Chinese billionaire treat's 6,400 staff to France Vacation

TIANJIN, China - He could be the dream boss of many, as a Chinese billionaire takes his 6,400 employees on a holiday vacation in France. 

The employees of Tiens Group, a conglomerate chaired by one of China's business billionaires, Li Jinyuan, is the biggest tour group to ever visit France. During the four-day break between Paris and Nice the group is expected to spend €13 million (£9.5 million) on hotels, food and excursions including a mass private viewing of the Louvre museum and a trip to the Moulin Rouge cabaret show.

On Friday 147 buses took the group from their four or five-star hotels to the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, where they formed the words “Tiens’ dream is Nice in the Cote d’Azur”, in a record-breaking "longest human-made phrase".

“We have have mobilised public services as well as tourism professionals, hotels, restaurants, shops and designer brands,” Christian Mantel, head of Atout France, a tourism development agency, told AFP.

“So far everything has gone smoothly, the feedback has been extremely positive.”

Mr Li, who was featured on Forbes 2011 list of the world’s billionaires, founded Tiens Group in 1995. The conglomerate has diverse business in biotechnology, logistics, finance, property, tourism and retail and has more than 12,000 employees, half of whom went to France to celebrate the company’s 20th anniversary.

Gov't employees to get 13th month pay starting this week

Manila Philippines - Government employees will get the remaining half of their 13th month pay and cash gift starting this

week, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) announced Sunday.

Under Budget Circular 2010-1, which was first issued on August 28, 2010, government personnel are entitled to a year-end bonus equivalent to a month's pay, as well as a cash gift of P5,000.

"For the past year, government employees have been working quietly and without fanfare for the good of the nation. It's only proper that their efforts and hard work are given fair recognition. The year-end bonus and extra cash should help them prepare for the holiday season and its demands," said Budget Secretary Florencio "Butch" Abad.

Government-owned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions (GFIs) will tap into their corporate funds for the bonuses, while local government units (LGUs) will source their perks from local government funds.

The budget circular covers civilian and uniformed personnel across all government departments and agencies. It also includes regular co-terminus government employees.

Abad noted that the budget for the 13th month pay was already released at the very start of the year as part of the General Appropriations Act.

"The General Appropriations Act-as-release-document ensures that funds are sufficiently available to the agencies from the very start, so that they can roll out the year-end bonuses and cash gifts at the appropriate time," he said.

Government employees already received half of their 13th month pay and cash gift last May.