Government freezes employment insurance contributions
This week the federal Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty announced a freeze on the rate for contributions to employment insurance. The Harper government has therefore abandoned the five cents initially planned, a reversal which it explains by the fall in unemployment and the increase in the number of contributions. The contributions schedule will be held at $1.88 per $100 of insurable earnings until 2016. A worker will save $24 per year, if he reaches the threshold of $48,600. Meanwhile, a company that employs ten employees will pay $340 less each year. Thos who contribute to parental insurance will see the rate fall 35 cents to reach $1.53. Employers cover close to 60% of the plan’s cost; by this measure Ottawa intends to support and stimulate job creation.
One third of parents do not understand their child’s job
One parent out of three have difficulty explaining what the occupation performed by their child consists of. This is what a survey by LinkedIn found, conducted among 12,015 parents and 13,064 employees in 14 different countries, including Canada. According to the survey, 55% of parents would like to know more about what their offspring do to be able to provide better advice about their career development (one third of respondents). Specifically, 74% of Canadian parents have difficulty explaining what a reviser does. For 72% of them, it’s a data scientist that gives trouble, followed by actuary (66%) and social media manager (65%). Following these are public relations manager (60%), sociologist (58%), radio producer (55%), fashion designer (49%), engineer (46%) and sports manager (45%).
Competitors or protectors: women facing an internal conflict
Women may be torn between two parts of their personality at work: their ambitious side and their protective nature. This is shown in the recent study “How Competitive are Female Professionals ? A Tale of Identity Conflict” conducted jointly by two Canadian universities, Guelph and Ryerson, and by the New Zealand Canterbury University. Women who think of themselves as warm, supportive and attentive compete much less than their female colleagues who define themselves as careerists, or than their male colleagues. The study also emphasized the role of gender and their stereotypes by revealing that they come from the social functions that women and men have traditionally occupied in society.