Allegations Inland Revenue using recruitment company to employ hundreds of its staff
Friday, 23 August 2019
A union claims Inland Revenue is using a recruitment company to employ hundreds of its staff, and is taking legal action over it.
Four workers for Madison Recruitment — a New Zealand-wide recruitment agency — filed a legal case in the Employment Court earlier this month
Those members, supported by their union, Public Service Association (PSA), are seeking a determination that Inland Revenue was their employer, not Madison.
That would mean Madison workers would be covered by the PSA's collective agreement, which includes better pay and sick leave, overtime and meal allowances.
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Inland Revenue would not comment on the matter as it was before the courts, but in a statement said 'these workers are employees of Madison Recruitment'.
'They are not employees of Inland Revenue.'
However the PSA is arguing that Inland Revenue was controlling those employed by Madison, who were fully integrated into the department.
The union, in a letter obtained by Stuff, alleges that the department employs 500 people via Madison, primarily in the role of customer service officers and customer service administrators.
Those workers were understood to attend training at Inland Revenue premises, and work at sites operated by the department.
They had Inland Revenue email addresses, swipe cards, and all their rosters were organised by Inland Revenue team leaders.
However those employed by Madison were paid less than the living wage, employed on 90-day trials, and were not entitled to meal allowances or overtime entitlements as part of the current collective agreement between the PSA and Inland Revenue.
Kerry Davies, PSA national secretary, said Madison workers at Inland Revenue were requesting to join the union and support the legal action 'because they are unhappy with how the department treats them'.
'We will not accept the perpetuation of a second-tier workforce in Inland Revenue or any other government department. Madison workers must receive equal pay for equal work.'
The State Services Commission referred comment back to Inland Revenue. Madision was approached for comment.
The legal action comes after it was revealed Inland Revenue was using psychometric testing for part of its selection process.
The Government department put a hold on testing staff in late 2017 after the PSA threatened legal action.
Inland Revenue chief people officer Mark Daldorf confirmed the testing, which was used only used for level-one customer service officer roles and carried out by an external provider.
A leaked Inland Revenue memo to staff said the department operated a 'transparent, consistent and structured recruitment process for all job applicants'.
The memo, from Daldorf, said over the last 12 months the department had close to 4500 applications for level one customer service roles. That was for just 200 jobs.
'It's crucial we run an objective process which provides all applicants with an equal opportunity.'
But Davies slammed the use of the testing, warning it should not be used as a general recruitment tool.
'It's obviously upsetting to apply for a permanent role in an organisation you already work for, to excel in the sections of that interview which deal with your skills and experience, only to then find out you don't get the job because you failed a personality quiz.'