In the everchanging landscape of international business, it's important to keep informed on upcoming changes and forecasts to payroll worldwide. This week, we focus in on payroll news in the Labor Law changes in Egypt, Skepticism over Northern Irish Payroll Numbers, and the declared "Most competitive Arab Economies" in a recent Competitive Index Survey.
Egyptian Payroll
Child Labor Laws Revised and Approved by Senate
Monday, The Egyptian Senate reviewed, and approved Article 58 of the drafted new labor law submitted by officials.
In recent years, the Egyptian Government have set out to address the challenges the country faces in abolishing child labor. Many labor law enforcement agencies in Egypt have been steadily cracking down on some of the most dangerous and exploitative areas of child labor, however there is much work to be done.
Government agencies are working to identify their roles in addressing and identifying child labor. The most recent legislation addressed in Article 58 hopes to monitor employers hiring minors. The employer will be required to thoroughly document the type of work the minor is being hired for, a photo of the minor – which will then be presented to the appropriate administrative authority for legal visibility and authorized employment.
Irish Payroll
Economists Suspect Overstated Payroll Numbers
The North Ireland Research and Statistics Agency (NIRSA) published an update to 2022 labor market report, revealing a rise in payrolls during December. The projection was determined using a ‘flash estimate’ reviewing month-to-month changes in UK-wide PAYE data, which leaves skepticism on the true state of the local labor market. Economists and labor market experts have shared their concerns in outliers such as self-employed workers transitioning into payroll jobs and University students and graduates during the pandemic not being factored into projections in general.
Arabic Payroll
UAE Tops General Index as Most Competitive Arab Economy
High scores in the business environment and infrastructure categories helped the United Arab Emirates maintain top position in the Economic Index for 2017-2021 as reported earlier this week.
The Index tracks economic competitiveness of Arab countries; however, the report also includes other non-Arab countries in the calculation of the index. The index also recognized four additional Arab Nations for significant competitive improvement – Sudan, Egypt, Morocco, and Mauritania The 2019 findings in the Global Competitive Report of the World Economic Forum, The UAE Ranked 25th, assessed under the 12 pillars of performance – Institution, Infrastructure, ICT Adoption, Macroeconomic Stability, Health, Skills, Product Market, Labor Market, Financial System, Market Size, Business Dynamism, and Innovation Capability. For 2021, the UAE’s global competitive ranking improved to Ranking 23rd in the IMD World Competitiveness Centre’s World Talent Report.
Resources:
Egyptian Payroll
Irish Payroll