The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
Fazila Farouk -
The South African government has finally come around to talking about introducing a national minimum wage. There’s still no indication what the floor will be set at, but this is surely good news in a country with one of the most deplorable levels of income inequality.
No doubt the nation will be engaged in a great deal of debate about what suitable compensation ought to be for the legions of low-level workers trapped in mundane manufacturing and service jobs. What is a decent level...
What if your job didn’t control your life? Brazilian CEO Ricardo Semler runs his company with surprisingly few conventional workplace rules. He practices a radical form of corporate democracy, rethinking everything from board meetings to how workers report their vacation days (they don’t have to). It’s a vision that rewards the wisdom of workers, promotes work-life balance, and leads to some deep understanding on what work and life is really all about.
For those that...
Lynn Parramore -
Want to make employees happier and more productive? Give them a four-day work week. The concept was introduced in the 1950s by American labor union leader Walter Reuther, but it’s taken a long time for the country to come around to his way of thinking. There are signs that things are changing. Treehouse, an online education company, has a four-day work-week policy, and CEO Ryan Carlson has never looked back, saying it increases both output and morale. Other forward-thinking companies,...
Roman Krznaric -
The idea of fulfilling work—a job that reflects our passions, talents and values—is a modern invention. Open Dr. Johnson's celebrated Dictionary, published in 1755, and the word “fulfilment” doesn't even appear. But today our expectations are higher, which helps explain why job satisfaction has declined to a record low of 47 percent in the U.S., and is even lower in Europe.
If you count yourself amongst those who are unhappy in their job, or at least have that...
Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, says you can't beat your Facebook addiction into submission -- so schedule it into your work day.
All the studies of procrastination say that you can't find a work reward that will take the place of procrastination. So if the reward for procrastination is that you get to spend five minutes distracted by Facebook, you have to allow yourself to do that.
However, we also know that the more you focus, the more that focus becomes a habit....
Sarah Seltzer -
Which countries fare best in helping citizens survive without working themselves to death?
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) makes a study of this sort of thing, ranking countries on quality of life -- the “Better Life Index” -- based on a number of factors, including work-life balance, safety, health, longevity, and more. So using that series of data as well as other information, the following are some countries that have better...
