Telstra executive bonus sparks revolt, traumatised Dreamworld staff sue, and more top news
The news Australian professionals are talking about now, curated by LinkedIn’s editors. Join the conversation in the comments below.
Telstra’s plan to award executives bonuses despite firing 8000 people has come under fire. The AFR reports (paywall) shareholders recommended voting against Telstra's remuneration report that would grant executives 33% of their maximum bonus. Advisers have said Telstra's poor performance should be taken into account and that chief executive Andy Penn took home a $4.5m total package last year. If two shareholder reports are voted down, the board would have to spill.
Dreamworld staff who assisted in the initial moments of the Thunder River Rapids ride tragedy are suing for psychological trauma. A coronial inquest heard three safety officers and an engineer would file a statement of claim for "significant psychological injuries" stemming from the 2016 incident where four people died when a ride flipped upside down. Shine Lawyers solicitor Tina Ibraheem said: "They're reminded every single day of what they've seen. They cannot unsee it."
Australia’s souring attitude to the big four banks has been quantified with Commonwealth Bank faring the worst. Study group OmniPoll found each of the four major banks experienced an increase of about 20% in negative sentiment (paywall) over the past 18 months. The study found 47% of Australians were critical of the Commonwealth Bank compared to about 40% for the other major banks. People aged over 65 were most likely to be critical of banks.
A glitch in Google+ let outside developers see the private profile data of “hundreds of thousands of users” from 2015 to 2018, reports The Wall Street Journal. The search giant refrained from disclosing the breach for fear of comparison with Facebook’s leak of data to Cambridge Analytica, according to the Journal. Google, which is junking the app, said that among other considerations for its non-disclosure, there was no evidence of data “misuse”.
The common practice of charging dead customers bank fees will likely be stopped after the Australian Banking Association called for legislation changes. The peak body announced it would change the way institutions managed a customer's estate to ensure fees were no longer charged for services never received. Meanwhile Commonwealth Bank announced overnight it would refund fees charged to dead people’s estates, as well as putting an end to lucrative grand-fathered commissions (paywall).
Idea of the Day: Providing a supportive workplace is ultimately about listening to employees, says Workskil Australia CEO Nicole Dwyer on World Mental Health Day.
“This is an ideal time for every workplace to reflect and review the support mechanisms and programs in place to promote staff mental wellbeing.”
What's your take on today’s stories? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Director at Carche Pty Ltd
6 年As an update, I called Telstra to let them know I'd be left without internet for a few weeks. They kindly offered another 10GB of data on my mobile. When I highlighted that only worked for other family members when I was at home, they suggested that was the best they could do. Cutting a long story short I was escalated to the next level and sent out a Next G phone to tether to my modem. The device arrives and surprise, surprise, it's 3G and therefore doesn't tether to my modem which, unlike the Telstra device, was manufactured this side of creation. We decided to suck it up and tether our phones to the 3G device. It just froze and shat itself every 15 minutes or so.? So today I found out about Telstra smart modems. Which switches to 4G when your ADSL is down (an event that occurs every time it rains). Apparently these devices have been available since 1Q 2017.? So you can understand my confusion when one wasn't offered to me as a solution. To add insult to injury they made me fork out $216 (the price of the smart modem) to fix a problem of their own making. As I needed the internet on again today, I had no choice. 21 December is when nbn arrives. I can't wait to kick this useless company to the kerb.
Property Investor, Entrepreneur, Travel writer, FX Trader, Founder of Philippine Charity Rebuild Balangkayan Fund
6 年This is a disgrace ???????? Sacking people and then get rewarded. I experienced this with Auspost. Now the fat cat is not there anymore.....lol
Senior Refrigeration Technician. Gordon Brothers Industries. A subsiduary of Johnson Controls
6 年I am concerned that that the Dreamworld workers exposed to that stressful situation would be taken care of by the WorkCover insurance. Allowing them to sue would really stir up a hornets nest. Besides, what about our under rated, and dedicated Emergency service respondents . They deal with it every day
Director at Carche Pty Ltd
6 年It’s been raining for a week in Sydney. That means I have no Internet. It’s 2018 right? Telstra Board and CEO should resign immediately. Which other company can lose tens of thousands of customers per month and still think they’re entitled to incentive based remuneration? On a more positive note nbn arrives in less than two months. Goodbye Telstra.