NZSA CEO’s November Report

NZSA CEO Gary Morrison talks Covid-19 Managed Isolation Facilities, new employment rules, MSD Skills for Industry Program, security career pathway website and more.

Gary Morrison is CEO of the New Zealand Security Association (NZSA). A qualified accountant, Gary originally joined Armourguard Security as a junior accountant and held several roles over two decades prior to appointment as GM for New Zealand and Fiji, after which he established Icon Security Group. In our last newsletter I commented on the security issues that had occurred at the MIFs (Managed Isolation Facilities) and the resulting negative coverage from the media and ill-founded government announcements with regards to replacing all 500 to 600 private security personnel working at those sites with staff from the armed forces, supported by security staff to be recruited and trained by MBIE.

I’m pleased to advise that the number of private security staff at the MIFs has in fact increased since that time (with contracts in place for most sites ensuring service continuity), and the lack of reporting of any incidents seems to indicate that services are being performed to a high standard.

I note that Nick Dynon, the highly credentialed and respected Chief Editor for the New Zealand Security Magazine, commented in last month’s magazine that the political announcements appeared to be nothing more than an attempt to distract the media focus from the need for more proactive security measures at the border and without any engagement with the Army or MBIE with regards to their ability to provide the additional resource.

I still find it disappointing that politicians can be so indifferent towards the situation of the 500 to 600 workers facing potential redundancy, or the employers who had invested heavily in recruiting and resourcing their staff on the MIF sites. However that is probably the reality of decision making when leading in to an election. Impact of new employment rules The strong mandate for Labour at the recent election means that some significant employment law changes are likely to be implemented within the next year or two. Labour’s employment policies include: • Raising the minimum wage from $18.90 to $20.00, effective 1 April 2021 • Increase paid sick leave from 5 days to 10 days • Legislate for and implement Fair

Pay Agreements (FPAs) with the guarding sector, probably the first industry sector to be implemented (this is on Labour’s first 100-day plan) • Removal of the 90-day clause for new workers • Recognising Matariki as a statutory holiday • Four weeks compulsory redundancy • Providing unions with a stronger presence in the workplace.

The NZSA maintains strong relationships with the various government agencies that will be involved in the development and implementation of these policies and we will continue to advocate strongly for the interest of our members. We recently circulated a MBIE survey on the proposed increase in the minimum wage to our members and utilising the returns we received, were able to provide a comprehensive submission to MBIE on behalf of the industry.

We are very aware of the potential cost implications associated with many of these policies and will provide more detailed information as the policy detail and timing becomes known.

MSD Skills for Industry programme Our team of Andrea and Napat continue to achieve fantastic results with close to 200 full-time candidate placements over the last twelve months.

We have noted a slowdown in member vacancies over the last two months, probably attributable in part to the confusion over the continuation of the MIF contracts, however we expect a significant boost in vacancy numbers as we head towards the busy Christmas period.

Other than a short shutdown between Christmas and New Year, our team will be available to assist with your employment requirements - contact either andrea@security.org.nz or napat@security.org.nz to discuss how the programme works and the support payments that we provide to assist with additional training and induction costs.

With the pending launch of the careers pathway website (see below) we are very confident of our ability to attract quality workers for our members, and to have our placements fully licensed (at our cost) in the near future through the SkillsVR Virtual Reality Training Platform, which will further benefit members using the placement programme.

It is also worth noting for our members that whilst Labour has announced a Future of Work initiative that will involve a partnership with the unions and one-off placement fees for new appointments, we are confident that this will not compromise or disadvantage our Skills for Industry Programme.

Security career pathway website We are pleased to advise that the new website www.careers.co.nz is nearing completion and will go live during November.

The website is designed to provide a comprehensive and structured introduction to roles within the security industry and the pathway opportunities for those seeking career progression into more senior positions. The website includes information on the roles, skill set requirements, training requirements and options, indicative pay scales and possible pathways into other sectors or industries.

We will also feature short videos of employees in their roles talking about their jobs and what they enjoy most. The inclusion of further videos will be a work in progress as we continue to develop the site content.

We view the website as a great support tool for the MSD Skills for Industry programme and for introducing the security industry to those seeking employment - be it school leavers, those seeking a career change or the newly unemployed through the impact of COVID-19. In addition, we believe it will provide a valuable resource for our members in their recruitment process.

Look out for notification of the formal launch and associated social media programme in coming weeks!

Apprenticeship funding for security technician training The government announced a feesfree funding for apprenticeship programmes back in July with the promise that further details would be released shortly after.

When the list of approved apprenticeship qualifications was finally released, NZ2767 New Zealand Certificate in Electrotechnology Level 3 was included, however the Level 4 qualification, being the electronic security-specific component, was not listed. This created a high degree of uncertainty with regards to funding coverage and has effectively halted the registration of new apprentices since the approved list was published.

We have been working with TEC (Tertiary Education Commission) to get this resolved and have just received confirmation that the New Zealand Certificate in Electronic Security Level 4 has been added to the approved qualification list and that the security technician apprenticeship qualifies for the fees-free funding.

This is great news as we have seen a strong uptake in the qualification since the recent rewrite and we are aware that a number of employers have been holding off on new registrations pending clarity on the funding.

Unfortunately we have yet to gain approval for the apprenticeship on the Apprenticeship Boost Support Programme through MSD however we are continuing to lobby on behalf of the industry.

For more information on the apprenticeship and funding, please contact Carine Vaccari at Shift/ ETEC on admin@shift.org.nz.