NZSA CEO Update

In this update, NZSA CEO Gary Morrison talks MSD/NZSA Skills for Industry, Government Procurement Rules, Fair Pay Agreements, new qualification for monitoring/communications centre operators, and electrician licensing requirements.

MSD / NZSA Skills for Industry Contract Confirmation

In October 2018, MSD and NZSA entered into a nine-month Pilot Contract with the NZSA providing work broker services to its members and contracted to place 90 candidates into full-time employment (being 30 plus hours weekly) by the 30th June 2019. The Pilot Contract has exceeded all expectations with 96 candidates successfully placed into guarding, patrol, monitoring officer, junior technician and administrative positions, and with the vast majority still being in employment.

We are pleased to announce that based on the success of the pilot, MSD have awarded NZSA a new nationwide term contract for work broker services based on 150 candidate placements annually.

The new contract commenced 01 July 2019 and has enabled us to employ our Manager Work Broker Services, Andrea Charlton, on permanent contract and recruit Napat Pawapootanon Na Mahasarakham (Napat) in a Work Broker Support role. The additional resource will provide us greater capability in identifying MSD candidates and ensure we can devote the required time to candidate placements outside of the Auckland region.

The NZSA are also working with MSD on introducing specialised programmes such as Te Heke Mai which provides personalised wraparound support for workers and their new employers via a phone-based app and a team of coaches.

We currently have in excess of 20 members registered and participating in the Skills for Industry programme but if you would like to find out more, or to utilise the programme, contact Andrea on andrea@security.org.nz or on 0274 502 020.

Government Procurement Rules 2019 - Security Industry

The Government has announced new Procurement Rules that come into effect on 01 October 2019. The Rules introduce four government priority outcomes:

• Increase New Zealand businesses’ access to government procurement,

• Increase the size and skill level of the domestic construction sector,

• Improve conditions for workers and future-proof the ability of New Zealand business to trade; and

• Support the transition to a net zero emissions economy and assist the

government to meet its goal of a significant reduction in waste by 2020.

The Rules introduce Specific Contracts (or Designated Contracts) to be targeted initially to deliver these priority outcomes:

• Construction Contracts

• Cleaning Services

• Security Services

• Forestry Contracts

The targeting of both the cleaning and security sectors relates to poor employment conditions, whereas the forestry sector is due to health and safety concerns.

The NZSA has been working with MBIE (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment) as to how the changes will impact the security industry ,and whilst decisions have yet to be finalised, it would appear that industry representative bodies (such as the NZSA) will be a key component in assessing the suitability of providers who can tender for and provide services to government departments and agencies.

It is our expectation that ‘Approved Supplier’ lists will be developed and that accreditation to the list for security providers will require not only NZSA membership but also an auditing process similar to the existing audits against the NZSA Codes of Practice (Accredited Member status), albeit with the inclusion of additional compliance testing around employment practices.

The Government sector is the largest single user of contracted security services, and we will keep you posted on further developments in this area.

Fair Pay Agreements

There has been a noticeable increase in media coverage of Fair Pay Agreements (FPAs) over recent months and with regular mention of the security industry. This is directly linked to the changes to Government Procurement (mentioned above) and the identification of Security Services as a priority sector for specific or designated contracts.

Effectively, a Fair Pay Agreement would cover all workers (not just employees) in an industry sector or occupation and would specify information such as:

• Coverage

• Wages and how increases will be determined

• Terms and conditions such as working hours, overtime and/or penal rates, leave, redundancy and flexible working arrangements

• Skills and training

• Duration (expiry date)

• Governance arrangements

Whilst the Government has yet to make any final determination on the introduction of Fair Pay Agreements, there have been strong indications that both Security and Cleaning will be the initial industries covered and that introduction may be before the next election (just over one year’s-time).

At this time, it is difficult to make any specific comment on what a Fair Pay Agreement for the security industry may look like or who it would even be designed to cover, however it is probable that any agreement would cover those who are licensed under the categories of Crowd Controller, Property Guard and Personal Guard.

The NZSA supports moves that would see security staff paid commensurate with the nature of their roles (recognising factors such as training requirements, working unsociable hours and the risk environment), however we do have significant concerns about conditions that may restrict employers’ ability to provide a 24/7 service and how compliance will be enforced to ensure ALL workers receive the same protection.

We would also seek assurance that employers who wish to pay staff above what is specified in an Agreement have the ability to do so, and that adequate controls are designed to prevent a second tier “sub-contract” sector developing. We will keep you posted on developments.

NZSA CEO Gary Morrison

Image supplied.

New Qualification for Monitoring/ Communications Centre Operators

We are pleased to advise that the new Level 3 NZQA qualification for Monitoring and Communication Centre Operators is now available for delivery. The assessment material is from the NZ Certificate in Contact Centre and has been modified and structured to the requirements of a security monitoring/ communication centre environment.

The concept of a qualification specific to these staff was originally tabled at an NZSA Forum group several years ago and thanks must go to the team at Skills for progressing this to the stage where it is now developed and being delivered.

Learning is undertaken in the work environment and comprises four modules that are worked through over a seven to nine-month period. It is expected that the learner time requirement will equate to approximately one-hour per week so will not have any significant work impact.

For more information, please contact Andrea Ross as Skills on AndreaR@skills.org.nz or 021 618 652.

Licensing Requirements for Electricians and Electrical Companies

This has been a long-term area of contention, however through discussion with the PSPLA, our Registrar, and the Master Electricians, there is agreement that:

• A registered electrician (EWRB) is exempt from requiring a Certificate of Approval (CoA) as a Security Technician for the install or service of security systems, including intruder alarms, access control and camera systems.

• Where a registered electrician for valuable consideration (payment) enters a premise not owned by himself/herself or his/her firm for the purpose of selling or attempting to sell a security system or advise the owner or occupier of the premise on the desirability of having a security system installed, they are deemed to be acting as a Security Consultant and must hold a Certificate of Approval in the category of Security Consultant.

• Where an electrical company has an employee who is acting as a Security Consultant and is required to hold a Certificate of Approval as a Security Consultant, it follows that the company must also hold a Company Security Licence under the Security Consultant category.

• It is recommended that where an electrical company or a registered electrician is required to hold a company security licence or Certificate of Approval under the Security Consultant category, that they are also licensed under the Security Technician category.

Where there are clear breaches of these requirements, complaints can be lodged either via the PSPLA website or by forwarding the details, with appropriate evidence, to gary@security. org.nz for review and filing of the complaint. Appropriate evidence includes sign-written vehicles, company websites and advertising and promoting the sale of security systems.