Communicating bad news to employees while showing them your support may sound like a dichotomy. However, it is a vital skill that will ensure their wellbeing, and that of the business. Bad news of any kind can diminish employee wellbeing, with repercussions on their commitment to the organisation, their work engagement, morale, performance and productivity, even staff retention. Therefore, it is important to deliver bad news with due caution and care, which is underpinned by

Life in lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic has given people time to reflect on their personal affairs, leading to an increase in numbers of people making and updating their Last Will and Testament in a bid to regain control over their lives. With social distancing protocols however, having a will witnessed by two persons who will not be benefitting from it, and who are together at the same time, as prescribed by the Wills Act, could be difficult. A will cannot be signed el

The rise in cybercrime ranging from a data breach to identity theft, makes each of us vulnerable daily, as cyber criminals constantly seek to outsmart protective measures in place. This is of particular importance in the current ‘work from home’ environment as many people leave the relative protection of their work-based IT systems to use a home PC that may not be so well protected. Cyber-criminals are clever, and if you don’t think anyone is watching you online, think again.

Every aspect of life has been affected by the COVID-19 crisis, and estate planning is no exception – especially the execution of wills. While the exact rules for the execution of wills vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, the pandemic confronted all with the same problem: Complying with rules of formality while adhering to lockdown restrictions. This is according to Johann Jacobs, a consultant in Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr’s Trusts and Estates Practice, who notes that while som

Three P’s you need to discuss with your financial adviser after the recent emergency budget speech. Although the supplementary Budget Speech on Wednesday was touted as an unprecedented emergency intervention – it left quite a few questions unanswered especially in terms of the highly publicised public sector wage bill discussion, quelling widespread corruption and just how government plans to make up a more than R300 billion shortfall in tax collection. What was clear, howev

In 2020 new vocabulary has seeped into global consciousness. From ‘new normal’ to the more practical yet equally disliked ‘social distancing’, the additions to this year’s dictionary paint a bleak, dystopian picture. But in the last few weeks, fresh terms are being met with interest from wanderlust-stricken travelers and cautious optimism from governments and businesses hoping to rebound from the economic damage of COVID-19. ‘Travel bubbles’, ‘travel corridors’ and ‘air bridg

COVID-19 SERIES 4 – 2020/21 supplementary budget Boosting economic growth is the only option left but will the politics get out of the way? Highlights National Treasury forecasts economic growth of -7.2% (in line with SARB’s -7.1%) and slightly worse than our April forecast of -6.1%. The contraction in growth leaves a tax shortfall of R304bn (inclusive of R26bn) tax relief compared to the February budget. New revenue measures are at the margin and only come in 2021/22 and 202

As more and more parts of the economy are starting to get going, there is a lot of talk about recovery and the shape of the recovery curve. Recovery of the economy There is an alphabet of recovery curves doing the rounds at the moment. The initial thinking was that it was going to be a V shaped curve. However as the lockdown has been longer than initially anticipated, the U and Nike swoosh shapes are more likely. The good news is that the pundits say that the L-shaped curve i