Banking Labor Law References

The economic prosperity of the Middle East countries is primarily fueled up by oil reserves. The countries are developing at a faster rate and hence luring population from various parts of the world. Previously the job opportunities was limited to the oil sector but now myriads of job opportunities await candidates both from the Middle East countries as well as beyond the boundaries. Among all the Countries, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are growing at a faster pace. The local challenges have contributed more to the growth of the Middle East countries.

Middle East, once a popular destination of travellers, has outshined many of its competitors in the developmental aspect. According to several estimates, there are about 50,000 US citizens work in Middle East and most of them are settled in Saudi Arabia. Other parts of the Middle East especially Dubai has also experienced a massive development in travel, education, trade, construction and other businesses. Construction jobs seem to have created a separate niche in the Middle East as multi-storied buildings, bridges, offices and residential are under construction.

The benefits offered to the employees in Middle East:

The employees, according to the labour laws of various Middle East countries, enjoy some of the common benefits like:

They are not charged any taxes or the taxation system is very flexible. Due to the above mentioned reason and because of the huge project values they are hired against high salary. Many of the workers in Middle East are entitled to a fixed paid housing allowance. Those who are dedicated to religious and holy sites can enjoy proximity to Mecca and Madinah. A large number of Muslims employees enjoy working as they can easily find population of their cultural communities. The Middle East countries recruits expatriates for a period of 2 years or so.
Job requirements in Middle East

There are a large number of companies that have opened their branches in Middle East. Apart from these, small companies are also recruiting people in Middle East. Dubai city offers a wide range of job opportunities for skilled people from wide across the globe. To work in Middle East, an employer certificate and Visa is required. Since the official language is Arabic, people conversant in these languages always have added advantage. Moreover, those knowing Urdu, Hindi and Tagalog can also feel comfortable. English is however, the business language of UAE.

Word of mouth advertising is very effective in industries like hotel and lodging, spas, banking, law firms, outdoor landscaping and other professional services and a recommendation from a satisfied customer can promote a brand message more effectively than most other forms of advertising. This is particularly true during outdoor activities and events during the steamy hot days of summer.

Word of mouth acts as a testimonial to customer satisfaction and the endorsement of a satisfied customer can be repeated over and over again. Of course the reverse can be true. Low quality water, bottles and labels will create a negative image and can dramatically reduce the power of a brand. This is especially true if the water tastes bad or contains harmful contaminants.

Like with any other form of advertising, repetition is an important and necessary element in order to achieve a return on advertising dollars. One problem with word of mouth advertising is that customers, no mater how great the experience, tend to forget as time passes and reminders about the value they received become very important.

Repetition can be very expensive for most forms of advertising but one exception is private label bottled water with a quality message. The fact is that the cost of each bottle is low and the message tends to be longer lasting.

Now that summer is approaching, more and more people will participate in outdoor events and the effectiveness of private label bottled water becomes even more popular in the steamy days of summer.

Imagine outdoor events such as picnics (corporate and personal) concerts, rodeos, track meets and soccer games and a host of other gatherings that bring people together. Rather than soft drinks and alcohol based drinks, purified water with quality private labels attached will be popular and a great source of word of mouth advertising and brand enhancement.

Another use of private label bottled water is in the area of outdoor projects like landscaping and home improvement companies. These activities tend to lend themselves to word of mouth advertising, and the manual labor of both workers and supervisors guarantee that private label bottled water will be noticeable.

Another aspect of branded water is that some suppliers use purified water and that is critically important now that municipal tap water has been found to contain pharmaceutical drugs, salmonella and other harmful contaminants including chlorine.

Purified water is 100% pure and free from contaminants found in tap water and most other bottled waters.

Purified Bottled Water is one of the fastest growing beverages today. Carbonated soft drinks are losing market share to more healthy alternative like purified water. Bottled water has surpassed soft drinks in overall consumption. Benefit from this growing demand and add an advertising message.

Purified Bottled water is the healthiest water you can buy and if it is oxygenated, it tastes delicious.

It makes good business sense to include private label bottled water advertising campaign if you want to promote a strong brand image and message. Try it and you will be happy with the results.

The paralegal profession is currently experiencing a great deal of growth and prosperity. With the average USA annual salary averaging around $34,000 for local and state work, nearly double that for Federal Government work, and much more in the private sector, it’s no wonder this career field is growing. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why a career as a paralegal is so rewarding.

Challenging Work

Attorneys pass much of their workload along to paralegals, also known as legal assistants. Note that paralegals may not perform all attorney tasks, including setting legal fees, giving out legal advice, and presenting court cases.

Case preparation is part of the workload. Paralegals help lawyers with background information and research, legal history, case studies, fact-finding investigations, document preparation and analysis, plea documents, folder, record and file handling. The work they perform is often involved with hearings, trials, closing comments, and also corporate functions.
Read the rest of this entry »

Washington state offers two types of specialist contractor licenses: plumbing and electrical. Electricians and plumbers are required to obtain a Washington state contractor license before they can operate a business.

Plumbing

In order to be able to perform any of the following activities in a building in Washington, you are required to be certified by the Department of Labor and Industries: installation, modification or repair of potable water, medical gas systems or liquid waste.

For plumbing contractors the Department issues certificates for trainee, journeyman or specialty/residential plumbers and medical gas piping installers. Each of these specialities have different requirements and you have to pass a written examination in order to qualify for the contractors license.

The Washington state contractor license qualifications also requires supporting documentation of your work experience. The requirements are 6,000 hours for specialty plumber and 8,000 hours for a journeyman plumber, where 4,000 hours must be for commercial or industrial work.

Electrical

The Department of Labor and Industries in Washington State issues five different types of contractor licenses for electrical work. They are trainee, contractor, journeyman, administrator and specialty.

Practical experience requirements include: 2 years of electrical work for the specialty level, and 4 years for the journeyman level, which must include a minimum of 2 years in new commercial or industrial electrical installations.

The written exam for a Washington state contractor license covers the following areas:

- General Journeyman

- Residential

- Pump and Irrigation

- Domestic Well

- HVAC/Refrigeration

- Non-residential Maintenance

- Non-residential Lighting

- Residential Maintenance

- Restricted Non-residential Maintenance

- Appliance Repair

- Equipment Repair

- Door, Gate and Similar Systems

More information can be obtained from the Departments website at http://www.lni.wa.gov/TradesLicensing/.

As many investors and buyers are contemplating of doing business in Dubai, the rules and regulations need to be understood by them before making attempts. The emirate has recently renewed its policies and reframed existing laws. Get an update on entry and permits required to work and do business. As per the government laws there are seven business set ups permitted.

1. Private unlimited company

2. Joint liability company (general partnership)

3. Limited liability company

4. Private joint-stock company

5. Simple commandite/liability company

6. Public joint-stock company

7. Share commandite company

Except for those business allowed solely in the free trade zone, the others require the participation of local people also. The local businessman can have equity in the foreign company’s share wanting to do business. A branch office of a company can also be based in the emirate. Most of the foreign investors chose the Dubai free zones to start the business. But all the designated free zone areas where these businesses are conducted need to adhere to the law of the land. They should be able to get forex for the country. Every respective industry has a set of laws. For example a real estate developer wants to do business in Dubai or any other state of the emirate and then he has to become familiar with the Dubai Real Estate Regulatory Authority and Dubai Land Department. They will have to be well versed with the property laws. Similarly anyone wanting to enter the medical industry will have to get all information from the Health Ministry before doing business.

Most foreign investors prefer to work in the free zone setting up a limited liability company (LLC). They cannot have public shares of this company. They cannot do business in banking, insurance or invest for third parties. The UAE currency can be converted and is secure because of the country’s free trade practices. Once business is doing well there are no restrictions on profit transfer or capital repatriation. The import duties in the country are low (4%). This is also an added advantage of doing business here. In the free trade zone items like foodstuffs, agricultural products and medicines there is almost no restriction or duty. Businessmen who are already operational in Dubai know that the labor is cheap and there are no corporate and personal taxes. This is a sign of relief in this booming economy.

Dubai facilitates many business activities in tourism, real estate, telecom, construction, franchises, education, IT, media, hotels, hospitality, transport and medicine. The railways are also coming up. More immigrants and companies will benefit from this sector also. The infrastructure supports all business. Business cannot be good unless the living conditions are good. Dubai and other surrounding regions offer excellent residential complexes, resorts, recreational facilities and eating places also. It is also all round development that is making Dubai the business hub for many ventures. The region is also safe for family living. Would anyone wish to miss a chance of improving their lifestyle?

Essential Abilities For A Career In Law

Very often, students enroll themselves into a law school without having a clear idea of what the profession is all about. Many are attracted by the title of lawyer and decide to pursue a degree in law without having proper knowledge of the career.

There are certain characteristics that one needs to have to succeed in a career in law. You should assess yourself before actually enrolling into any institution. To have a clear idea, you can visit local courts, attend trials, talk to lawyers and observe the functioning of the legal system. Observing lawyers and judges at work will enable you to identify some of the skills, knowledge and values necessary for a career in law. You can even get advice from a career counselor.

Law is the field for those:

o Having outstanding and above average independent learning skills such as reading, listening, writing, talking and analysis

o Having excellent verbal, public speaking, arguing and debating skills

o Having a high level of patience and confidence.

Before beginning the application process, consider carefully if a law degree is right for you based on these attributes. You may also need pre-law courses for admission to particular programs in law.

Preparing For Law School

The field should be explored through research, investigation of resources on the Internet, discussion with law students, and counseling. Joining some pre-law courses offered by various institutes will enable you to develop skills which will be helpful for law school, such as study of the English language and principles of accounting and finance. There are many branches in law practice such as tax law, corporate law, labor/employment law, civil law, family law, international law and real estate law among others. You need to be clear about your interests, which will help in choosing the appropriate program of study.

Applying to Law School

Information on law schools offering programs in law can be obtained with the help of education counselors or on the Internet by visiting law school websites which provide details of the programs on offer by them and the application process. The best sources are law school catalogs or reference books that profile law schools and their admissions criteria. The Law School Admissions Council (“LSAC”) sponsors annual law forums throughout the country that give interested persons time to speak with representatives from accredited law schools.

Programs leading to the presentation of the Bachelor of Science in Law (B.S.L.), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Master of Laws (LL.M.) and Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) degrees are some of the common programs on offer by law schools.

American law schools are expensive, especially the private ones. The competition to get into top-rated law schools is tough. Applications are accepted based on an individual’s grades.

Career Choices With A Law Degree: Job Or Business/Self-Practice:

A degree in law is extremely rewarding. It is very marketable and most lawyers manage to earn a comfortable living. A lawyer in the US can easily make more than $100,000 annually.

o Business/Self-Practice: You can have your own business setup such as a consultancy firm providing legal consultation and guidance to your clients, self-practice – legal representation in courts, drafting legal papers for clients or just having your own coaching classes.

o Job Market: You also have various options in the job market – teaching, working with law firms, and with companies and corporate bodies as legal advisors and attorneys. However, your legal qualifications alone will not help. You need to market yourself and your law degree to reap the benefits of all your hard work. You need to find the right job for yourself and then market yourself to secure the position.

A career in law is rewarding and worthwhile, provided you have the essential abilities and skills to pursue a career in law and the willingness to face the challenges ahead.

Church contributions usually fall within 4 categories: Cash, Noncash, Gifts, and Donated labor and Services.

One of the most challenging tasks for a church financial administrator is understanding which category a church contribution falls in and whether to issue a church contribution receipt or not. The 4 categories are:

Cash : Can be a cash, check, or credit card contribution that comes in the offering or mail, it is a regular cash donation and will require a church contribution receipt.

NonCash : A written receipt should be issued for all noncash contributions. Usually, your Church is not responsible for establishing the value of the non-cash items and should not include any value on the receipt. However, a new tax law adopted in 2004 requires extra documentation from your organization for donations of qualified vehicles (including automobiles, boats, and airplanes). The rules are pretty detailed. If you need the exact instructions, you can research it on the IRS site.

Gifts : Usually, gifts to specific needy individuals are not considered charitable contributions.

An example would be if a generous church member gives a needy individual in your church a couple of bags of groceries, the church could not issue him a receipt for his nondeductible gift.

On the other hand, if a love offering is taken up for the needy individual (who does not provide services to the church), the contributors would be able to deduct their donations. Also, the benevolence assistance is not considered taxable income to the needy individual.

Love gifts to pastors and employees fo the church are difficult to determine if they are charitable contributions or not, see my site for love offering guidelines.

Donated Labor and Services: The IRS does not permit a tax deduction for donated labor or services. However, a contribution receipt may be issued for donated materials and other out-of-pocket expenses.

Say…a repairman voluntarily came and fixed your church’s air conditioner. He usually charges $75 per hour for his labor and he spent $50 for parts.

You can issue him a contribution receipt for the parts; however, his labor is a generous non-deductible gift to the church. Also, he can deduct his mileage to the church and back if he itemizes on his personal taxes.

Un-reimbursed expenses that volunteers incur while performing their volunteer services can generally be deducted from their personal tax return.

Examples of deductible items include mileage (at the current federal standard mileage rate), travel and lodging, and meals incurred during travel which required an overnight stay.

Important note: If their volunteer’s expenses exceed $250, they should receive a letter from your Church indicating the type of services they provided.

The letter should not include the value of the volunteer’s expenses. The burden is upon the volunteer to prove their expenses.

In the United States, the IRS requires several items to be included on your Church contribution receipt.

Starting August 18, 2006, a contributor may only deduct a donation by cash or check if the contributor has a receipt or bank record of the contribution.

Before that date, you could use your canceled check as documentation. However, in recent years the IRS has begun to crack down on deductible contributions.

Now all eligible church contributions must have proof of the deductions. As stated above that proof may be either a bank record or receipt.

The receipt must include:

The organization’s name, The donor’s name The date of the donation, The amount.

An annual contribution statement will satisfy this requirement for churches.

It should include the following wording: “You did not receive any goods or services in connection with these contributions other than intangible religious benefits”. The wording does not have to be word for word as the example, but must convey the same concept.

In summary, keeping accurate records of church contributions is imperative as they are the life blood of your Church.

Whether you use contribution software, spreadsheets, or paper…understanding when to issue receipts and when not to, is knowledge every finance person in your church should have.