Whoever invented payrises must be rolling all the way to the bank after the Fair Work Commission determined the decisions recently that Australia’s lower paid workers – like impecunious online column writers – deserved a payrise and judged that an addition of $40 a week would be just enough to see them get a fair deal.
Such a judgement is to be welcomed in a rich country like Australia as should the courage of the Commission for handing down such a fair and reasonable award for the people who need it most.
PS-sssst! has only one question to put to the Commission: Who does your arithmetic?
According to the Commission, a full-time employee on a 38-hour week: “From 1 July 2022, the National Minimum Wage will increase by $40 per week, which amounts to an increase of 5.2%.
“The new National Minimum Wage will be $812.60 per week or $21.38 per hour,” it clarified.
Call it Ps-sssst!’s profanation with pedantry, or conjecture of calculation but we can’t get our abacus to produce $21.38 per hour for 38 hours and come up with $812.60.
$21.38 x 38 hours = $812.44, not $812.60, leaving the employee 16¢ out of pocket every week.
While that may not look like much to a well-paid worker, to a 30-year-old low-income employee who retires at 60, the total loss will be 52 weeks x 16¢ for 30 years, or $249.60, a relatively small amount until the day she or he needs it and it isn’t there!
Last passing the Past
Call it another pathetic purge of PS-sssst! pedantry but unless the end of the world is just around the corner, wouldn’t it be wise – at least accurate – that when reporting past events we give some credit to mother nature that she’ll still have a job for at least one more year.
Passing on a wise warning to the public to be careful dealing with unfamiliar websites that demand information and personal details, the Australian Taxation Office has reported it’s been busy in recent times.
“In the last 12 months, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has identified and taken action against 595 websites impersonating our online services,” it advised impressively.
“In the last three years, younger Australians have fallen victim to the most tax scams,” it advised again.
What PS-sssst! is impressed by the office’s energy it wants to know where the ATO found out we’re living in the ‘last’ three years or 12 months.
Times may be tough, but the end of the world?
Still waiting to be officially advised that Armageddon is on the way, PS-sssst! and PS News choose to use the old-fashioned ‘past 12 months’ commentary in their reports, telling stories that happened in the past, rather than what an unknown God has predict the future for it.
On the good side however, if the end of the world is just a year away, any lucky survivors might be eligible for tax refunds.
Missing numbers
A quick visit to Victoria and the past now, with the announcement that all the State’s residents have been offered free flu vaccines as the State’s way of keeping the influenza season under as much control as it can.
Announcing the free jabs, the Minister for Health explained that the cases of flu across the State had gone up dramatically in a short time, making it important that vaccinations be made available to as many people as possible.
“Cases of flu in Victoria increased by more than 30 per cent in the week to 31 May,” the Minister said, “from 10,000 to 15,000.”
Thankfully the Minister isn’t Minister for mathematics.
According to the PS-ssssts’ own Newton, an increase from 10,000 to 15,000 is an increase of 50% since the new 5,000 was added to the 10,000, where 5,000 was half, not a third.
If another 5,000 is added in and takes the tally to 20,000, that will be a 33% increase.
QED!
Leading from the top
Another week, another marvellous giveaway from the marvellous Rama Gaind, this time a career’s guide on how to be a successful leader.
To succeed in Rama’s career-changing challenge, all we had to do to win a copy of Kerry Swan’s wise guide Heartfelt Leadership, was to know the number of principles needed to sort out our team, work and life.
The correct number of principles was ‘nine’ and the two very principle entrants whose entries were sufficiently precise and proper to emerge first from the Barrel of Booty to win the prizes were Kate D from the Australian Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment, and Gwen T from Queensland’s Department of Resources.
Congratulations to Kate and Gwen and thanks to everyone who joined in the fun. The guide books will be on their way to their new owners very soon.
For another chance to put your achievement skills at work, all you need to do is visit one or both of Rama’s current reviews– the Book review of Lonely Planet’s Experience Guides: Portugal at this PS News link and/or her equally current review of the Book Work. Mama. Life. on this PS News link and then wait for the judge to do the judging.
Like all the best things in life, PS-sssst’s puzzles and pleasantries are free and all we have to do to be a winner is give it a go.
And good luck to all who do!
Humour the milky way
And finally, another charge of enlightened entertainment from the facetious Philomena S from Victoria’s Department of health.
“What” Philomena asked, “did the man say when another man threw a glass of milk at him?”
The answer?
“How dairy!”
KaBoom.
On behalf of all your fans Philomena. Thanks as usual.
Till next week …..
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