Justice Centre | 19 Aitken Street
DX SX10088 | Wel ington
T 04 918 8800 |
F 04 918 8820
[email address] | www.justice.govt.nz
12 March 2026
Erika Whittome
[FYI request #33701 email]
Ref: OIA 129976
Tēnā koe Erika
Official Information Act request: Employment terminations
Thank you for your email of 12 February 2026, requesting further information under the
Of icial Information Act 1982 (the Act), regarding Ministry of Justice (the Ministry)
employment terminations due to not being vaccinated for COVID-19. Specifically, you
requested:
For the purposes of this request, the term “personnel” includes both MoJ employees
and non-employee workers, including contractors, consultants, fixed-term staff, and
agency placements. When not explicitly limited to “employees”, the term “personnel” is
implied and refers to this broader group.
I note another OIA states that 23 staff were terminated for failure to comply with the
MoJ's covid-19 vaccination policy here https://fyi.org.nz/request/33421-number-of-
staff-loss-due-to-vaccine-mandates-at-the-ministry-of-justice-take2
1. How many affected personnel left MoJ before receiving a termination notice during
the introduction of the vaccinationpolicy?
2. How many of the affected personnel were working in each operational area or
departmental function (e.g. case management, registry, IT, finance, HR, etc)? Please
provide this disaggregated by job title or function to the extent reasonably practicable.
3. How many of the affected personnel were offered alternative positions, roles, or
accommodations (e.g. remote work, redeployment, or other adjustments) as an
alternative to termination? Please indicate whether such offers were made before or
after termination notices were issued.
4. What was the total amount paid out by MoJ to resolve matters with these affected
personnel, disaggregated (as far as reasonably practicable) into categories, including:
* back-pay
* redundancy payments
* settlements
* ex gratia payments
* sick leave or annual leave entitlements paid out
* any other categories of compensation or financial redress
Please also provide any contextual information necessary to interpret the figures (e.g.
timeframes of payments, possible overlap between categories, or explanatory notes on
classification methods used).
5. Were any external parties (e.g. Ministers, the Public Service Commission, unions, or
legal representatives) involved in the development of the Vaccination policy leading to
the terminations If so, please identify them and the nature of their involvement.
6. Did MoJ issue any internal guidance or policy outlining the process for implementing
vaccine mandate-related terminations? If so, please provide a copy of that policy.
On 16 February 2026, the Ministry contacted you to clarify what you deemed to be “affected
personnel” in your request. You confirmed that your request could be clarified to the
following:
Yes I am referring to the 23 employees that were identified in the previous response
to me (OIA 128994)
In response to question one, I can advise that one employee left before receiving a
termination notice during the introduction of the vaccination policy.
Question two: Number of affected personnel working in each operational area or
departmental function.
Business Group, Position Title
Affected staff
Corporate and Digital Services
5
Court Security Officer
5
Operations and Service Delivery
18
Court Registry Officer
9
Court Victim Advisor
1
Family Court Co-Ordinator
3
Kaiarahi – Family Court Navigator
3
Pae Tukutuku
2
Total
23
Question three asks about alternative offers to termination. Twenty-two employees were
offered alternative accommodations to termination, primarily leave without pay, with work-
from-home arrangements offered where appropriate. These offers were made before
termination notices were issued.
Question four: Total amount paid out by the Ministry of Justice to resolve matters
with affected personnel, broken down by type of pay.
Type of Pay
Amount
Annual Leave Entitlements at Termination
$68,246.60
Termination Holiday Pay
$76,520.31
Compensation
$81,000.00
Costs paid (plus GST)
$15,500.00
Total paid
$241,266.91
In response to question five, the Ministry engaged with the Public Service Association as
part of the development of the COVID-19 Vaccination Policy.
A copy of the Ministry’s internal guidance implementing the mandatory vaccine requirement
[question 6] is
attached to this response.
Please note that this response, with your personal details removed, may be published on the
Ministry’s website at:
Of icial Information Act responses | New Zealand Ministry of Justice. If you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint to the
Ombudsman under section 28 of the Act. The Office of the Ombudsman may be contacted
by phone on: 0800 802 602, by email at: [email address], or via the
webform:
Make a complaint (for members of the public) | Ombudsman New Zealand.
Nāku noa, nā
Jo Hickling
General Manager, People Experience
