Decent Work New Zealand
Towards Decent Work - Charting our progress
Objective 3: Activities, Strategies and/or Institutional Arrangements Developed to Address each Critical Success Factor
CSF 8: There is high participation in the workforce.
Activity:
Ensuring the maintenance of reasonable income for earners following injury in or out of the workplace
Description:
The Injury Prevention Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2001 ensures that all New Zealand workers with injuries acceptable for cover under the legislation continue to receive at least 80% of their pre-injury earnings during rehabilitation or recovery
Lead Agency:
Accident Compensation Corporation
Activity:
Supporting early return to work following injury
Description:
The Accredited Employer Programme enables employers to maintain injured workers at work, or return them to work early in a safe and supportive environment.
Lead Agency:
Accident Compensation Corporation
Activity:
Career information, advice and guidance
Description:
Career information, advice and guidance to assist people to make informed work and learning decisions in the context of the life they want to lead. Services are provided through the Career Services website, freephone advice line and offices located around New Zealand.
Lead Agency:
Career Services
Activity:
Prisoner employment strategy
Description:
This strategy creates a framework and programme of work that will help to address the significant skills deficits and obstacles prisoners face in obtaining sustainable post-release employment, which in turn will contribute to reducing re-offending.
Lead Agency:
Department of Corrections
Activity:
Regional labour market development
Description:
Collaborative development of strategies and action plans to address skills, productivity and participation issues at a regional level. This involves working with local government, business/industry associations, economic development agencies, training providers, unions and other government agencies.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Sectoral labour market development
Description:
Collaborative development of strategies and action plans to address skills, productivity and participation issues at a sectoral level. This involves working with sector bodies, local government, business/industry associations, economic development agencies, training providers, unions and other government agencies.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Ageing Workforce Programme
Description:
Work Directions is developing a new work stream focusing on the ageing population and older workers issues. This work stream has two objectives, firstly to influence thinking and enhance the quality of debate and policy development. The second objective is to focus and consolidate Work Directions, departmental and potentially cross-Government research and analysis activities on older workers.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Review of the level of the adult, new entrants and training minimum wages
Description:
The Department of Labour provides advice on the setting of minimum wage levels that best achieves the objectives and criteria agreed by Government for the minimum wage. As a part of this process, the Department analyses submissions made by interested parties on minimum wage rates.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Protection of children at work
Description:
The Government is considering the potential ratification of ILO Convention 138 (Minimum Age of Employment). It is also carrying out a work programme to improve knowledge of existing protections for children at work, compliance with children’s employment rights, and detection of exploitation when it does occur.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Pay and Employment Equity plan of action for the next five years
Description:
The Government is proceeding to implement the action plan for pay and employment equity in the public service, public health and public education sectors. A dedicated unit has been established in Department of Labour which is developing tools and processes to enable agencies to implement the action plan and a tripartite Steering Group has been established to oversee the work of the unit.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Extension of paid parental leave to self-employed parents
Description:
Self-employed parents are now eligible for 14 weeks paid parental leave, bringing greater flexibility and equity to the workplace and additional support for working parents. Both employees and the self-employed are now eligible for a subsequent period of paid parental leave if their expected date of delivery or adoption is at least six months after they return to work from previous leave.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Parental leave evaluation project
Description:
A three-stage research project to measure the success of the parental leave scheme.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women (NACEW)
Description:
NACEW is an advisory body providing advice to the Minister of Labour. NACEW is supported by the Department of Labour through the provision of an Executive Officer and advisory support to assist the development and implementation of their work programme. Currently this is via three subgroups focusing on precarious employment and particularly public contracting, pay and employment equity issues, Maori and Pacific women in enterprise and a joint DOL/NACEW decision-making project on balancing work and caring responsibilities
Lead Agency:
NACEW, Department of Labour
Activity:
Work/Life Balance Project
Description:
The Work/Life Balance project is developing a policy programme to promote a better balance between paid work and life outside of work. A three year work programme is underway which includes a pilot project with workplaces, further policy work on a range of issues, activities to influence change in workplace cultures, and practices and research into work/life balance issues.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Work/Life Balance workplace project
Description:
The project identifies and promotes workplace policies and practices that help people to balance participation in paid work with the other activities that are important to them. An advisory group has been established to advise on proposed communications activities and products flowing on from the Workplace Pilots, identify opportunities for awareness raising around work-life balance and identify champions and influencers.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Better Work Working Better (BWWB)
Description:
BWWB sets out the Government’s aspirations for high quality employment in productive and innovative industries, regions and businesses that drives sustainable economic growth and opportunities for all New Zealanders. Goals under BWWB are high levels of participation in high-quality, well-paid and diversified employment; a diverse, adaptable and highly-skilled workforce; high-quality and productive workplaces within an effective regulatory environment and high-performing sector and regional labour markets.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Choices for Living, Caring, and Working Plan of Action
Description:
This ten-year plan improves support for children and families by increasing the choices available for parents and carers. This will enable people to have real choices about how they balance their caring responsibilities, involvement in paid work, time for leisure and learning, and time to be involved with friends, family and the community.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Providing information for migrants and increasing awareness amongst employers on the benefits of employing migrants
Description:
The Auckland Chamber of Commerce delivers employment assistance and job-seeking services to migrants via presentations and seminars as well as one-on-one employment finding sessions with individuals as required. The Canterbury Migrant Employment Programme, run by the Canterbury Chamber of Commerce, provides a migrant employment recruitment service for skilled migrants to gain employment and opportunities to improve their job search strategy.
Lead Agency:
Chambers of Commerce, Department of Labour
Activity:
Increasing awareness of the benefits of migrant employment and increasing employment opportunities for skilled migrants throughout New Zealand and internationally
Description:
Effective management of the New Kiwis migrant recruitment service via the www.newkiwis.co.nz and www.nzrecruitme.co.nz websites. The newkiwis website focuses upon relationship building with potential and registered employers to promote the benefits of employing migrants in the workplace. While the nzrecruitme website complements the newkiwis service and matches the skills of prospective migrants to the business community.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour, Auckland Chamber of Commerce
Activity:
Realising Youth Potential
Description:
Contributing to policy development and implementation around the goal of the Government that all young people will be participating in education, skills, or other structured learning relevant to their abilities and needs until they reach the age of 18. This includes all young people in work, transition to work, and in tertiary education and training have a coherent set of learning opportunities and the appropriate support mechanisms available to achieve sustainable skills and career outcomes. This is a joint activity with the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs.
Lead Agency:
Multi agency, Department of Labour
Activity:
Literary, Numeracy and Language Strategy
Description:
The Department of Labour will continue to lead work focussed on changing employer and workplace practices around improving literacy, numeracy and language skills.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Upskilling Partnership Programme
Description:
This programme will engage employers and workers in foundation skills training, and improve understanding of what forms of training work best and what the business benefits are from investing in foundation skills. It will contribute to the ongoing development of a medium to long-term strategy to improve the foundation skills (literacy, numeracy and language) of workers, unemployed people and groups close to the labour market.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Labour market analysis tools
Description:
First arising from the Ngäti Awa labour market capacity building project, a series of interactive labour market tools have been developed to allow quick and easy access to detailed labour market information at a disaggregated (sub-national and sub-population) level. The tools use updatable databases to provide information on key labour market indicators, education and training, industry and occupations to support decision making.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme
Description:
The Recognised Seasonal Employer Scheme is an immigration policy which facilitates the temporary entry of seasonal workers into New Zealand to fill shortages in New Zealand’s horticulture and viticulture industries when no New Zealanders are available. This scheme encourages Pacific people to return year after year, and build up their skills and productivity.
Lead Agency:
Department of Labour
Activity:
Initiatives to reduce short and long term injuries in the stevedore work force when working aboard ships.
Description:
A stevedore industry based steering committee has been established to work in partnership with Maritime NZ, Department of Labour, and related agencies. The prime objective of the activity is to achieve a reduction in stevedore injuries. Stevedore injury statistics are currently being analysed. Outcomes are expected to include guidelines for the safe handling of ships’ cargoes, an efficient “alert” system of communication between NZ ports, and a benchmark pre-discharge/loading safety survey report.
Lead Agency:
Maritime New Zealand
Activity:
Early Childhood Education
Description:
The Government subsidises early childhood education (ECE) for children aged 0 to 5, and up to 20 hours a week Free ECE for 3 and 4 year olds in teacher-led services, aiming to increase participation in quality ECE services, improve quality of ECE services and promote collaborative relationships.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Education
Activity:
Te Tâhuhu Improving Mental Health 2005-2015
Description:
This Strategy aims to value diversity and support and enable people with experience of mental illness and addiction to fully participate in society and in the everyday life of their communities and whanau.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Health
Activity:
Te Kokiri The Mental Health and Addiction Action Plan 2006 - 2015
Description:
Te Kokiri focuses on implementing Te Tâhuhu Improving Mental Health. It provides the way forward from policy to implementation. Central to this work is enabling people with experience of mental illness and addiction to fully participate in society and in the everyday life of their communities and whanau.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Health
Activity:
Tauawhitia te Wero -Embracing the Challenge: National mental health and addiction workforce development plan 2006-2009
Description:
This sets out a vision for a mental health and addiction workforce development plan responsive to the needs of people who access services. It is intended to act as an umbrella plan providing national direction on workforce development through to 2009.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Health
Activity:
Let’s get real: Real skills for people working in mental health and addictions [external link]
Description:
Let’s get real is a project to produce a framework of the essential knowledge, skills and attitudes required to work in mental health and addictions services. Quality improvements underpin this initiative with influences on service delivery; education and training; professional development; and recruitment and retention practices.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Health
Activity:
Development of training and qualifications in needs assessment and service co-ordination (NASC) for disabled people
Description:
The Ministry of Health’s Disability Services Directorate works with relevant training organisations to identify NASC-specific competencies that will develop into under-graduate and post-graduate national learning programmes.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Health
Activity:
Development of training and qualifications in community-based residential services for disabled people
Description:
The Ministry of Health’s Disability Services Directorate works with providers and relevant training organisations to identify support worker-specific competencies that will develop into under graduate and post-graduate national learning programmes.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Health
Activity:
Pacific Economic Action Plan (PEAP)
Description:
The PEAP provides an overarching response to Pacific peoples’ economic priorities with six key goals: Education, Workforce Development, Business Development, Creative, Emerging & Growth Industries, Entrepreneurial Culture and Leadership. This plan identifies milestones to assist government - develop policies and initiatives to enhance Pacific peoples’ contribution to the New Zealand economy. Each goal outlines objectives that will address gaps in current government responses and areas of need.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs
Activity:
Pacific Women’s Economic Development Plan (PWEDP)
Description:
The PWEDP is a specific economic development action plan for Pacific women. It identifies specific milestones that further contribute to four of the PEAP goals: Education, Workforce Development, Business Development and Leadership.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs
Activity:
Transition to Work Grant [external link]
Description:
Assists clients to meet the additional cost of looking for work, attending a job interview and taking up employment.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Work Experience
Description:
Provides unpaid opportunities in a workplace or work type environment and helps clients gain up to date work experience
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Enterprise Allowance [external link]
Description:
Helps clients become self-sufficient by way of financial assistance to allow them to prepare for, or enter into self employment.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Job Search Skills training programmes for job seekers
Description:
Short-term programmes that provide information on job-search techniques, skills and resources.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Skills Training courses
Description:
Training courses or programmes that endeavour to provide job seekers with work-related skills.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Industry Partnerships
Description:
Industry Partnerships involve forming partnerships with industries and major employers that have large skill and labour shortages. Partners generally receive a jointly developed tailored recruitment service offer that is responsive to their current and future staffing needs. This initiative aims to fill the skill and labour shortages by developing tailored training programmes to meet areas of industry need. These national partnerships are complemented by local industry partnerships.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Taskforce Green Subsidy [external link]
Description:
Allows the client to participate in community or environmental based project work to develop work habits and general on the job skills.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Working for Families [external link]
Description:
Working for Families is a package designed to help make it easier to work and raise a family. It pays extra money to many thousands of New Zealand families. Working for Families is made up of three key components: tax credits administered by Inland Revenue and Accommodation Supplement and Childcare Assistance which are administered by Work and Income.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Regional Funding
Description:
Funding that allows MSD to be responsive to emerging job seeker needs and opportunities, primarily regionally driven and targeted.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs [external link]
Description:
This initiative provides funding through MSD for collaborative initiatives between central and local government for projects that have training, education and work outcomes targeted for youth.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Enterprising Communities grants [external link]
Description:
Enterprising Communities assistance is focused on achieving labour market outcomes for communities and groups who are disadvantaged in the labour market. The aim is to help not for profit organisations develop initiatives leading to sustainable employment opportunities and financial independence.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Local Industry Partnerships
Description:
Local industry partnerships are designed to help address local skills shortages and respond quickly to emerging local employment opportunities, where the skills of the local workforce do not match those required for the jobs. Working directly with industry to identify and contract the appropriate training courses, they aim to open up sustainable jobs and new career opportunities to unemployed people and others currently disadvantaged in the labour market. These partnerships complement the national partnerships.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Innovative Employment Assistance (IEA)
Description:
IEA programmes trial new strategies to help Sickness and Invalids’ Beneficiaries into work.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Supported employment for people with disabilities
Description:
The provision of supported employment is part of Ministry of Social Development’s ongoing services for people with ill-health or disability seeking to re-enter the workforce. This service is offered by a range of providers throughout the country.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Skills Investment Subsidy
Description:
Skills Investment is a subsidy that invests in disadvantaged job seekers by making a temporary contribution to their wages and training to enable them to access and maintain employment.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Training Incentive Allowance
Description:
Training Incentive Allowance provides non-taxable assistance to clients receiving certain types of benefits to undertake employment related training that will improve their skills and increase their chances of getting work.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
In-work support
Description:
The In-work Support programme provides support to improve the prospects for Work and Income clients to remain in employment.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Training Opportunities Employment Programme
Description:
This programme provides full-time, fully funded training options to targeted Work and Income clients, enabling them to develop skills and gain credits towards nationally recognised qualifications. This assists the move into employment, further education or training.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Migrant Employment Assistance
Description:
Migrant employment assistance provides funding for organisations that work with recognised migrant communities and deliver projects to develop the skills needed to access the labour market.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Youth Transition Services [external link]
Description:
Youth Transition Services (YTS) assists young people as they transition from school to further education, training, work or other activities that contribute to their long-term independence and wellbeing. YTS works with local providers giving support to young people through further education, training or other activities.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Social Development
Activity:
Action Plan for New Zealand Women
Description:
This Action Plan for New Zealand Women is a whole of government approach to improving the position of New Zealand women. Work under the Action Plan is focussed on three themes: economic independence, work-life balance and wellbeing.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Women’s Affairs
Activity:
Research into occupational segregation
Description:
The Ministry of Women’s Affairs is undertaking several research projects on occupational segregation (the tendency for men and women to do different types of jobs, and for some jobs to be dominated by men or women). The purpose of these projects is to establish if there are links between occupational segregation, labour market responsiveness and productivity; and the extent to which gender affects young people’s decision-making about careers in gender-segregated occupations.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Women’s Affairs
Activity:
Youth Development Partnership Fund
Description:
The Youth Development Partnership Fund provides an opportunity for the Ministry of Youth Development, territorial authorities and young people to work together to provide new and innovative local youth development projects.
Territorial authorities can apply to the Ministry for funding for projects that benefit local young people through a positive youth development approach.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Youth Development
Activity:
Services for Young People Fund
Description:
The Ministry of Youth Development purchases Youth Development Services that offer young people (12-24 year olds) personal and social development and learning opportunities. These opportunities facilitate participation, inclusion and engagement, leading to achievement, awards or qualifications and long term economic and independent well being.
Lead Agency:
Ministry of Youth Development
Activity:
Advocacy on protection of children at work
Description:
The NZCTU seeks New Zealand’s ratification of ILO Convention 138 – Minimum Age Convention, 1973, enabling the removal of New Zealand’s reservation against the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC) Article 32, paragraph 2 in a manner that is consistent with the concept of Decent Work as applied in New Zealand conditions. The NZCTU also liaises with Action on Child and Youth Aotearoa (ACYA), Caritas, Child Poverty Action Group, Every Child Counts and other relevant community organisations to develop a code of best practice for child employment.
Lead Agency:
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Activity:
Calling for extension of paid parental leave and family-friendly policies
Description:
The NZCTU monitors the provision, and advocates for extended application, of paid parental leave and breast feeding breaks so that New Zealand can comply with ILO Convention 183 – Maternity Protection, 2000.
Lead Agency:
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Activity:
Memorandum of understanding with the Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs
Description:
The NZCTU has a memorandum of understanding with the Mayors’ Taskforce for Jobs outlining the basis for co-operation to promote training and employment opportunities for young people.
Lead Agency:
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Activity:
Managing the effects of redundancies and company changes on workers
Description:
The NZCTU works with businesses and Government to help manage the effects of redundancies and company changes. It advocates for greater use of active labour market policy and is participating at a tripartite level in the development of “security in change” initiatives.
Lead Agency:
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Activity:
Older workers
Description:
The NZCTU liaises with the Retirement Commission, Human Rights Commission and other government agencies and non-government agencies on issues affecting older workers including part-time work options, retirement income and access to the health system.
Lead Agency:
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Activity:
Supporting decent work for disabled people
Description:
The CTU is working with the Department of Labour to ensure the successful removal of minimum wage exemptions for disabled people working in business enterprises and is coordinating with disabled persons groups on the implementation of this new regime.
Lead Agency:
New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
Activity:
Foundation learning programmes for adults
Description:
In November 2007 Cabinet agreed to initiate an “upskilling the workforce” strategy [external link] that builds on the adult literacy strategy, focussed on literacy, language and numeracy skills for New Zealand workplaces. This strategy aims to build the amount of literacy, language and numeracy provisions being undertaken, and enhance the capability of both tertiary education organisations and industry to build the skills of the workforce.
Lead Agency:
Tertiary Education Commission
Activity:
Training for unemployed people over 18 with low qualifications
Description:
Training Opportunities [external link] offers unemployed people over 18 with low qualifications the chance to gain valuable skills that will help them to find a job.
Lead Agency:
Tertiary Education Commission
Activity:
Training for young people under 18 with low qualifications
Description:
Youth Training [external link] offers young people under 18 with low qualifications the chance to gain valuable skills that will help them to get a job.
Lead Agency:
Tertiary Education Commission
Activity:
Vocational training for young Maori and Pacific people
Description:
Skill Enhancement offers vocational training for young Maori (Rangatahi Maia [external link]) and Pacific (Tupulaga Le Lumana'i [external link]) people. The combination of programmes approved offers a variety in terms of delivery style, learning environment, occupations, industries and locations. In 2006, more than 82% of trainees moved onto further education or employment within two months of exiting the programme. Whereas Nga Kaiarataki Pathfinders aims to help school leavers who are disadvantaged by rural isolation or by issues associated with low socioeconomic background to continue their education.
Lead Agency:
Tertiary Education Commission