Anti-vaxxers will receive 50 percent less in annual increase at US packing firm.
European and American companies branch out to create thousands of jobs through expansion plans while New Zealand increases sick day entitlements and Amazon starts investigation into harassment and discrimination claims. Meanwhile, vaccinated employees get a higher increase than non-vaccinated employees at a family-owned US business.
Anti-vaxxers to receive 50 percent less on salary increase
The family-owned Emerald Packaging will be hitting anti-vax workers where it may hurt them most: their pay cheques.
Employees who have been fully vaccinated will receive a three percent increase while those who have not will receive 1.5 percent as part of the company’s regular 1 September increase, according to Reuters.
"With the Delta variant spreading quickly and likely to hit the unvaccinated here, and thus put everyone at risk for sickness, it likely is my last best shot to get people jabbed," said CE Kevin Kelly.
Amazon to probe harassment, discrimination allegations
E-commerce giant Amazon has opened a probe into allegations of harassment and discrimination at its cloud-computing unit Amazon Web Services (AWS), after more than 550 workers signed a petition, blaming AWS for its “underlying culture of systemic discrimination, harassment, bullying, and bias against women and under-represented groups”.
The petition alleged that Amazon's system to investigate claims of discrimination is not fair, objective or transparent, reports The Washington Post.
Google parent to launch AI project
Alphabet Inc will be launching Intrinsic, its new robotics software and artificial intelligence project, under the Google parent’s segment that houses futuristic businesses such as Verily and Waymo, reports Reuters.
“We’re now ready to become an independent Alphabet company, leaving the moonshot factory’s rapid prototyping environment to focus on developing our product and validating our technology," said Intrinsic CEO Wendy Tan White, adding the company was looking to hire people.
Pepco to create 13,000 jobs
The owner of the discount chains Pepco, Poundland and Dealz, Pepco Group, plans to create about 13,000 net new jobs across Europe over the next three years as it aggressively opens new stores, its boss told Reuters.
It is expected that the new jobs will be in continental Europe, as it bets that shoppers will flock to cheaper stores following the devastation of the pandemic.
New Zealand doubles sick leave to 10 days
A legislation doubling employees’ minimum sick leave entitlement to 10 days is now in effect in New Zealand.
According to Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Wood, the move aims to “help Kiwis and workplaces stay healthy”, reports Xinhua news agency.
“Covid-19 has shown us how important it is to stay home when you’re sick. By giving people a minimum of 10 days’ sick leave, we're helping them to do that and stop bugs from spreading,” Wood said.
