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Business February 21, 2018

Reforms allow women in Saudi Arabia to be entrepreneurs

The government of Saudi Arabia announced Sunday women will be able to start their own businesses without permissions of a male guardian. The announcement was made over Twitter by the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, saying “No need for a guardian’s position. Saudi women are free to start their own businesses freely. #NoNeed.”

This degree is part of prince Mohammad bin Salman’s Vision3030 plan, which aims to alter the economy so it isn’t so reliant on oil. To do this, the prince hopes to reduce female unemployment in the country and raise the number of women in the workforce from 22 per cent to 30 per cent.

This announcement is intriguing and somewhat startling for a society that has oppressed women for so many decades. Of course, little detail was released about enforcing this new decree and the challenges facing women once they decide to open a business, such as banking, employees, and sales. There is also a lot of pushback from more conservative members of state.

Back in September 2017, King Salman of Saudi Arabia issued a decree allowing women to be given driving licences as of June 2018. Since then, a Middle Eastern taxi app has signed up almost 1,000 female drivers in February. Their goal is to hire 10,000 by the end of the year. The Ministry of Labour is also reportedly looking into subsidizing car sharing for working women, as public transportation is so scarce.

Both of these decrees are positive changes to Saudi Arabian society; however, until they are implemented, it remains unknown as to how much of an impact they will have.

Editorial January 28, 2018

Tim Hortons tries to sway voters against Kathleen Wynne

The battle between Tim Hortons and Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne continues, with a store in Whitby blaming the politician for the changes certain owners have made to benefits and paid breaks.

In a letter sent to employees in November, owners Susan and Jason Holman, who own a number of stores within Whitby and Ajax, place all blame regarding changes to benefits and pay on the province. They urge employees to contact the Premier directly to complain.

“I encourage you to let [Wynne] know how your workplace will change as a result of her new law and that you will not vote Liberal in the coming Ontario election in June 2018,” the letter reads. Included was the phone number and email for the Premier’s office.

Pettiness aside, the fact that store owners, or rather employers, are trying to influence the political association of the people who depend on them for their pay check is despicable. To those who may not know better, this could be seen as an instruction on how to vote in the next election. Even more than that, it makes a correlation between an employees benefits and paid sick leave, with their political decision come June 6th.

To be absolutely clear: no employer has the right to sway the votes of their employees. It’s absolutely deplorable.

Women’s Post has previously written about how Tim Horton’s is coming across as a large greedy corporation who is slashing health benefits and reducing paid breaks in order to maintain their bottom line. And instead of stepping up and helping owners by raising prices by 10 cents, the Tim Horton’s head office is simply playing the blame game, putting the onus on government and private store owners to figure it all out.

The letter mentioned above was sent out in November, two months prior to the minimum wage increase. This just proves the store owners had no intention of trying to make this raise work.

The Premier responded in twitter by saying:

When I said franchise owners should take their fight to me, I didn’t mean they should use their employees as pawns. I’m happy to talk to any business owner about the minimum wage but taking it out on employees is not fair and not acceptable. https://t.co/nuHvNnkoun

— Kathleen Wynne (@Kathleen_Wynne) January 19, 2018

Politics June 13, 2017

EDITORIAL: What’s the value of an employee?

What’s the value of an employee? Better yet, what’s the value of a human life?

A few weeks ago, the Ontario Liberal government announced a plan to increase the minimum wage to $15 in the next few years. After the press releases were handed out, two things happened — low-paying workers rejoiced and businesses started complaining.

Small businesses argued they wouldn’t be able to stay afloat if they had to dedicate more funds to their employees. Larger industries also criticized the government’s decision, saying they will be forced to cut down on labour and raise the prices of their services.

As someone who understands the perils of living on minimum wage, I don’t exactly sympathize. But, it’s one thing to make a business-case argument and another to dismiss the value of having a hardworking (and well-paid) employee at all.

In Tuesday’s morning paper, I saw an advertisement doing exactly that.

In the ad, a woman is standing at a counter preparing to take a customer’s card and complete a transaction. The text reads: “The Ontario government has announced a devastating 31.6 per cent increase in the general minimum wage. Quick Service Restaurant operators now have a choice….More than $15.00/hour or only $2.50/hour.” The advertisement is for a self-serving order kiosk, by RT7 Incorporated. Under the picture of the machine is a list of benefits such as “never comes late”, “no coffee breaks”, “no overtime”, and “doesn’t complain.”

This advertisement isn’t about technology or the future of restaurants — it’s about an employer who thinks his/her workers aren’t worth the sick days and overtime pay. It’s about labelling everything that employee does as something not deserving of being fairly compensated.

And that is absolutely unacceptable.

Advertisements like this one are incredibly dangerous. It makes the assumption that every day human actions like getting coffee or getting sick are somehow of detriment to a company. That human beings, especially those paid minimum wage, complain too much and use social media (a.k.a. are irresponsible).

This is not a stereotype that should be allowed to spread.

As Ontario pushes forward this new legislation, it’s important to remember that employees are, more often than not, hard workers. Many have large student loans or families to support. They may have a second job or may be in school. All they want to do is be able to afford a place to live and food to eat. It’s not that much of an ask, right?

If a business can’t afford their employees, they shouldn’t be allowed to remain open. It’s as simple as that. And anyone who thinks a kiosk can replace a human being, obviously hasn’t had to call the cable company.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!