KPMG looks at fraud risk during COVID, Zoom boosts its forecasts and thousands of Kiwis back changes to sick leave. Readings from around the world on business, leadership and management.

KPMG checks fraud risk management in PNG

Credit: KPMG/Instagram

With more of the workforce working remotely, it’s becoming clear that working from various different locations can open you up to additional fraud risks.

The KPMG’s PNG office recently conducted a Pandemic Fraud Risk Management Survey, polling businesses on five areas of potential risk: fraud, organisational capacity, dependencies within an organisation, access controls, and supplier management.

While 100% of respondents said they were looking out for their employees’ health, there were some alarm bells. Only 70 per cent of respondents said they had a business continuity plan in place to address remote working and account for potential infrastructure failures.

Meanwhile, only 65 per cent of respondents said fraud and financial crime detection systems were included in their business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

KPMG suggests that you ‘identify potential fraud incidents early and implement appropriate preventative controls to prevent re-occurrence.’

Online meetings here to stay

Shot of two colleagues video chatting with each other on a computer at work. Credit: Zoom

For those workers with Zoom fatigue, Channel News Asia says the remote meeting platform is not looking at slowing down, with the company reporting that it has raised its annual revenue forecast by 30 per cent.

Shares in the video-conferencing platform have gone up over 400 per cent this year and it was merely a start-up before the pandemic hit. The key was for the company to convert a legion of free users into paying clients, essential if it was to monetise what was an extraordinarily lucky business climate with everyone going online.

And they appear to have done that. Zoom’s number of large customers – those generating more than US$100,000 in revenue in the past year – more than doubled in the second quarter of the year. The company, founded and headed by former Cisco manager Eric Yuan, raised its annual revenue target for fiscal year 2021 to a range of US$2.37 billion to US$2.39 billion, from US$1.78 billion to US$1.80 billion previously.

Health check on sick leave

Credit: NZCT/Instagram

RNZ in New Zealand has reported that the global pandemic has shone a light on sick leave provisions and shown that low-paid workers are not adequately protected.

The issue was highlighted by a 10,000-signature petition sent to the NZ government, but the local Council of Trade Unions (CTU) wants to use the pandemic to get greater reform of the sick leave system

‘We think it should go beyond this because really it doesn’t matter whether you’ve got COVID or you might have it or even if you’re got the flu, you shouldn’t go to work if you’re sick,’ CTU President Richard Wagstaff told RNZ. ‘You’re likely to spread it around; you’re not likely to work properly. We think the statutory minimums aren’t sufficient to allow everyone who gets sick to take a sick day and it [instead] encourages them to go to work.’