Happy holidays
The team at the NZSA would like to take the opportunity to wish you and your staff and families a very merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year.

This has been a very difficult and challenging year however the security industry can take a lot of pride in the way that we have stepped up looking after our staff and customers, providing critical and essential services.

It is also important that we recognise that many staff in our industry are required to work on the statutory holidays and miss out on important family events so our special appreciation goes out to those workers.

 

NZSA office closure
The NZSA office will be closed from midday Wednesday 23 December until Monday 11 January. During this period we will not be able to respond to emails or phone calls. If your matter is urgent please contact Gary Morrison on [email protected] or 021 122 9606.

 

Increase in minimum wage
The Government has confirmed that the minimum wage will increase to $20.00 per hour (currently $18.90 per hour) on 1 April 2021.

We advise our members that they should be mindful of the impact on current contracts and commence planning for any necessary increases to customer contracts.

The Government has also signaled an increase in sick leave entitlements from five days per year to 10 days per year, however this is unlikely to be enacted until late 2021 at the earliest.

 

Red Badge Group – change of ownership
Red Badge Group issued a press release last Friday advising that the company founders, Gary and Clair Wilton, have “passed the baton” to their senior management team and allowing them to retire from the business.

Effective from 18 December the established senior leadership team of Andy Gollings (CEO), Ben Wooding (COO) and Dee Wakelin (National BDM) are Directors and Shareholders of the company, and with an Advisory Board in place to provide strategic guidance and support.

 

Have a safe and enjoyable Christmas and New Year

 

The NZSA Team

The Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, Honourable Michael Wood, has announced today that Security Officers will be included within coverage of Part 6A which defines specified categories of employees and the protection provided to those employees if impacted by restructuring or the work is to be performed by another person (such as change of contracts).

To enact the change an Order in Council will be drafted and taken to Cabinet by the Minister next year. This will involve targeted consultation with the NZSA and other stakeholders in February, to ensure the definition of security officer services in the Order correctly captures the intended workers. It is expected that security officers will be covered by the Part 6A protections by mid-2021.

We would also like to remind our members that the latest edition of the NZ Security Magazine is available online at https://defsecmedia.net.nz and includes some excellent articles on industry training.

From the NZSA team.

The NZSA are thrilled to announce the launch of a careers website for the security industry. This NZSA initiative is designed to provide a comprehensive and structured introduction to roles within the security industry and the pathway opportunities for those seeking career progression into more senior positions.

The website includes information on the roles, skill set requirements, training requirements and options, indicative pay scales and possible pathways into other sectors or industries, featuring short videos of employees in their roles, talking about their jobs and what they enjoy most – the inclusion of further videos will be a work in progress as we continue to develop the site content.

We view the website as a great support tool for the MSD Skills for Industry programme and introducing the security industry to those seeking employment – be it school leavers, those seeking a career change or the newly unemployed through the impact of Covid-19. In addition, we believe it will provide a valuable resource for our members in their recruitment process.

Visit the new website here:  www.securitycareers.co.nz

The Privacy Act 2020 introduces great protections for individuals and some new obligations for businesses and organisations. The changes include the requirement to report serious privacy breaches to the Privacy Commissioner and to affected people.

The Privacy Commissioner has new powers to help people access their own information and to require businesses and organisations to comply with the law.

There are increased fines for organisations that don’t comply, and there are new rules when sending personal information overseas.

You can find out more about the changes on the Commisison’s resources page.

Privacy_Act_2020_information_sheet