Dear Human Rights Commission,

I understand the government vaccination mandates were dropped sometime around Sept 2022 with the revoking of certain C19 orders by the State.

1. What number of staff did you terminate or place on any form of " extended leave" due to any vaccination mandates or policy starting Nov/Dec 2021 and Jan 2022 onwards?
2. Please also share the total headcount as of 15 Nov 2021 and today (when you answer this OIA).
3. How many clause 9 and Clause 12A exemptions from COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021 were received and approved for unvaccinated workers by the HRC ?

I will copy and paste Clause 9 for you from this order:

9 Chief executive may authorise affected persons not vaccinated to carry out
certain work
(1) This clause—
(a) applies despite anything in clause 7 or 8; but cl 8
(b) does not apply to an affected person who belongs to a group specified in
Part 7 or 9 of the table in Schedule 2.
(2) A chief executive may authorise an affected person who has not been vaccinated to carry out certain work if the work—
(a) is unanticipated, necessary, and time-critical and cannot be carried out by a person who is vaccinated; and
(b) must be carried out to prevent the ceasing of operations.
(3) An affected person who is authorised to carry out certain work under subclause
(2) may be authorised to re-enter as many times as is necessary to complete the work.
(4) An affected person may enter any place without approval if they need to enter
to preserve or protect a person’s life, health, or safety in an emergency.
(5) In this clause, chief executive,—
(a) in relation to a worker at a managed isolation facility or a managed quarantine facility, means the chief executive of the Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment:
(b) in relation to a worker who is not a service worker and who works at an affected port or on board an affected ship, means the Director of Maritime New Zealand:
(c) in relation to a worker who is not a service worker and who works at an
affected airport or on board an affected aircraft, means the Director of Civil Aviation:
(ca) in relation to a staff member of a prison, means the chief executive of the Department of Corrections:
(d) in relation to any other worker, means the chief executive of the relevant
PCBU

I will copy and paste Clause 12A:
12A Power of Minister to grant exemptions
(1) A relevant PCBU may, by notice in writing to the Minister, apply for an
exemption for a person specified in the application from any other provision of
this order.
(2) The relevant PCBU must, in writing, inform the person specified in the appli
cation of the application.
(3) If the Minister receives an application, the Minister may ask the relevant
PCBU to provide any evidence or other information that the Minister reason‐
ably requires for the purposes of deciding whether to grant the exemption.
(4) The Minister may exempt the person specified in the application from any pro‐
vision of this order for a specified period if satisfied, on the basis of the evidence or other information provided, that—
(a) the exemption is necessary or desirable—
(i) to promote the purposes of the Act; and
(ii) to prevent significant disruption to—
(A) essential supply chains, in the case of an application to exempt from any provision of this order a person belonging to a group specified in any of Parts 1 to 6 of the table in
Schedule 2; or
(B) health services, in the case of an application to exempt from any provision of this order a person belonging to a group specified in Part 7 of the table in Schedule 2; or
(C) the essential operations of a prison, in the case of an application to exempt from any provision of this order a person belonging to a group specified in Part 8 of the table in
Schedule 2; and
(b) the extent of the exemption is not broader than is reasonably necessary to address the matters that gave rise to the exemption.

(5) Before granting an exemption, the Minister must take into account—
(a) if applicable, the potential for significant supply chain disruption if the work carried out by a particular person does not occur, including the extent of the risk to the public interest if the work does not occur; and
(b) the extent to which the work is necessary, including whether it could reasonably be—
(i) delayed to facilitate the vaccination of the persons needed to carry
out work; or
(ii) performed by other persons who have been vaccinated; and
(c) the public health risk associated with the work.
(6) The Minister may impose conditions on the exemption as the Minister con‐
siders necessary.
(7) The Minister must, in writing, inform the relevant PCBU and the person specified in the application of the outcome of the application and, if the exemption is granted, when the exemption expires.
(8) If an exemption is granted under this clause, the relevant PCBU must provide
the person exempted with written notice of the exemption that states when the
exemption expires.

These clauses are copied and pasted from the COVID-19 Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021(LI 2021/94), Version as at 25 October 2021.

4. Kindly share how this order was promulgated to the HRC and specifically how these exemptions were promulgated and discussed at the HRC. Please include any meeting minutes discussing exemptions for clause 9, 12A and any other "exemptions" or "exceptions".

I note your recent response sharing letter templates does not mention clauses 9 or 12A exemptions at all: https://fyi.org.nz/request/24498/respons...

Yours faithfully,

Erika Whittome

Dear Human Rights Commission,
Correction, the link in my original question referring to HRC templates is this document : https://fyi.org.nz/request/24701/respons...

Yours faithfully,

Erika Whittome

Dear OIA Inbox,
Why did the staff head count drop?

“we confirm the following headcounts of Commission employees on the dates specified below:
• 15 November 2021 – 86 employees
• 11 December 2023 – 71 employees”

Please share the budget changes for FTEs, and the exit reasons for a drop of over 15 percent in your staff headcount.

Yours sincerely,

Erika Whittome