26 January 2024
Jean Roberts
[FYI request #25073 email]
Dear Jean
Official Information Request
Our Ref: OIA 2023-0299
I refer to your official information request received on 7 December 2023 where you have asked a
number of questions in relation to personal grievances. For ease of reference, we have listed each
question with our corresponding answer below.
Our response
1. The number of Personal Grievances raised in your Ministry, in the last 3 years broken
down by year, and categories (for example: Bullying, Unjustifiably disadvantaged,
constructive dismissal etc)
Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission’s (the Commission) information release confidentiality
guidelines ensure we al ow as much high value information as possible to be released, while ensuring
that it is not in a form that could reasonably expect to identify an individual, or at a level of
aggregation where the information is still informative.
These guidelines apply to any statistical information that contains private or confidential information
and prevent us releasing the exact number of personal grievances received broken down by year.
Therefore, we have grouped the data together for the past three years.
Listed in the table below is the number of personal grievances received by the Commission in the last
three years. The Commission does not code its complaints, however, due to the smal number, we
were able to review the personal grievances received to identify whether any contained complaints
of bul ying, constructive dismissal and discrimination, unjustifiable disadvantage and other more
general complaints.
Item
Years
Number of Personal grievances received
1
2021, 2022 and 2023
9
2. (in the last 3 years) The number of Mediation that took place broken down by year
3. (in the last 3 years) The number of successful mediations broken down by year
We have interpreted these questions to be mediation relating to employee personal grievances and
successful mediation to mean that a successful outcome/resolution was achieved through mediation
to bring the matter to a close. In the last three years there have been two mediations that have taken
place, both resulting in a successful outcome / resolution.
Level 10, RBNZ Building | 2 The Terrace | PO Box 329
Wel ington 6140 | New Zealand
Phone +64 4 495 6600
4. (in the last 3 years) Of the PGs raised, how many went to Employment Relations Authority
broken down by year?
5. (in the last 3 years) How many cases were found against the Ministry broken down by
year?
6. (in the last 3 years) How much money – in total- were paid to settle these cases / or pay the
fee required by ERA broken down by year?
7. (in the last 3 years) How much money – in total – were paid to external Legal consultants to
defend the cases filed in ERA or to prepare the responses to the case broken down by year?
8. (in the last 3 years) How many ERA cases resulted in reinstatement of employee broken
down by year?
None of the nine personal grievances received by the Commission in the last three years were
escalated to the Employment Relations Authority.
9. How much money was covered by the Ministry’s liability insurance?
No claims were made on the Commission’s liability insurance for any employment relations matters.
10. If a case is found against the Ministry (the Ministry lost), what are the consequences
to the Manager involved in the incident?
Any consequences in such situations would be dependent on the circumstances.
If you wish to discuss this decision with us, please feel free to contact
[email address]. 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
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or
freephone 0800 802 602.
Please note that we intend to publish this letter (with your personal details removed) on the Te Kawa
Mataaho Public Service Commission’s website.
Yours sincerely
Nicky Dirks
Manager – Ministerial and Executive Services
Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission
Document Outline
