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The right to disconnect from work – and employer oversight – is growing around the world. Why is New Zealand lagging behind?

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New law giving Australian staff “the right to disconnect” – the order to refuse contact with the employer outside working hours (unless the refusal is unjustified) – comes into force this month.

These regulations are a response to growing awareness of the health and safety costs related to the stress and overwork related to constant connectivity. other countriesincluding France and Belgium, have also recognized such a right or are considering doing so.

But New Zealand is not. Its working time regulations are relatively primitive compared to more comprehensive regulation in other countries, although the minimum wage law limits working time to 40 hours per week, unless the parties agree otherwise.

New Zealand should consider the right of employees to disconnect. But this must transcend restrictions on when employers can actively contact employees. The government must also address the ability of employers to use newly developed technology to spy, track and record the whole lot employees do of their free time.

Constant surveillance is now a core feature of algorithmic management software, which collects data from work-at-home laptops, biometric scanners, worker smartphones, AI searches on social media, employee-driven vehicles, and even IoT-enabled worker badges.

These devices don’t stop recording when an worker leaves the workplace or finishes work at the end of the day.

The Harm of 24/7 Spying

Workers subjected to 24-hour surveillance cannot completely break away from their workplace. Tests showed that the perception of constant surveillance is bad for mental health and well-being. The abuse of this information by spying bosses, nosy coworkersbullies and tyrants undoubtedly harm employees.

Moreover, data collected from homes, smartphones, vehicles and worker biometrics will be became a commodity and resold to third-party data brokers.

These brokers are largely unregulated and operate outside New Zealand borders or control. This means there are few real restrictions on who could buy and use this information.

New Zealand lags behind in protecting staff

New Zealand law doesn’t protect employees from privacy invasions and employer demands.

Not only does the law barely limit working hours, but the protections provided by the Privacy Act against invasive data collection are more limited than is commonly believed. While other countries While New Zealand doesn’t specifically regulate privacy in the employment context, it doesn’t.

Instead, under the general principles of law, employers in New Zealand are permitted to collect personal information where vital for a “lawful purpose” related to the functions or activities of employees.

Employers wouldn’t have to be certain that employees know and expressly consent to the collection of their data. They only have to take “reasonable steps” to be certain that employees know why the data is being collected and who will receive it.

Information could also be used for purposes aside from those for which it was originally collected, provided the individual consents. Information may be disclosed to third parties under the same conditions.

Global standards for workers

All this lags behind emerging global standards for safeguarding worker privacy. The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) doesn’t allow employers to depend on employees’ “consent” to supervisory practices. This framework recognizes the economic power that employers have over employees.

The EU is also I need to ban processing of certain varieties of personal data of “platform workers” (for instance Uber drivers), including a prohibition on collecting data when the employee is not working.

New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory require lively notification of filming and audio recording when employees are working from home, and don’t allow passive, covert surveillance with out a court order. Portugal the law expressly prohibits constant contact by way of image or sound.

The United States has begun considering The Act to Stop Spying on Bosseswhich might prohibit employers from collecting data outside of working hours. And California introduced detailed provisions on employees’ rights regarding data relating to their workplace.

New Zealand’s weak penalties for privacy intrusions stand in stark contrast to those imposed by the French Data Protection Agency. Amazon France was was recently fined 32 million euros for violating the GDPR.

Opportunity is knocking on the door

The New Zealand Government also has quite a few other employment law reforms in the pipeline, including reforming occupational health and safety laws, reviewing access to personal grievances and changing the legal definition of “employee”.

However, the right to disconnect doesn’t appear to be a priority.

New Zealand can learn from other countries responding to rapidly changing technologies. When the time comes, the government should implement laws that give employees an actual right to disconnect and privacy outside of the workplace.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Business and Finance

How a Black-owned radio station stayed independent for 50 years while other media became corporatized.

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WDKX, WDKX Radio, WDKX Rochester, Rochester radio stations, B lack-owned radio stations, WDKX Andria Langston, theGrio.com

If you have ever checked out a radio station’s call letters, it can have gave the impression of they were just letters to you.

But at WDKX radios in Rochester, New York, the letter “D” stands for Frederick Douglass, “K” stands for Martin Luther King Jr., and “X” stands for

In a media environment where many Black radio stations that air promoting to Black listeners usually are not Black-owned, WDKX exemplifies the legacy and power of independent Black media. This yr the station is celebrating 50 years in business.

According to African American Public Radio Consortiuman estimated 10,000 industrial radio stations broadcast each day within the U.S., but lower than 1% are black-owned. This discrepancy reveals greater than just an ownership gap; highlights a systemic problem that ends in fewer Black leaders being accountable for the voices and messages that claim to talk for Black people.

“Anyone can play black music or turn on black shows, but with black creators there is a different kind of authenticity and connection,” says Andria Langston, current co-owner of WDKX and national sales manager.

Langston is Andre Langston’s daughter and granddaughter Andrew Langstonwho founded WDKX in 1974 in Rochester. While the northern New York city is commonly considered a destination for abolitionists like Frederick Douglass, that does not imply racism wasn’t prevalent in the realm.

Andrew Langston (right) is the founder and visionary of WDKX Radio, which he founded in 1974. (Photo via WROC-TV)
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Andria Langston poses along with her father, Andre Langston, current owner of WDKX radio in Rochester, New York, who made sure the station remained independently owned. (Photo courtesy of The Langston Family)
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“My grandfather was a visionary, and interestingly enough, he moved to Rochester, New York, because he was promised a job at CBS,” Langston tells Grio. “But when he got there and they saw he was black, they didn’t want to show him on TV. Being in Rochester during the Rochester Riots, my grandparents saw there was a need to tell our story.”

Today, WDKX is a model of resilience, being certainly one of the last independently operated Black-owned radio stations within the United States. The station organizes community events and highlights issues related to health, education and politics. Its mission is deeply rooted within the vision of Mr. Langston, who overcame regulatory and racial barriers to create a platform dedicated to authentic Black voices. For Andria, who began learning the station’s operations on the age of 5, that is of great importance.

“I’m a third-generation owner and seeing my grandfather build this station throughout my life and my father continuing it, I think it’s a testament to the American dream; what can be achieved with persistence and community and simply focusing on your goals,” Langston tells theGrio.

(*50*)

Like many Black-owned public radio stations, WDKX attracts socially and culturally aware listeners who help keep this legacy alive. Although many African-American public radio stations are licensed by universities – accounting for 70% of all such stations, including NPR affiliates – WDKX is certainly one of the few that also operates independently.

This weekend, as WDKX celebrates its fiftieth anniversary, it does in order a testament to the importance of getting Black people in media. From its commitment to unfiltered storytelling to its ability to construct authentic connections, WDKX stays a critical voice in an era where community-centered, Black-owned media is required greater than ever. For listeners in Rochester and beyond, WDKX is greater than just a radio station. It reminds us of the strength and resilience that comes from having your personal narrative.

“My grandfather was in his 40s when he finally started a radio station,” Langston explains. “So you may have a dream in your 20s and it should take you years to comprehend it. Don’t surrender in your dreams. To proceed. Because you have got time and there may be enough for everyone here.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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No, the boom in battery factories in America is not over – construction of the largest factories is proceeding as planned and it is planned to employ over 23,000 people

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The United States is experiencing the largest-ever boom in investment in clean energy production, driven by laws such as the bipartisan bill Act on infrastructure investments and employment and Act on reducing inflation.

They have these rights used billions of dollars government support to drive private sector investment in clean energy supply chains across the country.

For several years, one of us, Jay Turner, and his students at Wellesley College have been tracking clean energy investments in the U.S. and sharing the data on the website The big green machine website. This study shows that since the Inflation Control Act went into effect in 2022, firms have announced 225 projects with a complete investment of $127 billion and the creation of greater than 131,000 latest jobs.

You could have seen on the news that these projects are in danger of failure or significant delays. In August 2024, the Financial Times reported this. 40% of over 100 projects he assessed that they were delayed. These include battery production, renewable energy and metals and hydrogen projects, as well as semiconductor manufacturing plants. The technology industry magazine The Information recently warned of this 1 in 4 firms left from government subsidies for investment in batteries.

Workers assemble battery packs for electric vehicles in Spartanburg, South Carolina. New battery factories in the state will help move the supply chain closer to U.S. electric vehicle factories.
BMW

We checked all 23 battery cell factories announced or prolonged since the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law – just about all of them are gigafactories which might be expected to produce greater than 1 gigawatt-hour of battery cell capability. These factories have one of the highest employment potentials of all the projects supported by the Act.

We wanted to discover whether the U.S. clean energy production boom was about to fizzle out. Most of what we learned is reassuring.

The largest battery factories are on the right track

While exact investment amounts are difficult to determine, our study shows that planned capital expenditure shall be $52 billion, which would supply 490 gigawatt-hours of battery production capability per 12 months – enough to put about 5 million latest electric vehicles on the road.

While not all 23 firms have announced hiring plans, the facilities are expected to create nearly 30,000 latest jobs, with projects primarily in the U.S. Southeast, Midwest and Southwest.

We wanted to know whether these projects were progressing as planned or whether there have been delays or problems.

To do that, we first contacted local and state economic development agencies. In many cases, local and state tax incentives support these projects. Where possible, we now have tried to confirm the status of the project through public data Or formal announcements. In other cases, we looked for messages to see in the event that they existed construction proof Or hiring.

Our study shows that 13 of 23 projects are on the right track, with total planned capital investment exceeding $40 billion and production capability of nearly 352 gigawatt hours per 12 months. Importantly, they include most of the largest projects with the largest investments and expected production.

Our calculations show that 77% of total planned capital investment, 79% of proposed jobs, and 72% of planned battery production are on the right track, meaning the project is likely to be accomplished roughly on time and overall as expected. result. level of investment and employment.

Three projects are on the bubble. These have shown progress but have experienced delays in construction or financing.

Five others show deeper signs of distress. We do not yet have enough information to draw conclusions about the two projects.

An example of an ongoing project is the Envision AESC battery plant in Florence, South Carolina. His the scale has been enlarged twice since it was first announced in December 2022. It is now a $3 billion investment with the goal of producing 30 gigawatt-hours of batteries per 12 months supplies the BMW factory in Woodruff, South Carolina.

In early October 2024, South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Harry Lightsey visited the Envision i facility published a video. Construction of the plant began in February 2024, and 850 employees are working six days per week to complete the 1.4 million square foot facility by August 2025. Once full production begins, the project shall be accomplished expected to hire 2,700 people.

The 2024 elections could end or speed up the boom

However, much relies on what is going to occur in the upcoming elections.

Our data suggests that the real risk facing these projects and projects like them is not sluggish demand for electric vehicles, as some suggest – in fact demand continues to grow. It’s not the local opposition that did it either it only slowed down a number of projects.

The the biggest risk is policy change. Many of these projects are counting on advanced manufacturing tax credits approved by the Inflation Reduction Act through 2032.

During the campaign, Republicans are promising to repeal key laws under Biden, including the Inflation Reduction Act, which incorporates funding for grants and loans to support clean energy, as well as tax incentives to support domestic manufacturing.

While an entire repeal of the Act could also be unlikely, an an administration hostile to clean energy redirect unspent funds to other purposes, slow the pace of grants or loans by slow project approvals, or find other ways to make tax incentives tougher to obtain. Although our research focused on the battery industry, concerns concern investments in wind energy AND solar energy too.

So will the great U.S. boom in clean energy production soon come to an end? Our data is optimistic, but the policy is uncertain.

This article was originally published on : theconversation.com
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Business and Finance

Jaylen Brown is launching his own sports brand thanks to Kobe Bryant

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NBA champion Jaylen Brown did the other of most superstars once they were offered a giant contract. He turned down the offer, but as a substitute decided to start his own brand, crediting the thought to the late Kobe Bryant.

In an exclusive interview with and , a Boston Celtics player discussed his latest enterprise, 741, a footwear and sports brand. After meeting with several firms and never feeling the offers thrown at him, Brown announced that he followed the trail that the nice Kobe planned. The Lakers legend was planning to start his own sports company, so he decided to do the identical.

After turning down $50 million in sponsorship deals, he launched 741 in September.

“Honestly, I got the thought from Kobe (Bryant), rest in peace. Before his death, he planned to launch his own shoe brand, sign contracts with athletes and offer them higher deals and percentages. I remember reading an article about it and pondering it was bullshit. I analyzed my own experiences of working for big corporations and the way they value your creativity and also you. I’ve tried every brand and none of them stood out. Everyone approaches things the identical way. I used to be on the lookout for a brand of the long run, not a brand of the past. I could not find it so I had to start.

Brown also stated that he also helped design products for his line. Outside of design, he said that creating 741 allowed him to explore his creativity.

“I designed all the pieces myself. I used to be just on the factory in South Korea, on the road, ensuring all the pieces was done the way in which I believed it must be. I’ve done probably close to $50 million value of deals (from other brands) to start something on my own. And it wasn’t because I didn’t like the cash they were offering. It’s because these contracts pigeonholed me and didn’t allow me to be creative.

Brown also said he didn’t want to force anything when it comes to brand promotion. He favors a slow-build approach and admitted that “it doesn’t have to be the hottest brand on the street tomorrow.”


This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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