17/01/2024
Jean Roberts
[FYI request #25072 email]
Tēnā koe Jean
OIA: 1320080 – Costs incurred relating to personal grievances in the past three years
Thank you for your email of 7 December 2023 to the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) and
subsequent clarification on 19 December 2023 requesting the following information:
I am doing a research on the cost of Personal grievance that the Government is incurring
in the last 3 years. Can I request under the Official Information Act
1- The number of Personal Grievances raised in your Ministry, in the last 3 years broken
down by year , and categories (for example: Bullying, Unjustifiably disadvantaged,
constructive dismissal etc)
2- (in the last 3 years) The number of Mediation that took place broken down by year
3- (in the last 3 years) The number of successful mediations broken down by year
4- (in the last 3 years) Of the PGs raised, how many went to Employment Relations
Authority broken down by year?
5- (in the last 3 years) How many cases were found against the Ministry broken down by
year?
6- (in the last 3 years) How much money – in total- were paid to settle these cases / or
pay the fee required by ERA broken down by year?
7- How much money was covered by the Ministry’s liability insurance?
8- (in the last 3 years) How much money – in total – were paid to external Legal
consultants to defend the cases filed in ERA or to prepare the responses to the case
broken down by year?
9- (in the last 3 years) How many ERA cases resulted in reinstatement of employee
broken down by year?
8 Gilmer Terrace, Levels Ground floor, 1, 2, and 6-14, Wellington
PO Box 1666, Wel ington 6140 Phone: +64 4 463 8000
10- If a case is found against the Ministry (the Ministry lost), what are the consequences
to the Manager involved in the incident?
Your request has been considered under the Of icial Information Act 1982 (the Act).
The Ministry needs to extend the timeframe for responding to your request, pursuant to section
15A(1)(b) of the Act, as consultations necessary to make a decision on the request are such that a
proper response cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit. You can now expect to
receive a response to your request on or before 19 February 2024, which is an extension of 9
working days. Please note, the period from 25 December to 15 January (inclusive) are not
considered working days under the Act.
You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to investigate our decision to extend the timeframe for
responding to this request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Kelly Jensen
Senior Advisor, Official and Parliamentary Information
Government, Executive and Ministerial Services