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

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