Flexible work policy refresh not a breach of agreement, MBIE says
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is facing legal action over the recent refresh of its flexible working policy earlier this year.
The Public Service Association (PSA) said it filed legal action with the Employment Relations Authority (ERA), alleging that the MBIE violated its "flexible by default" approach under its Collective Agreement.
"MBIE can't just change existing agreements which are protected under the collective," said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association, in a statement.
"This is a backward step, going against all international evidence and trends. Most impacted employees are women, and this change will also disproportionately impact people with a disability."
MBIE does not accept PSA's view
But the MBIE rejected the PSA's view that their refresh was a violation of the Collective Agreement.
"MBIE does not accept the PSA view that the review and refresh of the Flexible Working Policy and Procedures is a breach of the Collective Agreement," MBIE Chief People Officer Jennifer Nathan told HRD in a statement.
The ministry's updated flexible working policy requires employees to have a formal agreement in place for anything that is a regular or ongoing flexible work arrangement.
"While the previous guidance provided for informal working from home arrangements for up to two days per week, the new guidance seeks to formalise any ongoing and regular arrangements, with the ability for ad-hoc arrangements to still take place (by agreement)," Nathan said.
"Anyone may still apply for a flexible work arrangement at any time."
According to the MBIE CPO, flexible work requests will be considered by an employee's people leader, General Manager, or Deputy Secretary depending on the number of days an employee proposes to work from home.
"As has always been the case, the arrangement must work for the individual, their team, and MBIE," she said.
"The intent behind the changes is to create greater clarity and consistency on how we apply, agree, and review flexible working to contribute to a high-performing public service."
Lining up with government policy
The MBIE's updated flexible work policy is in line with the Public Service Commission's Flexible Working (work from home) guidance issued late last year.
In that guidance, the government said working from home arrangements in the public service "are not an entitlement and should be by explicit agreement between an employee and their employer."
The MBIE shared its updated guidance to employees in late May this year, and met with the PSA on July 8 for mediation as part of their ongoing conversations regarding the policy.
However, both parties have yet to reach an agreement on the PSA's concerns.
"We received notification yesterday that the PSA intends to file legal proceedings and we are awaiting further information," Nathan said.
This is not the first time that the PSA filed a legal case against the government for its flexible work policy.
In May, the Public Service Commission's Flexible Working guidance became the subject of legal action after escalation from the PSA.
The union said it hopes that the ERA will allow the MBIE case to be joined to the broader case against the commission.
