Women “don’t get paid after today” claims #EqualPayDay report November 4, 2014 If you're a woman, you might want to down tools for the rest of the year, because from now on you are effectively working for free. That's the argument of a report claiming that the gender disparity in pay has actually grown to such an extent that, including full and part-time workers, men earn on [...]
Varied working hours and unusual sleep patterns lead to lower intelligence – and it takes over five years to recover November 4, 2014 Working shifts that vary between mornings, afternoons and nights is likely to result in a reduction in brain power, according to a group of UK researchers. By taking a sample of 3,000 people and looking at certain aspects of brain function, such as memory and information processing speed, they found that those who worked [...]
Overtime should be taken into account when calculating holiday pay, court rules November 4, 2014 Thousands of small businesses could be at risk after a court ruled that overtime should be taken into account when holiday pay is calculated. The Employment Appeals Tribunal ruled this morning on whether employees who work overtime should receive additional, backdated holiday pay. In a case brought against Scottish road maintenance firm Bear Scotland, three [...]
GCHQ director slammed by privacy advocates for suggesting tech companies “facilitate” terror November 4, 2014 The new director of GCHQ has been slammed for arguing that privacy has never been “an absolute right” in an article in which he suggested large US tech companies help to “facilitate” terror. Robert Hannigan’s comments, which appeared in a Financial Times opinion piece, were lambasted for being “divisive and offensive” by executive director [...]
European Commission slashes 2015 eurozone growth forecast to 1.1 per cent November 4, 2014 The European Commission (EC) has cut its 2015 growth forecast for the eurozone from 1.7 per cent to 1.1 per cent, citing a slowdown in market activity, as well as the threat from rising tensions in Ukraine and a lack of investment. It added that growth in the bloc this year is expected to reach [...]
2014 US midterm elections predictions map: How will people vote? And when will the results be announced? November 4, 2014 It’s US mid-term election day and the gloves are off. The biggest prize on offer is control of the Senate and the battle could go down to the wire. Some American news channels are predicting a Republican landslide, with Nate Silver's 538 giving a final prediction of a 70 per cent chance of a Republican [...]
JP Morgan: US Department of Justice investigates forex trading as bank sets aside additional $1.3bn for litigation November 4, 2014 JP Morgan has increased the amount of money set aside for potential litigation costs by $1.3bn (£813m) as it revealed the US Department of Justice (DoJ) has launched a criminal investigation into the banks currency trading. The investigation by the DoJ follows a number of similar probes by regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) [...]
Plane bomb threat in UK: Researchers forming plans to prevent “cyberhijacking” November 4, 2014 In the future, it may not be necessary for a hijacker to actually board a plane in order to make it crash. As planes adopt more wireless communications, the potential for attacks made remotely on network systems becomes greater. This increased threat of “cyberhijacking” has led UK researchers to develop methods for minimising the [...]
UK construction activity falls to its lowest in five months November 4, 2014 Activity in the UK's construction industry fell to its lowest level in five months during October, figures out this morning showed. Markit's purchasing managers' index (PMI) for construction, which measures activity in the sector, fell to 61.4 in October, down from 64.2 in September. Any number above 50 denotes growth in activity, so the industry [...]
GCHQ director: WhatsApp, Twitter and Facebook “facilitate” Isis terrorism November 4, 2014 GCHQ’s newly appointed director has suggested that Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and other large US tech brands “facilitate” terrorism. In an opinion piece published in the Financial Times, Robert Hannigan writes that “the largest US tech companies…are the routes for the facilitation of crime and terrorism.” Hannigan’s article is published on the same day [...]