NZSA CEO’s September Report

In this update, NZSA CEO Gary Morrison talks staff poaching, PSPLA Covid-19 protocols, withdrawal of copper services, vocational education transition to WDCs, virtual reality training platform, and more.

Covid-19

We continue to distribute information relative to government announcements and applicable subsidies and support mechanisms, however, we are also mindful of not bombarding our members with superfluous information at this time.

If you have any concerns or questions, please contact me on gary@security.org.nz and we will assist as far as possible, including liaison with government contacts and agencies as required.

What is very clear is that security workers are again providing critical front-line essential services and performing to very high standards, often in difficult and confronting circumstances. There have been a number of videos posted on social media platforms showing security staff being abused or treated with contempt and without exception, the security staff have handled the situation professionally and with skill.

Well done and a big thanks to all security staff working in critical roles.

PSPLA Covid-19 protocol

The PSPLA have issued the following Amendment dated 23 August 2021.

1. If Covid restrictions are at Level 3 or Level 4 anywhere in New Zealand the PSPLA will continue to process all applications for licences and certificates and deal with complaints in its usual manner, but with the following exceptions: Licences and certificates and official IDs will be sent to the Authorities office after printing to be posted out to the applicants rather than being sent to Post Shop for collection. People who have had licences or certificates approved and their IDs printed and sent to their local Post Shop, but are unable to collect them because the Post Shop is closed, can apply to the Authority for an exemption to work without displaying their ID. Such applications are to be made by email to PSPLA@justice.govt. nz and should contain the licence or certificate holder’s full name and PSPLA application number. All in-person hearings will be changed to telephone or video hearings. If this is not possible they will be rescheduled for a future date.

2. If Covid restrictions are at Level 2 or lower the above exceptions will no longer apply and the PSPLA will as far as practicable operate in its usual manner.

3. This protocol applies until revoked or modified by the Authority. The NZSA would like to commend the PSPLA for their proactive stance on this however we will lobby the Authority for further concessions around licence and certificate applications should the country, or any specific regions, face extended operations under Level 3 or 4.

Withdrawal of copper services by local fibre providers

The NZSA has recently been in consultation with Chorus with regards to the withdrawal of copper line services and migration to fibre, and how this will impact onto the large number of customers still utilising copper for their alarm monitoring services.

All LFP’s (Local Fibre Providers) have signed up to the Copper Withdrawal Code that contains consumer protection requirements including:

• The customer must understand the process

• Have a reasonable time to prepare (Chorus provide 6 months’ notice)

• Have information about switching to an alternative technology like fibre

• Have access to a fibre service with similar functions installed before copper is withdrawn.

What has been missing to date is information with regards to how ancillary services using the copper network, like alarm monitoring services, will be impacted and the processes and costs associated with a change over to alternate technology.

Chorus will look to build this into future communications with those who will be impacted however we strongly recommend to our members that they adopt a proactive approach to this significant issue.

We have lobbied Chorus for the ability to access customer numbers and the indicative roll-out timeline specific to those numbers however that is not possible for privacy reasons. They have however suggested that providers refer to the information regularly updated on their website https://www.chorus. co.nz/copper-withdrawal.

We will keep members posted on further developments and welcome suggestions on how the industry can be more proactive in managing the migration process.

MSD Skills for Industry Work Broker contract renewal

We are pleased to advise that the NZSA has been successful in resecuring the Skills for Industry Work Broker contract following the recent tender process.

Our contract is now specific to the Auckland, Waikato and Northland regions with alternate providers appointed for other regions.

MSD have also signalled a change in the employer support payment structure with payment now covered under the Flexi Wage programme. This will increase the total quantum of support payments offered and we will communicate full details on how this will operate to our contracted members in the near future.

Review of vocational education - transition to WDCs

On 4 October 2021 many of the functions provided by the ITO’s (Industry Training Organisations) will transition to the new WDC’s (Work Development Councils).

For the security industry this means functions traditionally performed by Skills Organisation such as Consent to Assess applications, Programme Endorsement and External Moderation will move to either the Services WDC (for security personnel services) or the Construction and Infrastructure WDC (for electronic security).

There are mixed views from training providers as to the impact this will have however there are valid concerns that the WDCs will require some time to become operationally effective and this may impact onto the ability for training delivery to meet industry needs.

We also foresee some challenges in our ability to influence positive change for the security industry given we will now require representation over two different WDCs and will effectively be small fish in very large ponds.

One positive is that we have the Security Training and Professional Development Special Interest Group in place, and this will provide additional resource and capability in ensuring effective representation and influence on the WDCs.

Virtual reality security training platform

It has been very pleasing to see the uptake of CoA training via the SkillsVR training platform and we are already experiencing a surge in interest given the current lockdown restrictions and the cessation of traditional classroom-based training.

During September the SkillsVR team will be launching a series of webinars which will provide an overview of the VR training experience and how employers can use the platform to assist in the onboarding process and in determining staff competency levels in addition to completing the CoA mandatory training.

We will provide more information and webinar registration details in coming weeks.

Staff poaching

Over recent months I have received communications from several members concerned about the prevalence of staff poaching, particularly within the Electronic Security sector.

We appreciate that members will always seek to employ the best possible staff but the consistent targeting of competitor employees is not acceptable.

As a reminder, all NZSA members have signed the Code of Professional and Ethical Conduct which includes:

Integrity – NZSA members shall maintain high standards of integrity and professional conduct with fairness and honesty at all times in dealing with clients or employees, past and present, with members of the NZSA, and with the general public.

Extension Part 6A of Schedule 1A Employment Relations Act

In our last newsletter we covered off the changes to the ERA that effectively provides Security Officers with additional protections when their employment is impacted by restructuring that results in the contract for service shifting to another provider or taken in-house.

In these situations there is an obligation on the new party providing the service to offer employment to the incumbent employees on terms and conditions no less favourable than they currently receive. This includes the transfer of leave and service entitlements and also prevents subsequent restructuring such as reduced hours or payments.

The NZSA has prepared documentation to assist both outgoing and incoming service providers and members can obtain copies by emailing nzsa@security.org.nz.

Keeping your team up to date

Like many organisations we are constantly looking for ways to ensure we can communicate effectively with our members and their teams. The best way to stay up to date on NZSA and industry news is via our newsletter. The more people from each company who receive our newsletter, the higher the chance of updates being communicated within the industry.

With this in mind, we welcome you to send us any company contacts who would like to receive our newsletter and we will add them to our distribution list.

Please email any contacts to nzsa@security.org.nz.

NZSA webinar now available to view

The issues around compliance for Security Systems are confusing and open to different interpretation by councils. The Master Class in Building Compliance Security Systems (Fire and Access) webinar will demystify the requirements and provide tips and advice from compliance experts. If you or your staff have any downtime during the current lockdown, this the perfect opportunity to upskill yourselves and improve your understanding of building compliance re security and fire systems.

You can view the webinar on the NZSA website.

Newsflash – following the exceptional interest in the webinar (over 190 attendees) and the issues raised, the NZSA will look to establish a Special Interest Group (SIG) focused on lobbying MBIE and other government departments for clarity of the legislation and codes. If you are interested in participating in the SIG, please notify Gary Morrison on gary@security.org.nz.

As always, we welcome all comments and feedback on NZSA or industry issues and activity. Keep safe and well.

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.