New rule to require staff to be on-site three days a week starting December
The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) is facing legal action following a newly announced change to its working in office policy.
The change, announced in October, will require employees to work on-site three days a week starting December 1, according to the Public Service Association (PSA).
But the PSA said it will be taking the agency to the Employment Relations Authority, alleging that the ACC breached its collective agreement by failing to consult the union before imposing the new rules.
"ACC has ridden roughshod over its legal obligations under the collective agreement and completely ignored the views of workers by taking this unilateral step," said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi, in a statement.
"We are asking the Authority to require ACC to suspend the new rule due to take effect from 1 December 2025 and instead require ACC to begin a proper consultation."
According to the PSA, it received less than an hour's notice of ACC's decision on working from home.
"This is not the behaviour we expect from any public sector employer when the obligations spelt out in collective agreements are crystal clear," Fitzsimons said.
"People who work at ACC deserve to have existing legal arrangements upheld and to be consulted on changes that will significantly impact their working lives."
Meanwhile, ACC said it received formal notification from the PSA over their ERA claim, Radio New Zealand reported.
"We are working through the details of the claim," the agency said in a statement quoted by RNZ.
