Twitter chief executive steps down after lacklustre financial results; Nature’s Care signs Fair Work pact after $100,000 underpayment: Midday Roundup

Dick Costolo will step down as the chief executive of Twitter in July after the company’s first quarter results fell short of investor expectations.

The social network’s founder, Jack Dorsey, will serve as interim chief executive until a suitable replacement is found.

Meanwhile, Costolo will continue to serve on the company’s board of directors. He said in a statement that he was “tremendously proud” of the Twitter team and everything the business has achieved to date.

“We have great leaders who work well together and a clear strategy that informs our objectives and priorities,” he said.

“There is no one better than Jack Dorsey to lead Twitter during this transition. He has a profound understanding of the product and Twitter’s mission in the world as well as a great relationship with Twitter’s leadership team. I am deeply appreciative of the confidence the Board, the management team and the employees have placed in me over the years, and I look forward to supporting Twitter however I can going forward.”

In a conference call with investors, Costolo denied that he was stepping down due to Twitter’s financial performance, according to Fortune.

Instead he argued that scrutiny of the company would intensify if he were to remain in the top job.

Nature’s Care signs Fair Work pact after $100,000 underpayment

Health and skin care products maker Nature’s Care has entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman after it was found to have underpaid 13 backpackers almost $100,000.

The Fair Work Ombudsman said in a statement on Thursday the workers were all on 417 working holiday visas and spoke little or no English.

They were paid flat hourly rates of between $15.51 and $16.37 when they should have received a standard hourly rate of $20.36 and penalty rates of up to $43.38 for overtime, weekend, evening and public holiday shifts.

The workers were employed as packers and labourers at Nature’s Care Sydney factory and a farm in the Hunter Valley. Nature’s Care Manufacture and its wholly-owned entity, Natralab Australia, were both found to be involved in the underpayments. The amounts have seen been rectified.

The companies’ enforceable undertaking with Fair Work will require them to provide written apologies to the workers, and commission workplace relations training for managers and an external review of its pay practices.

Nature’s Care has also committed to donating $5000 to support group Asian Women at Work to help it promote workplace rights.

Shares down

After some buoyancy yesterday, the local share market is in negative territory this morning following statements made by EU President Donald Tusk questioning the resolution of the Greek debt crisis.

“With yesterday’s confidence on Greece being turned around, stock markets have been forced reluctantly back to a cautious frame of mind,” said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, in a statement.

“Decision time has come and these decisions are necessarily going to involve very difficult political decisions for one or both sides of this negotiation, underscoring the potential risk of failure.”

The S&P/ASX 200 benchmark was up 19.6 points to 5537.1 points at 12.00pm AEST. On Thursday, the Dow Jones closed 38.97 points higher, up 0.22% to 18,039.4 points.