IRD Should Pay Staff For Additional Duties

“The outcome of the recent IRD v NUPE Employment Court ruling demonstrates that the IRD should negotiate flexibility with employees and not simply try to impose it on employees,” said John Kerr, Acting Secretary of the National Union of Public Employees (NUPE).

“NUPE had been trying for six months to negotiate a clause that would provide a mechanism for calculating a rate of payment and an agreed process for when IRD wanted workers to undertake additional duties. Collective agreement talks have been stalled by IRD over the issue of flexibility since October 2002.”

“The IRD in the late 1990s moved to a call centre operation which has various peaks of work at certain times of the year,” said John Kerr. “Some years IRD paid staff to do the additional duties. Other years they have forced people to do the work – which resulted in the court case.”

“The clause the IRD was using to force staff to do additional duties has been found to be inappropriate. Judge Coral Shaw has pointed to a clause in the employee’s expired CEA about paying for additional duties as allowing a modest amount of work outside job descriptions to be required by IRD.” “Our Union now wants CEA talks to proceed round undertaking extra duties but with appropriate payments and processes in place,” said John Kerr. “The legal expenses in the case estimated at around $50,000 would have been better spent on paying other staff to do the additional work voluntarily.” For more information contact: John Kerr Acting Secretary on (03) 377 3582 or 027 227 6135

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