Public service bargaining parameters updated
State Services Minister Trevor Mallard today announced the Government has agreed to updated bargaining parameters for
employment agreement negotiations in the state sector.
The bargaining parameters set out government expectations and guidelines for collective bargaining and employment
relations in the public service and wider state sector.
They formally apply to the public service and must be applied in core government ministries and departments. The
parameters informally apply to wider state sector organisations, such as crown entities, in that those organisations are
expected to take government policy into account in their human resource practices.
The previous parameters were issued in June 2001.
Trevor Mallard says the State Services Commission in consultation with government departments, government policy
agencies, and the Public Service Association (PSA) have updated the parameters to more accurately reflect the current
working environment.
The updated bargaining parameters now:
promote the concept that the public service should actively model government policy, especially in union relationships
and collective bargaining, as reflected in the Employment Relations Act and the Partnership for Quality agreement with
the PSA;
give greater clarity and direction than currently exists on the links between collective bargaining and departmental
planning and budget processes, and the need for departments to follow good processes;
give more explicit guidance around the appropriateness and circumstances applying to lump sum payments; and
give greater clarity and direction to departments on a range of specific matters that have been the subject of
contention or confusion during particular collective negotiations, for example unspecified sick leave clauses and
superannuation-related payments.
The revised bargaining parameters can be found at http:// http://www.ssc.govt.nz