverges from the approach the same court has applied for employees. Trial Court – No duty to mitigate, like employees! In Monterosso v. Metro Freightliner…

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CHINA data protection regulations – a look back at 2023 developments

With 2023 having come to an end, the fast-paced changes to the China data protection regime throughout the year are continuing well into Q1 2024. Author: Venus Cheung, Carolyn Bigg, Amanda Ge, Gwyneth To As well as a near finalisation of the different routes to legitimise cross-border data transfers, the Cyberspace Administration of China (“CAC”) has begun to direct its efforts into harmonising its data compliance requirements across regions, as well as other…

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Stop Asking Candidates for Their Last-Drawn Salary

The practice of asking candidates to disclose their last-drawn salary to prospective employers has long been one of the more contentious aspects of the hiring process. While this remains a common request across many countries, certain states in the United States – including California and New York – have made it illegal. The European Union Pay Transparency Directive, which was established in early 2023, also prohibits employers from inquiring about a candidate’s…

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Missing Shareholder – what do we do?

What happens if you can’t contact a shareholder of your company? What does the disappearance of that shareholder mean for the operation of your company? Have the gears of your company ground to a halt as a result of the missing shareholder throwing a spanner in the works? Fear not, there are remedial actions and practical precautions that you can take to ensure the smooth operation of your company. Let’s…

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Close to the shore – Embracing patience and a low-risk equities portfolio

The role of a good asset manager is to protect and grow a client’s money. An obvious statement maybe, but one worth making – particularly when it comes to discussing equities. Stocks are often the most glamourous, headline-grabbing part of the investment universe. They loom large in the public imagination and feature heavily in popular culture. The stories we tell about companies and stocks are the core appeal of the…

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Craft a Thriving Culture for 2024 and Beyond!

The turn of the year often marks a time for personal resolutions, but what about resolutions for the workplace? According to Gallup, employee engagement in the U.S. saw its first annual decline in a decade — dropping from 36% of engaged employees in 2020 to 34% in 2021. How might a new culture shift impact this statistic? Well, take a moment to assess your current organizational culture. How would you…

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Inflation in the eastern euro area: reasons and risks

10 January 2024By Matteo FalagiardaWithin the euro area, countries in central and eastern Europe have recently experienced the highest inflation rates. But why, exactly? The ECB Blog looks at the reasons for these higher prices and highlights the resulting risks and vulnerabilities.Since 2021 inflation in euro area countries in central and eastern Europe (EACEE) has significantly outpaced that of the euro area as a whole.[1] The differentials have narrowed in…

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The Best and Worst CEOs of 2023

With the new year comes our annual tradition of recognizing three CEOs for their accomplishments over the last 12 months—as well as three CEOs who are on the hot seat after a year of struggles. Such an effort at accountability can teach us a lot about the future, as glancing backward is often a valuable guide to the path forward. While there can be surprise technological and market disruptions, classical…

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‘Leaveism’ and ‘presenteeism’: Here’s how to be happier at work

Way back in February 2020, before most of us really knew anything about COVID, we wrote an article for The Conversation about “leaveism” and its impact on flexible working. Barely a month later, the world was bracing for a pandemic that would inadvertently create the largest (forced) working experiment of all time. by Cary Cooper and Ian Hesketh This was a great opportunity for researchers like us to watch how…

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2023: A year to remember for European banks

It has been an exciting year for Europe’s banking industry. Major central banks such as the ECB and the Bank of England continued to hike interest rates rapidly, to levels not seen since at least the financial crisis. This has led to wider interest margins and boosted the sector’s most important source of revenue, net interest income, by a staggering 26% yoy in the first three quarters of the year…

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Exploring the World Through a Lens: Steve McCurry and Samsung

Steve McCurry from the international photography collective Magnum Photos, the photographer behind the iconic “Afghan Girl” portrait, has played a significant role in contemporary photography for more than four decades. Through his lens, McCurry has documented world conflicts, vanishing cultures, ancient traditions and modern society in an expressive, personal way. From the bustling streets of India to active warzones in Afghanistan, McCurry’s photographs have always been more than mere images…

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Christine Lagarde: Euro at 25: the value of unity in a changing world

30 December 2023By Paschal Donohoe (President of the Eurogroup), Christine Lagarde (President of the European Central Bank), Roberta Metsola (President of the European Parliament), Charles Michel (President of the European Council) and Ursula von der Leyen (President of the European Commission)25 years ago, on 1 January 1999, the euro came into force as the single currency for 11 EU Member States. It now serves the economy and eases life for…

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Business Exodus from Russia Was No Bonanza for Putin

Sometimes, political reporters without a background in business journalism make egregious errors in their coverage of the business exodus from Vladimir Putin’s Russia—and even fall for the strongman’s Potemkin Village-like economic façade. A recent article, entitled “How Putin Turned a Western Boycott Into a Bonanza”, wrongly suggested that the historic business exits of over 1,000 multinational companies from Russia have somehow been a huge win for the Russian war effort,…

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Counterproductive Quota-Based Policy

Mira is 27 years old and comes from India. She studied computer science at ETH Zurich and graduated with a master’s degree. She feels integrated in Switzerland and would like to work here after graduating. Because IT specialists are in demand, she has no trouble finding a suitable position. However, because her potential employer is unable to justify why Mira’s employment is of great economic interest, she is not granted…

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Mastering Strategic Moves in the Workplace

Sports have a unique ability to inspire, unite, and elevate individuals and communities. I am one of them. It’s not just something fun to watch; it inspires me beyond the competition. It’s not only a game; it’s like a language that touches my heart. Sports are where dreams come alive, like a canvas waiting for stories, and a stage where heroes rise.  It all started when I was five. I…

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Talent Management and the Rise of the Flexible Career

How can your organisation best respond to an evolving workplace culture? This webinar, co-hosted by Q5 and Ceridian and inspired by Ceridian’s 2023 Pulse of Talent Survey, discusses some of the latest workforce insights around shifting employee needs and the increased importance of flexibility. In an era where the landscape of work is rapidly evolving, understanding the nuances of talent management has never been more crucial. Q5 recently hosted a…

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Investing in Distributional

Modern AI has allowed us to build the world’s first creative computers. Fields that once seemed uniquely human — like visual art, writing, music, or even the art of conversation — are now accessible to software in ways we couldn’t previously imagine. For many consumer AI apps, this is an incredible and groundbreaking feature. For business applications, though, creativity poses a problem. Lack of reliability in AI systems (i.e., their…

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Pronoun power

Ever been in a situation where you just can’t get your message across? New research by Zakary Tormala and Mohamed Hussein suggests that you might want to rethink which pronouns you deploy. Tormala, a professor of marketing at Stanford GSB, and Hussein, a PhD candidate who studies the intersection between consumer behavior and politics, looked at how using “you” versus “we” pronouns affected how people responded to messages in settings…

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An average 70% of purchasing software is not used properly

Robert Waalder founded Sourcing Champions in 2014 after parting ways with Philips. Since then, his consultancy has been making strides in the field of procurement transformation and strategy, with a significant focus on digitalization. Waalder discusses his firm’s work in this area and highlights crucial considerations for companies venturing into the digitalization of their procurement processes. Owner and founder of procurement consultancy Sourcing Champions, Robert Waalder, spent 18 years at…

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Why We Can Be Quicker to Judge Others Than We Think

Actions tend to be judged based on some set of expectations, standards or thresholds. For example, managers may set sales targets that employees must achieve before getting a bonus; parents may establish ground rules that children need to abide by before rewarding or punishing them; and content moderators may let social media users commit a certain number of rule breaches before permanently banning them. These common associations between actions and…

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Creating flatter organisations is the key to unlocking individual potential

The argument for creating flatter organisations that contain fewer managerial and supervisory levels to open up lines of communication and increase collaboration is not a new one. Managerial layers affect how quickly decisions are made, how accountability and authority are distributed, and the sense of empowerment that employees feel. But is there a magic number of layers that help us deliver the expected business value? Long answer short … no.…

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The price of inaction: what a hotter climate means for monetary policy

18 December 2023By Friderike Kuik, Wolfgang Modery, Christiane Nickel and Miles ParkerThis is the sixth post in our series accompanying COP28.The ECB’s primary mandate is to maintain price stability. So why do we talk about climate change? In this post on The ECB Blog, we show how a hotter climate affects prices and the economy and discuss how this impacts the task of central banks. A hotter climate leads to…

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The right partner can help ease pain points during and post-migration

Navigating the Complexity of Atlassian Cloud Migration: A Strategic Approach with Elabor8 In the era of digital transformation, transitioning to the Atlassian Cloud is no longer optional—it’s a strategic necessity. As the Atlassian Migration draws closer, it is important to have a clear understanding of what that means for you. The journey to the cloud presents challenges that demand more than just technical expertise; they require a strategic alignment of your…

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Commercial Real Estate Downturn or Crisis?

“We’ve had a change, perhaps a permanent change, in the usage of space,” said Yale SOM’s Andrew Metrick. Swipe card data show about half as many people coming into offices as pre-pandemic. “There ain’t no way we’re going to keep the same amount of commercial real estate if that stays steady,” he explained, adding that estimates have office building valuations down about 30%. Compared with home mortgages, commercial loans have…

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Smart cities and digital water management solutions

The article explores the opportunities in digital water space and the challenges in implementing digital water, for which they also provide their proposed solutions. They suggest PPP, mass awareness building and stakeholder training as the way forward to navigate this ecosystem. There is an opportunity to use smart metering and supporting digital water management solutions to Optimise the usage of scarce urban water resources by minimising leakage Minimise Non-revenue water…

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IP Basics: Introduction to advertising law

Kate Hawkins: I'm Kate Hawkins, a principal associate in the Intellectual Property team. I specialise in advertising and marketing law. I'll be talking through the basics of advertising regulation in the UK. All marketing communications must comply with UK advertising laws, codes and regulations. If a brand produces advertising that is untrue or misleading or breaches the advertising rules, then it risks damaging its reputation and the valuable trust consumers…

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Battery – Charting the Course for Data Privacy. Strategic Investment

In this digital age, where every online transaction, interaction, and click leaves a data trail, the imperative for organizations to maintain robust data-privacy programs has never been clearer. This also has led to a myriad of new data-privacy laws and regulations all over the globe. While these new laws no doubt have the positive impact of protecting individual data rights, they also present challenges for businesses trying to comply with…

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Climate risks, the macroprudential view

12 December 2023By Ludivine Berret, Jean Boissinot, Marianna Caccavaio, Michael Grill, Paul Hiebert and Fabio TamburriniThis is the fifth post in our series accompanying COP28.Climate change can endanger financial stability. The ECB Blog looks at how a common macroprudential policy framework could complement microprudential initiatives to make the financial system more resilient. Catastrophes caused by climate change, such as rising sea levels or more frequent extreme weather events, will harm…

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When Companies Reverse Their Climate Commitments

Should we hold accountable companies that fail to meet their climate commitments? There is important research by Professor Kelly Shue that shows in some cases, investing in “brown firms”—or firms that are transitioning to lower emissions in greenhouse gas-intense sectors—has a greater benefit to the environment than investing in firms that are already green with low emissions. So we need to be smart about which GHG emissions commitments of net-zero…

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Mondays are blue, obviously

Imagine Thursday. Does Thursday have a color? What about the sound of rain — does that sound taste like chocolate? Or does the sound of a saxophone feel triangular to you? For about 3% of the population, the sharp lines between our senses blend together. Textures may have tastes, sounds, shapes, numbers may have colors. This sensory crosstalk is called synesthesia, and it's not a disorder, just a different way of…

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Most people (don’t) understand how money works

Americans aren’t good at managing their money — and there are signs that the problem is getting worse. Already saddled with record levels of student debt, young adults today, for example, are even more unlikely to monitor their credit card debt and bank balances. Some people trick themselves into thinking that store refunds or anything less than $5 amount to free money. And too many people pay for online subscriptions…

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Ecocide – A new criminal offence to be created in England and Wales?

Last week a Private Members' Bill was introduced to the House of Lords which creates a new criminal offence of "ecocide". While Private Members' Bills rarely receive Royal Assent, because they are not sponsored by government ministers and therefore struggle for time, they frequently raise important issues of the day and, if popular, may well influence future legislative proposals. The Ecocide Bill is sponsored by Baroness Boycott, a crossbench peer…

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The Israel-Hamas War and the Fundamental Flaws of Social Media

Today, the images and videos circulating, especially across social media, are offering a very poor representation of the truth of what happened on October 7 in Israel. This is partly due to the Israeli government’s understandable efforts to protect the privacy and dignity of the victims, and abstaining from publishing evidence of the atrocities committed to the public. At the same time, the content that is flooding social platforms now…

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Profit is (not) a dirty word

How addressing contractor profits builds a stronger construction sector that can deliver better infrastructure outcomes for society. Paul Royds Director, Advisory paulroyds@hka.com +61 402 318 441 Profit has long been a whispered word in government corridors as bloated project teams, commercially compromised evaluation ensembles and acquiescent steering committees wave their collective decisioning wands. With contracts awarded, there is almost a collective gasp that a contractor would dare to turn a…

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“Facing” the possibility of registering human faces as trade marks – EUIPO clears up the issue

It is well known that one of the main functions of a trade mark is to identify a person or trader’s products or services. In this way, trade marks must be unique or distinctive.  What if then, a person or individual is the product being sold? Could they, for example, seek to register their appearance as a trade mark?  Are human faces even registrable as trade marks? In a recent…

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Lonely at the Top – The Challenge of Connection for Senior Leaders

Perceptyx research reveals that approximately 4 in 10 workers experience loneliness at work. Yet, senior leaders are twice as likely to report feelings of isolation when compared with employees at more junior levels. This phenomenon, encapsulated by the adage "it's lonely at the top," highlights a paradoxical reality in which those at the highest levels of organizational power confront real challenges making meaningful and sustaining social connections. Harvard Business Publishing…

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