![Fridayitis fix: early knockoff](/pf/resources/images/placeholders/placeholder_l.png?d=795)
Fridayitis fix: early knockoff
Does your zest for work disappear rapidly on a Friday afternoon? You're not alone - 70 per cent of us admit we are easily distracted as the weekend approaches.
Does your zest for work disappear rapidly on a Friday afternoon? You're not alone - 70 per cent of us admit we are easily distracted as the weekend approaches.
Manufacturing grew at the fastest pace in eight months in January but employment in the sector is shrinking.
Campaigner Deborah Littman says paying a living wage will require a leap in thinking to accompany an increase in the $13.50 minimum wage to $18.40.
Prices would have to go up by 6 to 8 per cent to pay a "living wage" of $18.40 an hour to workers in the lowest-paid sectors - hospitality and retailing.
Parents of students attending Auckland's Diocesan School for Girls pay roughly one and a half times as much in fees as Ana Malolo takes home for cleaning the school.
Auckland and Wellington councils have agreed to look into adopting the "living wage" of $18.40 an hour proposed by a coalition of union and community groups.
The Government is not buying into the idea of a "living wage" but the new Minister of Labour says the minimum wage will continue to increase.
A new free service has been launched by a Warkworth businessman to help close the gap on New Zealand's skills shortages.
Mareta Sinoti cleans the offices of politicians from midnight on week nights, is employed to work only 30 hours a week and earns $13.85 an hour.
Quan, a 20-year-old student visa holder from Vietnam, works up to 50 hours a week in a retail shop and gets paid $7 an hour.
Exploited migrant workers are being paid $2 an hour to work in small businesses such as ethnic restaurants.
It would do no harm - and possibly a great deal of good - for New Zealand to know the minimum a person needs to be paid in this country to have a "living wage".
Providing New Zealanders with a living wage is not high on the Government's agenda and it is unlikely to support the campaign, Prime Minister John Key said today.
Actor Grae Burton was the classic "Kiwi bloke" in Tui beer commercials last year. His work only just earned him what unions consider a "living wage".
A mainzeal contractor has been issued with a trespass order after trying to remove $1 million worth of equipment from an apartment building yesterday morning.
Former independent directors of failed construction group Mainzeal said they had full knowledge of the company's financial position at all times, refuting earlier media reports.
At this time of year, many people are asking themselves: "Do I really want to do this for another year?"
The Mainzeal receivership highlights once again the poor governance of the Richina Pacific group of companies.
Many of Mainzeal's workforce of 400 staff learned about the collapse of the company on Waitangi Day through the media.
Very weak jobs data from Statistics New Zealand yesterday raised economists' eyebrows.
Raja Sharma invested his life savings in an apartment in Hobson Gardens after falling in love with New Zealand and immigrating with his wife to Auckland.