[1]Hamilton City Council | Te kauniherao Kirikiriroa
Kia ora,
We write to acknowledge your information request of 07/03/2022 about
Number of unvaccinated HCC employees, their roles and continued employment
status..

Please be advised that your request has been passed on to the relevant
team within Council and you will be informed of the outcome.

The Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 requires
that we advise you of our decision on whether the Council will provide the
requesed information as soon as reasonably practiable, and no later than
20 working days after the day we receive your request.
We will respond to you no later than 01/04/2022.

In light of the recent announcement regarding COVID-19 and New Zealand's
current restrictions, the safety of our employees is paramount. We've made
necessary changes to our working environment and operations that may
result in limited availability of some of our staff members. We appreciate
your patience during this time.
Please allow some extra time for a response to your request as we are all
doing our best to accommodate the new circumstances.

Kind Regards,
Legal Services & Risk Team

If you have any further questions about your request, please [2]email us
or phone us on [3](07) 838 6699.
© 2019 Hamilton City Council. All rights reserved.

Hamilton City Council
260 Anglesea Street
Hamilton 3204

References

Visible links
1. https://www.hamilton.govt.nz/
2. mailto:[Hamilton City Council request email]
3. file:///tmp/tel:+6478386699

Kia Ora,

 

I refer to your official information request below.

The LGOIMA requires that we advise you of our decision on your request no
later than 20 working days after the day we received your request.
Unfortunately, it will not be possible to meet that time limit and we are
therefore writing to notify you of an extension of the time to make our
decision, to 8 April 2022.

This extension is necessary because consultations necessary to make a
decision on your request are such that a proper response cannot reasonably
be made within the original time limit.

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[1]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

If you wish to discuss any aspect of your request with us, including this
decision, please feel free to contact us.

 

Kind Regards,

 

 

 

Official Information Team

Legal Services & Risk | People and Organisational Performance

Email: [2][Hamilton City Council request email]

 

In light of the new COVID-19 environment we now live in, the safety of our
employees is paramount. We’ve made necessary changes to our working
environment and operations that may result in limited availability of some
of our staff members. We appreciate your patience during this time. Please
allow some extra time for a response to your request as we are all doing
our best to accommodate the new circumstances.

 

 

[3]Hamilton City Council

 

 

 

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[1]Hamilton City Council | Te kauniherao Kirikiriroa
Kia ora,

We refer to your information request 256431/2022 - Number of unvaccinated
HCC employees, their roles and continued employment status..

The [taskchecknolab 2061 1] requires that we advise you of our decision on
your request no later than 20 working days after the day we received your
request. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to meet that time limit
and we are therefore writing to notify you of an extension of the time to
make our decision, to 08/04/2022.

This extension is necessary because the request [taskchecknolab 2061 2],
therefore meeting the original time limit would unreasonable.

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[2]https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or free phone 0800 802 602.

Kind Regards,
Legal Services & Risk Team
Hamilton City Council

If you have any further questions about your request, please [3]email us
or phone us on [4](07) 838 6699.
© 2019 Hamilton City Council. All rights reserved.

Hamilton City Council
260 Anglesea Street
Hamilton 3204

References

Visible links
1. https://www.hamilton.govt.nz/
2. https://www.ombudsman.parliament.nz/
3. mailto:[Hamilton City Council request email]
4. file:///tmp/tel:+6478386699

Kia Ora,

 

I refer to your information request below, Hamilton City Council is able
to provide the following response.

 

Under Council’s vaccination policy introduced in December 2021:

 

o Every Council Employee, Contractor or Volunteer who is required to
enter one of Council’s workplaces to perform their duties must be
vaccinated.  
o Every Council Employee, Contractor or Volunteer who enters any of our
customer or supplier sites must be fully vaccinated. 
o Council will require proof of vaccination (My Vaccine Pass) from the
public as a condition of entry into Council facilities e.g., H3 Sites
(FMG Stadium, Claudelands and Seddon Park), Hamilton Park Cemetery
(crematorium, chapel and other building accesses by the public) our
Aquatic Centres, the Hamilton Zoo, Waikato Museum, ArtsPost and
i-site, Hamilton Gardens (pavilion, information centre/shop and
enclosed gardens), our Libraries, the Municipal Building and Council
Chambers, to protect the public and our people from contracting or
transmitting COVID-19.

 

Update:

Council has followed Government’s advice and agreed it’s time to lift
vaccine passes from our public facilities from 5 April.  This decision was
made at a Council meeting on 31 March 2022. You can find a copy of the
report [1]here. The minutes from this meeting will be available [2]here in
the next week online.

Here's what you need to know while we are still in the Red of the Traffic
Light setting:

o Face masks and physical distancing still apply and are important to
keep us all safe from COVID-19.
o Face masks need to be worn at all times inside our facilities unless
you have a Ministry of Health approved health-related exemption. 
o There will be capacity limits inside some of our facilities.
o Vaccines passes are still required until 11.59pm 4 April.

Our responses:

 

Employees

 

Five unvaccinated employees currently complete work for Council. The
reason why they have been able to complete the work notwithstanding their
vaccination status is given below.  For privacy reasons, to avoid the
identification of the employee, the exact job titles and broad description
of the roles have not been provided.

 

o Library employee.  The employee is undergoing a course of medical
treatment and the panel provided an exemption until mid-March 2022. 
Their role is not customer facing, and most of the work can be
performed remotely.  They are working remotely during the exemption
period.

 

o Library employee.  Medical exemption is being sought with the support
of their GP.  The panel agreed that they can work remotely for a
period of three months to provide time for the exemption process. 
Their role is not customer facing and a majority of their work be
performed remotely.  They are working remotely during the exemption
period.

 

o Administrator.  They have been medically advised to not have the
Pfizer vaccination but wait for the Nova vaccination.  They were
awaiting an appointment with a medical specialist.  They are required
to meet the requirements of Council vaccination policy by obtaining a
first dose of the Novavax vaccination by 31 March 2022 and second
vaccination by 30 April. They can perform most of their work remotely
and are doing so in the interim. 

 

o Technical specialist leadership role.  Most of their work can be
performed remotely however the review panel agreed that the leadership
component of the role cannot successfully be performed remotely.  Due
to the nature of the highly specialist work, it is challenging to find
a replacement for the role.  Notice of termination has been provided
with an extended notice period for termination to mid-April to allow
time to find a replacement.  During this period, they will work
remotely, with their leadership responsibilities being performed by
another employee.

 

o Team leader in a role where the work they and their team perform
includes providing remote support to customers.  The role would
interact with the public from time to time and as a leadership role
the leadership component for the role cannot successfully be performed
remotely therefore requires the incumbent to be vaccinated to continue
in the role.   To provide additional time to replace the leadership
position, an extended notice period for termination was granted to 25
April 2022.

 

Three other employees have received four weeks’ notice of termination with
the notice period to due to expire within the next few weeks.  While still
employed with us, they are not working during their notice period.

 

Other employees on parental leave have not been required to provide
confirmation of vaccination.  At present they are not performing any work
for Council, and we will work with them on the vaccination requirements
closer to the time they are due to return from parental leave.

 

Volunteers: 

We have several volunteers working across our different business units. 
Many of which are automatically covered by our proof of vaccination entry
requirements for our Council facilities.   We do not keep a centralised
record of our volunteers.

 

We are refusing this aspect of your request as per S 17(g)(i) of LGOIMA –
we do not hold this information.

 

Contractors:

We have numerous contractors engaged by Council on behalf of our different
business units. We do not keep a centralised record of the vaccination
status of our contractors.  We have communicated our vaccination
requirements to our contractors. 

 

Contractors are responsible for ensuring their staff entering our premises
are compliant.  Where contractors work in a capacity like an employee,
those contractors have supplied their vaccination passports.  In addition
vaccination passes are required to access most of our worksites like the
public.

 

You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the Ombudsman of
this decision. Information about how to make a complaint is available at
[3]www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone 0800 802 602.

 

Kind Regards,

 

 

 

Official Information Team

Legal Services & Risk | People and Organisational Performance

Email: [4][Hamilton City Council request email]

 

[5]Hamilton City Council

 

[6]Email-footer-Hamilton-Invest

 

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