6. Governance

Structure

The Secretary of Labour chairs the Strategic Leadership Team (SLT), which is the governance committee for the Department. This team comprises the Secretary and six Deputy Secretaries and leads the Department's strategic direction, organisational development and capability, and organisation performance and monitoring. The SLT works through staff and other stakeholders to achieve the Department's purpose.

The team is supported by five sub-committees: Policy Forum; Planning and Budgeting; Human Resources; Information; and Audit.

Workgroups

The Department is organised into six workgroups. A brief outline of their key functions is provided below:

• Workforce manages immigration in the best interests of New Zealand's economy and labour market. It manages the volume and mix of migrants to New Zealand and balances the skills and value they bring with the need to maintain security. Workforce does this by delivering customer services that facilitate migrant recruitment and ensuring effective risk and security management, visa and permit decision-making, migrant settlement and regulatory compliance. Workforce meets New Zealand's humanitarian international obligations by managing the annual refugee quota and providing policy advice and intelligence on refugee and international protection matters. It also provides advice, research and evaluation on immigration, employment and skills policies to help build the capacity of New Zealand's workforce.
• Workplace delivers policy and services related to employment relationships, workplace practices and workplace health and safety, to help build healthy productive workplaces. It does this through a continued focus on effective workplace regulation. This includes work ensuring the quality of the legislative framework and related standards, and assisting workplace participants by providing information and self-help tools, dispute resolution assistance and enforcement activities. Workplace provides services and support for the Employment Relations Authority and the Remuneration Authority. It also provides policy, governance and monitoring advice to the Government on injury prevention, rehabilitation and compensation to ensure that the ACC scheme is an efficient accident insurance scheme that is affordable for New Zealand families and businesses.
• Work Directions supports improvements in the performance of the labour market and fosters economic growth by providing analysis and advice about factors affecting labour market efficiency. It does this through providing advice on the supply of skilled labour, industry needs and practices, and demographic issues and trends. It produces a range of reports and information tools designed for use by industry and the community in workforce planning activities. Work Directions also contributes to the work of the Department and other government agencies by providing economic advice and labour market analysis to support policy and programme development.
• Legal and International provides legal services, advice and support to the Department and Ministers, and manages labour-related international engagements. The group also provides an internally independent home for support staff for immigration appeal bodies and the Immigration Advisers Authority.
• Corporate supports the Chief Executive and whole-of-department capability through a range of central services including: advice and services for human resources, information technology and management, communications and marketing, financial management, planning and reporting, and property management.
• Executive Branch supports the Chief Executive and Strategic Leadership Team, by providing assurance on departmental systems, processes and policies. The group also supports the Chief Executive's management of critical issues that relate to the reputation and performance of the Department.

Ministers and portfolios

The Department provides services to the Government through four portfolios - Labour, Immigration, Employment and ACC. The Minister of Labour is the Responsible Minister for the Department. The Department administers four Votes and reports on them to the ministerial portfolios listed below.