Careful Hiring Practices Help You Avoid Legal Issues

When placing an advertisement for an open position in your organization, take care – using the wrong words could mean legal problems for discrimination, even if it is unintentional.

It is important to ensure that you are not accidentally choosing the wrong words to describe the opportunity or interview the applicants…and can actually become a legal concern if the ad you release or interview you conduct is considered discriminatory.
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Girl Friday’s 12 Top Tips for a Greener Office

This is a guest post by Sam Szczepanski. Sam is a music industry consultant specialising in back catalogue reissues at Ivywood Productions

Whilst we’re more inclined to eco-police ourselves at home by recycling household waste, switching off lights, turning down the thermostat, and replacing leaky washers (utility bills are high enough without making a bad situation worse) , it seems too many of us willingly check our green credentials at the door once we reach the office. Maybe we think it’s not our responsibility – hey, we’re here to work – that’s enough – or perhaps we believe the powers that be will have already done the eco groundwork by sourcing the most economical, environmentally friendly energy suppliers and products to minimise the corporate carbon footprint. Think again.
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The Perils of Being a Union Member in Colombia

Colombia’s recent history is a bloody and violent one. Since the 1960’s, multiple factions including government forces, left-wing insurgents and right-wing paramilitaries have been fighting for supremacy. Members of unions have particularly suffered from the free-for-all killing sprees. Union members and their families have been targeted ever since the beginning of Colombia’s civil war, with over 2,500 union members killed since 1985. There has been no justice for these victims – as of 2008, less than 100 cases resulted in convictions. In recent years, the number of killings has begun to drop. However, the numbers are still unreasonably high – between 2002 and 2008, 400 union members were killed.
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Shifting Tide of Workers’ Rights in China

Workers’ Rights in China

One of the most heated topics of debate today in regards to China has to do with workers’ rights. There are millions of workers in China who are affected by this, due to the numerous domestic and foreign companies who have factories in China. There are many different kinds of companies operating out of China, including computer and keyboard manufacturers, textile companies, and garment/apparel industries. The products coming out of China today run the full spectrum of quality, ranging from generic household items to more sophisticated products such as wireless and ergonomic keyboards for high end markets.
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Sustainable Harvesting in China

Why adopt sustainable practices?

In China, companies are beginning to explore the idea of adopting sustainable harvesting. This is beneficial for both companies and the environment. If resources are used up without thought as to how they will be replenished, after an extended period of the time the company will not have any resources left to use and will either have to stop producing their product or move into a new area and strip it of its resources as well. Short term planning in terms of utilization of natural resources leads to severe environmental problems, extinction of plant life and loss of income for the local people living in areas affected by short sighted companies.

Due to these concerns, China has begun to look at the way they harvest both timber and non timber forest products (NTFPs). Sustainable harvesting is especially relevant considering that around 6,000 species of rain forest plants that are found in Southeast Asia have economic uses. The bamboo industry in China is a large one, and thus this field has been researched extensively. Bamboo is used in a variety of products such as picnic baskets, wine rack and other common products such as flooring.
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Current Factory Work Conditions in Vietnam

What are sweatshops?

For years, human rights groups have been protesting the working conditions of sweatshop laborers in countries around the world. Sweatshops are environments in which workers participate in activities that are considered unacceptably dangerous or difficult. Critics cite the long hours employees work, the very low pay employees receive, the use of child labor, dangerous working environments, employer abuse and lack of worker rights as reasons for why they do not support sweatshops.
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