DIANA MAHABIR-WYATT
At the beginning of a calendar year, human resource managers are usually sequestered with financial and other executives to calculate factors that, if they are any good at their jobs, will largely influence the fortunes of the organisation by the end of its financial year.
The calculations will include the results of last year’s markets; the outstanding results of world politics, wars, social and economic developments; and the extent to which climate change and health crises affect our own governance.
TT is in for a lot of change this year. And, I suspect, a lot of conflict.
When uncertainty is dominant in life, marriage and politics, our vision going forward is wobbly. Especially at this most early planning or pre-planning stage, it can be particularly dangerous.
Vidia Naipaul, of Nobel Prize stature, called us "mimic men." That was illustrated when, before our last general election, Mr Trump boasted over the international airwaves that he knew how to avoid paying income tax.
Within weeks, dozens of people in TT believed it was socially acceptable to do that as well, and tried it – under the old-time principle of "if the priest could play mas…who is we?"
Lawyers, doctors, medical staff and self-employed professionals, the ones who were not already doing so, demanded that their services be paid for in cash or personal cheque.
That way they too could, they thought, avoid paying tax on their earnings. Mimic men in truth.
Since then, TT has established a new Revenue Authority (IRA) and Mr Trump faced 34 criminal charges for tax evasion, in the state of New York alone.
He will probably get away with it by passing legislation that exempts presidents from penalties for breaking the law at the price of the moral reputation throughout the world of American legislators.
We don’t have that law here. But once again, as the financial planners struggle with their annual budgets throughout the business community, we must remember that we do have laws established by Parliament to protect us.
We do have legislation – the Equal Opportunity Act. It has a governing body called the Equal Opportunity Commission and anyone who feels they are discriminated against because of sex, race, ethnicity, origin (including geographical origin – please note geographical status includes Venezuela, and the act specifically includes education; just thought you should know), religion, marital status and disability.
[caption id="attachment_1131736" align="alignnone" width="1024"] In this file photo, a person casts his vote at the voting booth in EBC's mock voting process at Magdalena Resort, Tobago in 2021. - File photo[/caption]
Section 15 (1) of the act states, "Subject to any agreement or practice between the state and any educational establishment, board or other institution, an educational establishment shall not discriminate against any person:
(a) By refusing or failing to accept that person’s application for admission as a student: or
(b) The terms and conditions on which it admits him as a
