16 April 2024
Our reference 2324-2017
RS Grant
[FYI request #26111 email]
Tēnā koe,
Thank you for writing to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) on 16 March 2024,
to request the following, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA):
1. How many of your staff work from home on a permanent basis.
2. Approximately what proportion of your staff are in the office each day, on average
Staff working from home and onsite on a daily basis
MBIE is a flexible-by-default agency. This means options can be explored for flexible working for all roles,
unless there is a clear business reason the preferred option doesn't suit the role. Our people leaders are
expected to actively support and champion flexible working for their teams, and everyone should be
flexible and adaptable when considering options for flexible working.
You can read further guidance for MBIE staff working from home in our
Flexible Working Policy, which is
available on our website, a
t https://www.mbie.govt.nz/about/who-we-are/flexible-working-at-mbie-
policy/. Furthermore, MBIE’s approach is guided by the principles set out by Te Kawa Mataaho, the
Employment Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) amendment Act 2007 No 105
(Employment
Relations (Flexible Working Arrangements) Amendment Act 2007 No 105, Public Act Contents – New
Zealand Legislation.
MBIE aims to support employees to find suitable working arrangements that work for them. Therefore,
we do not collect information about the number of people who are working onsite or working from home
at any given time. Accordingly, this part of your response is refused under section 18(e) of the OIA, as the
information you have requested does not exist.
Records search: the extent to which staff attend the office
In your request, you also asked for the following information, if MBIE did not hold data on staff working
from home:
•
any information you have created within the last 12 months (including but not limited to internal
emails) discussing the extent to which MBIE staff attend the office versus working from home.
Regrettably, this part of your request has been refused under the administrative grounds in section 18(f)
of the OIA, due to the substantial collation and research required to identify and provide the requested
information.
A records search based on the wording of this part of your request will result in a large number of false
positives being retrieved on unrelated issues, such as:
• emails from staff members advising their manager they will be working from home on a given
day,
• details about working from home arrangements in staff signature blocks; and
• documents that discuss or refer to working from home, but not the extent to which it has been
taken up by staff.
Thank you again for writing to MBIE. Under section 28 of the OIA, you have the right to refer my response
to an Ombudsman for review. You can find more about how to do this by calling 0800 802 602, or by
emailin
g [email address].
Nāku noa, nā
Jennifer Nathan
Chief People Officer
People and Culture
Corporate Services, Finance and Enablement
