Nadia Bari
From:
Jeremy McCabe <[email address]>
Sent:
Monday, 1 May 2023 12:46 pm
To:
Eric Janse van Rensburg
Hi Eric. It's probably safe to archive the COVID pages that refer to the Vaccination Assessment Tool and the wage
subsidies/calculator all of which are no long operational. What do you think?
under the
Released
Official Information Act 1982
1
under the
Released
Official Information Act 1982
Mary
Mary Direen (she/her)
PRINCIPAL ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR (Labour, Science and Enterprise)
Engagement, Communications and Ministerial Services
Ngā Pou o te Taumaru
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
[email address] Mob: s 9(2)(a) . DDI: 04 901 1608. Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 6140,
Wellington 6011, New Zealand.
Please note, I work Monday - Thursday.
From: Nicky Kingston <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 4 April 2022 4:06 pm
To: Shane Kinley <[email address]>; Anna Clark (GM WRSP)
<[email address]>; Tracy Mears <[email address]>
Cc: Mary Direen <[email address]>; Lydia Jackson <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Comms re: revocation of VAT [IF CONFIRMED] (IN-CONFIDENCE)
Hi all
Cabinet has agreed to revoke the VAT. Please start the revocation process with announcements
on the MBIE website on Wednesday.
under the
Ngā mihi,
Nicky
From: Mary Direen [mailto:[email address]]
Sent: Monday, 4 April 2022 3:29 PM
To: Nicky Kingston <[email address]>; Lydia Jackson
<[email address]>
Cc: Shane Kinley <[email address]>; Anna Clark (GM WRSP)
Released
<[email address]>; Tracy Mears <[email address]>
Subject: RE: Comms re: revocation of VAT [IF CONFIRMED] (IN-CONFIDENCE)
Thanks Nicky, that’s good to know.
We’ll be in touch once we’ve drafted it and had it approved this end.
Official Information Act 1982
Ngā mihi nui
Mary
Mary Direen (she/her)
PRINCIPAL ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR (Labour, Science and Enterprise)
Engagement, Communications and Ministerial Services
Ngā Pou o te Taumaru
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
[email address] Mob: s 9(2)(a) . DDI: 04 901 1608. Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 6140,
Wellington 6011, New Zealand.
Please note, I work Monday - Thursday.
From: Nicky Kingston <[email address]>
Sent: Monday, 4 April 2022 3:01 pm
To: Lydia Jackson <[email address]>; Mary Direen <[email address]>
Cc: Shane Kinley <[email address]>; Anna Clark (GM WRSP)
<[email address]>; Tracy Mears <[email address]>
Subject: Comms re: revocation of VAT [IF CONFIRMED]
Hi, I don’t have a read-out from Cabinet yet but
if the revocation of the VAT is confirmed at
Cabinet today, the office are happy for an announcement to go up on the MBIE website on
Wednesday. There’s no need for a separate PR from the Minister.
Could you please run the announcement by me and Travis before it goes live?
Thanks,
Nicky Kingston |
Private Secretary (Workplace Relations and Safety)
DDI +64 4 817 9810 | Mobiles 9(2)(a)
| Email [email address]
Office of Hon Michael Wood
under the
Minister of Transport | Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety | Deputy Leader of the
House
Private Bag 18041 | Parliament Buildings | Wellington 6160 | New Zealand
Authorised by Hon Michael Wood, Parliament Buildings, Wellington.
Released
www.govt.nz - your guide to finding and using New Zealand
government services
Any opinions expressed in this message are not necessarily those of the Ministry of
Business, Innovation and Employment. This message and any files transmitted with it are
confidential and solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended
recipient or the person responsible for delivery to the intended recipient, be advised that
Official Information Act 1982
you have received this message in error and that any use is strictly prohibited. Please
contact the sender and delete the message and any attachment from your computer.
From:
Mary Direen
To:
Service Centre QAA Team; Service Centre Account Managers
Cc:
Eric Janse van Rensburg; Jordan Hindley; Vinh Nguyen (Employment Services); Tom Frankish
Subject:
RE: Vaccination Assessment Tool - being removed
Date:
Wednesday, 6 April 2022 9:48:06 am
Attachments:
Vaccination Assessment Tool being removed Service Centre Q+A (1).docx
Kia ora again
Confirming no changes to the document supplied yesterday as draft – here’s a clean copy for
you.
Ngā mihi nui
Mary
Mary Direen (she/her)
PRINCIPAL ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR (Labour, Science and Enterprise)
Engagement, Communications and Ministerial Services
Ngā Pou o te Taumaru
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
[email address] Mob: s 9(2)(a) . DDI: 04 901 1608. Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 6140,
Wellington 6011, New Zealand.
Please note, I work Monday - Thursday.
under the
From: Mary Direen
Sent: Tuesday, 5 April 2022 4:52 pm
To: Service Centre QAA Team <[email address]>; Service Centre Account
Managers <[email address]>
Cc: Eric Janse van Rensburg <[email address]>; Jordan Hindley
<[email address]>; Vinh Nguyen (Employment Services)
<[email address]>; Tom Frankish <[email address]>
Subject: Vaccination Assessment Tool - being removed
Released
Kia ora team
Cabinet decided yesterday to not revise the Vaccination Assessment tool but revoke it in the
regulations. This will happen on 19th April but the Minister has asked that we publish a news
story on bus.govt tomorrow and update the web content. This change has already been signalled
to business so won’t be a major hopefully.
Official Information Act 1982
This is being approved now so I can share the draft brief I am working on for you.
Sorry for the delay – we’re trying to get Q+As approved
I’ll send the final soon as soon as I can – may be in the morning but will be before the story is
published.
Ngā mihi nui
Mary
Mary Direen (she/her)
PRINCIPAL ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR (Labour, Science and Enterprise)
Engagement, Communications and Ministerial Services
Ngā Pou o te Taumaru
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
[email address] Mob: s 9(2)(a) . DDI: 04 901 1608. Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 6140,
Wellington 6011, New Zealand.
Please note, I work Monday - Thursday.
From: Mary Direen
Sent: Wednesday, 30 March 2022 1:46 pm
To: Service Centre QAA Team <[email address]>; Service Centre Account
Managers <[email address]>
Cc: Eric Janse van Rensburg <[email address]>; Jordan Hindley
<[email address]>; Vinh Nguyen (Employment Services)
<[email address]>; Gina Jewell <[email address]>; 'Alastair Stewart'
<[email address]>; Lydia Jackson <[email address]>; Astrid Smeele
<[email address]>
Subject: RE: New guidance for employers - vaccination requirements [UNCLASSIFIED]
Kia ora team
under the
Updated links are here:
Employment NZ: Vaccines and the workplace » Employment New Zealand
Worksafe: COVID-19 controls at work - employer vaccination requirements and other measures
| WorkSafe
Business.govt: Vaccination assessment tool — business.govt.nz and
https://www.business.govt.nz/covid-19/requiring-my-vaccine-passes-for-entry/
Ngā mihi nui
Mary
Released
Mary Direen (she/her)
PRINCIPAL ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR (Labour, Science and Enterprise)
Engagement, Communications and Ministerial Services
Ngā Pou o te Taumaru
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
[email address] Mob: s 9(2)(a) . DDI: 04 901 1608. Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 6140,
Official Information Act 1982
Wellington 6011, New Zealand.
Please note, I work Monday - Thursday.
From: Mary Direen
Sent: Tuesday, 29 March 2022 4:57 pm
To: Service Centre QAA Team <[email address]>; Service Centre Account
Managers <[email address]>
Cc: Eric Janse van Rensburg <[email address]>; Jordan Hindley
<[email address]>; Vinh Nguyen (Employment Services)
<[email address]>; Gina Jewell <[email address]>; Alastair Stewart
<[email address]>; Lydia Jackson <[email address]>; Astrid Smeele
<[email address]>
Subject: New guidance for employers - vaccination requirements [UNCLASSIFIED]
Kia ora team
Firstly congrats on your awards last week – so well-deserved!
I wanted to let you know that we have some new guidance hoping to go live tomorrow
afternoon on the biz.govt and Employment NZ sites. This is currently being approved.
This is to support businesses in deciding if they want to add a vaccination requirement into their
workplaces and the steps they need to follow.
Minister Wood is also looking to promote this tomorrow afternoon through a PR so there may be
interest and we know businesses have been waiting for this guidance from government.
Attached is the PR and key messages and reactive Q+A. Once you’ve had a read let me know if
there’s anything additional that you need.
Ngā mihi nui
under the
Mary
Mary Direen (she/her)
PRINCIPAL ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS ADVISOR (Labour, Science and Enterprise)
Engagement, Communications and Ministerial Services
Ngā Pou o te Taumaru
Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment
[email address] Mob: s 9(2)(a) . DDI: 04 901 1608. Level 4, 15 Stout Street, PO Box 6140,
Wellington 6011, New Zealand.
Released
Please note, I work Monday - Thursday.
Official Information Act 1982
Information for the Service Centre: Changes to the Vaccination Assessment Tool (VAT)
5th April 2022
Fol owing changes to public health advice, the Vaccination Assessment Tool wil now be
removed. Formally this involves revoking the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccination
Assessment Tool) Regulations 2021.
We wil be publishing a news story on business.govt and making some copy changes to
https://www.business.govt.nz/covid-19/vaccination-assessment-tool/
Key messages
• The Government has agreed to remove the Vaccination Assessment Tool (by
revoking the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccination Assessment Tool)
Regulations 2021).
• The regulations are intended to be revoked on Tuesday 19th April which means
businesses are recommended to no longer use it for health and safety risk
assessments. The decision to revoke the tool is based on updated health advice.
• The Government introduced the Vaccination Assessment Tool as a simple and
effective way for businesses to determine with certainty whether it was reasonable
to require a vaccination in their workplace.
under the
• Since then, the risks associated with COVID-19 have changed and updated public
health advice is that vaccination requirements are now likely to be appropriate only
where there is a greater risk of contracting and transmitting COVID-19 in the
workplace than there is in the community.
• Employers may still be able to maintain vaccination requirements, however these
requirements would need to be supported by a full work health and safety risk
assessment. The circumstances where vaccination could be required are likely to be
more limited than they have in the past.
Released
• For businesses that have validly undertaken a health and safety risk assessment
using the vaccination assessment tool, any employment decisions (such as
terminating the employment of unvaccinated workers) that have already been made
based on this assessment stands.
• Any employer currently involved in an employment process based on a vaccination
Official Information Act 1982
requirement that was put in place using the vaccination assessment tool is
recommended to pause that process. The employer should then undertake a full
work health and safety risk assessment to take in to account the current public
health advice before proceeding with any further employment processes.
Reactive Q+As
Is this an admission the Vaccination Assessment tool didn’t work?
Workplaces wanted a simple and effective tool that gave them certainty around whether
they could require a vaccination, and the tool delivered that. Since then, the risks associated
with COVID-19 have changed and updated public health advice is that vaccination
requirements are now likely to be appropriate only where there is a greater risk of
contracting and transmitting COVID-19 in the workplace than there is in the community.
Does this mean decisions made previously to require vaccinations were done il egal y?
Any decisions that were made using this tool stil stand if they were made when the
Vaccination Assessment Tool was valid. Business who used the tool wil need to update their
health and safety risk assessment reflecting the change in status to the tool.
Employees will still be able to bring a personal grievance if they feel they have been
unjustifiably dismissed or disadvantaged as a result of a decision their employer has made
about vaccination.
Why did it take so long to make a decision around the Vaccination Assessment Tool?
MBIE kept business up to date with the fact the Vaccination Assessment Tool was being
reviewed fol owing updated public health advice. It was made clear there would be some
change and businesses were strongly encouraged to wait for the Tool to be updated before
introducing a vaccination requirement in reliance on it.
under the
Scrapping of the tool is sending a strong message that essential y there’s very few grounds
for vaccination mandates in the workplace?
The latest public health advice is that the public health justification for requiring vaccination
is stronger when the risks of contracting and transmitting COVID-19 in the workplace is
higher than it is in the community. Employers may still be able to maintain vaccination
requirements, where these continue to be supported by a work health and safety risk
assessment, but these circumstances are likely to be more limited than they have in the
past.
Released
Find more information here:
Vaccination assessment tool — business.govt.nz
COVID-19 and the workplace » Employment New Zealand
Vaccines and the workplace » Employment New Zealand
Official Information Act 1982
From:
Jordan Hindley
To:
Eric Janse van Rensburg; Jeremy McCabe
Cc:
Mary Florence Bleasdale
Subject:
RE: Vaccination Assessment Tool [UNCLASSIFIED]
Date:
Wednesday, 6 April 2022 9:19:43 am
Attachments:
image001.png
Thanks Eric, sounds like a plan to me.
Regards
From: Eric Janse van Rensburg <[email address]>
Sent: Wednesday, 6 April 2022 9:08 am
To: Jeremy McCabe <[email address]>
Cc: Jordan Hindley <[email address]>; Mary Florence Bleasdale
<[email address]>
Subject: RE: Vaccination Assessment Tool [UNCLASSIFIED]
Hi Jeremy,
under the
Happy for us to put something on the website (in the news section) to the effect that the
vaccination tool will be revoked. I believe Mary is working on copy for that.
I also think we need to add a message on the vaccination assessment tool page, and then once
the tool is revoked, remove the vaccination assessment tool page from the site. Having the news
article will also be good if someone searches for the tool when we’ve removed the page.
Jordan, how does this all sound to you?
Released
Cheers,
Eric
From: Jeremy McCabe <[email address]>
Sent: Wednesday, 6 April 2022 9:04 AM
To: Eric Janse van Rensburg <[email address]>
Subject: Vaccination Assessment Tool [UNCLASSIFIED]
Official Information Act 1982
Hi Eric
Jordan suggested I clear with you Mary’s request for a news story about government’s plan to
revoke the vaccination assessment tool.
As you will probably have seen it is only happening on 19 April.
What are your thoughts?
Regards
Jeremy
under the
Released
Official Information Act 1982
