Update to Security Industry Good Practice Guideline

The Security Industry Good Practice Guideline was developed and launched by the NZSA last year as an industry resource providing operational and health and safety standards for all New Zealand companies operating in the guarding and security patrols sectors.

With the assistance and input from a working group, including event security providers and event and venue hosts, the NZSA has developed additional sections specific to guidance on Crowd Controller roles and duties and providing security for Events, Venues and other Crowded Places.

The additional sections are aligned with the recently issued Protecting our Crowded Places from Attack: New Zealand’s Strategy programme and the various resource tools.

The amended copy of the Good Practice Guideline, including the new sections, can now be downloaded from the NZSA website www.security.org.nz.

 

Face masks available

The NZSA reminds all members that they should be carrying a sufficient stock of face masks and other PPE to cover any potential imposition of lockdowns on either a regional or national level.

The NZSA can supply face masks from the Ministry of Health, these masks are approved for essential services.

The masks are available to order in boxes of 50. The price of one box is $50 + gst plus the cost of delivery to your premises.

If you would like to place an order can you please email us at [email protected] with your requirements, delivery address and contact details.

 

Event – Securing NZ’s Borders, Facilities & Public Spaces

13-14 April 2021

Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland

Attend to receive essential updates on the latest developments in safety and security. Hear from a wide range of experts from across police, law enforcement, government, legal, sports, venue operators, risk management and the security industry.

NZSA Members and recipients of this email are entitled to a 20% discount if you book before 19 March. To qualify enter the promotion code MFOC4G when booking on the Conferenz website

Topics will cover:

– Security at national and civic level – funding, collaboration and strategy

– Border quarantine and managed isolation facility security review

– Harnessing the benefits derived from the ability to share information

between agencies

– Reviewing the NZSA New Zealand Security Industry Good Practice

Guidelines

– Protecting crowded places from attack – New Zealand’s strategy

– Threats to national security posed by social media

– Mastering the art of profiling – managing indicators of potential offenders

– Cyber attacks on public infrastructure

– Building safer cities through innovative architectural design

– Legal clinic: maintaining public safety within legal parameters

– Emergency services and first responders – engaging with the first line of

response

– Dealing with disaster – how government and local councils react to tragic

incidents

To register please visit the Conferenz website.

This year, Waitangi Day falls on Saturday 6 February and is observed on that day or Monday 8 February. Here are seven items you need to know about rights for employees and obligations for employers.

1. Mondayisation for Waitangi Day
This year, Waitangi Day falls on a Saturday. This means that that this holiday is moved to the following Monday, which is  Monday 8 February.

2. Requirement to work on Waitangi Day
If your employee normally works on Waitangi Monday 8 February you can only make the employee work or be available on the Monday 8 February, if:

• the requirement to work on public holidays is written in their employment (contract), or
• there is an availability clause and the employee is paid fairly to be available.

Otherwise, an employee does not have to agree to work or being available during Waitangi Monday.

3. Payment for working a public holiday
Employees must be paid for Waitangi Day, if they normally work on Saturday 6 February or Monday 8 February. If they don’t normally work on these particular days, they don’t need to be paid for Waitangi Day.

Any employee (including a casual employee) who agrees to work on the Waitangi Saturday must be paid time and a half for all hours they work. Any employee (including a casual employee) who agrees to work on Monday 8 February and has not worked on Saturday 6 February, must be paid time and a half, if Monday is a day that they normally would work. If an employee works on both Waitangi Saturday 6 February and Monday 8 February, they only get paid time and a half for one of the days. (See item 4 below).

In addition, if the Waitangi Saturday or Monday falls on a day an employee would normally work on the Saturday or Monday, then the employee who works is also entitled to a paid day off at another time (called an alternative holiday or day in lieu).

Even if an employer closes their business on 6 February and/or 8 February, they still have to pay the employees their entitlements for the public holiday. If the employer closes their business on both days, they cannot make their employees take annual leave on one of the days, unless the employer has given the employee 14 days’ notice.

Public holidays

4. Giving an employee Waitangi Day entitlements:

• If an employee normally does not work on Waitangi Saturday, they get the public holiday on the Mondayised Waitangi Monday.
• If an employee would normally work on the Waitangi Saturday if it was not a public holiday, then they will get their holiday entitlements on that Saturday.
• If an employee does not normally work on the Waitangi Saturday, but works on the Mondayised Waitangi day, then their holiday entitlement is transferred to the Waitangi Monday.
• If an employee does not normally work on Saturday or Monday, they only get paid their normal wage.

Public holiday falls on Saturday

 

5. Sick or bereavement leave on Waitangi Day
When an employee would have worked on a public holiday but is sick or bereaved, the day is treated as a normal paid public holiday and:

• the employee would be paid their relevant daily pay or average daily pay, but would not be entitled to time and a half or an alternative holiday.
• no sick or bereavement leave is deducted.

Pay for public holidays, sick and bereavement leave and alternative holidays

6. Waitangi Day and annual holidays
If the employee is in the middle of their annual holidays during Waitangi Day, and Waitangi Saturday or Monday is a day they normally work, they will get paid for one Waitangi holiday, and this is not deducted from their annual holidays. (See item 4 and note this is a must and cannot be contracted out of).

7. Requests for annual holidays
Sometimes employees will request to extend Waitangi Day with annual holidays. Employees are entitled to 4 weeks’ annual holidays each year when they have worked for their employer for 12 months. Prior to the 12 months, an employer may grant annual holidays in advance at their discretion. If an employee wants to take entitled annual holidays, the employer can’t unreasonably refuse. An employer can say no if an employee wants to take annual holidays in advance.

Taking annual holidays

More information
Employment New Zealand has a wealth of information about leave holidays and other employment rights and responsibilities.

 

From the NZSA team.

Appreciating that tenders at this time of year can be missed we would like to notify members that the Earthquake Commission is seeking proposals for National Guarding Services. Details can be found on GETS, RFX number 23853396 and with closing date 15 February.

We note that NZSA Accredited Membership is a mandatory requirement for tendering.

From the NZSA team.

CEO’s Report

Welcome to our January 2021 newsletter.

I trust that your Christmas and New Year have gone well.

Recent events around the world have highlighted how fortunate we are to be able to conduct business and go about our everyday lives with some normality.

Whilst the planned roll-out of the Covid vaccine is fantastic news, the reality is that the impacts, both in health and economic terms, will be with us for a considerable period and 2021 is likely to be a challenging year for many individuals and businesses.

As always, we will strive to assist our members with timely and relevant guidance and communications and to work with our stakeholders in further lifting standards and professionalism within the security industry.

I also look forward to the re-implementation this year of our Regional Visit programme and the chance to meet our members in their own business. This is a great chance for me to better understand your business and to discuss those issues that are most important to our members. Details of the Regional Visit programme will be made available shortly.

Security career pathway website
The new NZ Security Career Pathways website www.securitycareers.co.nz was launched in December and has attracted a large number of views and favourable comment. The website has been designed to provide a comprehensive and structured introduction to roles within the security industry and the pathway opportunities for those seeking career progression to more senior positions.

The website includes information on the roles, skill set requirements, training requirements and options, indicative pay scales and possible pathways to other sectors or industries. It also includes short videos of employees in their roles, talking about their jobs and what they enjoy most. Further videos will be added as we continue to develop the site.

Whilst the website will provide a great tool for our MSD Skills for Industry programme, it is equally designed as a resource for our members to assist in their recruiting process and to encourage new workers to our industry.

Update to Security Industry Good Practice Guideline
The Security Industry Good Practice Guideline was developed and launched by the NZSA last year as an industry resource providing operational and health and safety standards for all New Zealand companies operating in the guarding and security patrols sectors.

With the assistance and input from a working group, including event security providers and event and venue hosts, the NZSA has developed additional sections specific to guidance on Crowd Controller roles and duties and providing security for Events, Venues and other Crowded Places.

The additional sections are aligned with the recently issued Protecting our Crowded Places from Attack: New Zealand’s Strategy programme and the various resource tools.

The amended copy of the Good Practice Guideline, including the new sections, can be downloaded from the NZSA website www.security.org.nz within the next few weeks.

NZSA appoints independent Chairperson and new Board Member
In a very positive step, the NZSA Board has appointed Gray Paterson as its first independent Chairperson.

Gray is a very experienced and accomplished Board Chair who brings a wealth of relevant skills and experiences to the role and will provide strong governance and direction for the Association in coming years.

We are also pleased to advise that Andy Gollings, CEO of Red Badge, was elected to the NZSA Board at the AGM late last year, replacing Chris Whiting. Existing Board Members Brett Wilson, Matt Stevenson, Lance Reisterer and Wade Coneybeer were also re-elected for a further three year term.

Crowded Places Strategy Group
Last September the New Zealand Police released a strategy to assist owners and operators increase the safety, protection and resilience of crowded places across New Zealand.

Protecting our Crowded Places from Attack: New Zealand’s Strategy sets out a consistent approach to protecting crowded places throughout New Zealand. It introduces guidelines and tools to help owners and operators of crowded places reduce the threat of attack occurring, and lessen its consequences, using methods that are proportionate to the threat.

The strategy, guidelines and planning tools can be accessed via the Police website.

The NZSA have also been working with the Police to ensure that the resources and capability of the private security industry are recognised and utilised as part of the strategic approach. Whilst membership is yet to be formalised, the NZSA will represent the security industry at the launch of the Crowded Places Advisory Groups and we will be hosting a Provider Forum during February focused on how best the industry can support and promote the Crowded Places strategies.

SkillsVR security training platform
Development of the SkillsVR training platform is now complete and waiting for pre-moderation to ensure it meets the outcomes and performance criteria specified within the unit standards.

Once the timing for this has been confirmed we will formalise dates and locations for a national roadshow tour that will coincide with the opening of the new regional MSD service hubs.

In the interim SkillsVR are happy to arrange demonstrations for providers – contact Chris Thomas on [email protected] or 021 771 173.

Further professional recognition of the security industry?
The NZSA, together with the Training Special Interest Group (SIG) and Skills will being looking at how our industry could benefit if we formed a professional Registration body for individual security operatives.

As you will be aware, the NZSA is a member organisation, and combining this with a Registration body may provide improved professional recognition for individual workers in the industry and enhance the overall standing of the entire industry.

This is only at its early concept stages and initially Skills will be carrying out a feasibility study over the next couple of months.

We will keep you posted on how this study progresses, and if it does show promise we will seek your input later in the year.

Privacy law reform
New Zealand’s privacy laws changed on 1 December 2020 with the introduction of the Privacy Act 2020.

The most significant changes include:

• Mandatory notification of a privacy breach – this applies to all “notifiable privacy breaches” being where the breach has caused, or is likely to cause, an individual serious harm.
• Privacy Commissioner can issue and public compliance notices – The Commissioner will have the ability to issue a compliance notice to any agency requiring them to take action, or stop taking a particular action in order to comply with privacy laws.
• Disclosure of personal information outside New Zealand – this will put more limits on foreign disclosure by requiring an agency to satisfy one of six requirements before disclosing personal information overseas.
• Identifying information cannot be collected unless requested – this prohibits an agency obtaining more identifying information from an individual than is necessary for the purpose for which it is collected.

Office relocation
From 1 February 2021 our office will be located at Level 2, 31 Northside Drive in Westgate.

The new office will allow us to re-implement on-site interviewing of MSD candidates and as always, we welcome any member who wishes to call in for a coffee, to recharge their devices or requires brief use of an off-site office space.

As always, we welcome all comments and feedback on NZSA or industry issues and activity.

Keep safe and well.

Gary Morrison
CEO

 

NZSA support for LSV programme

The LSV programme is a free six-week motivational training course provided by MSD but facilitated by the New Zealand Defence Force. It is targeted at 18 to 25-year olds and aims to increase the number of young people entering employment or training by improving their self-discipline, self-confidence, motivation and initiative.

We introduced an NZSA Award to be presented to the trainee demonstrating outstanding qualities for the security industry – initiative, empathy and going the extra mile.

The recipient for the October course was Trainee Jesse Clarke-McRoberts from Wairoa. Tr Clarke-McRoberts was a model trainee in all aspects of initiative, empathy and going the extra mile. He was also awarded the Officer Commanding Award for All Round Excellence and received a scholarship with Sudima Hotels as part of their Corporate Trainee Programme for 2021. Some fantastic opportunities on the horizon for this trainee and very well deserved!

 

Membership

We welcome the following new Corporate Member:

Trust & Loyalty Security Ltd

 

Events

CISO Online Virtual Forum
9-12 February 2021

Cybersecurity strategy successes shared live with you online, for free.

The NZSA is proud to be an industry partner and Associate Professor Lech Janczewski of our special interest group NZ Information Security Forum (NZISF), will be joining the panel discussion.
CISO Online will welcome an inspiring speaker line up with a comprehensive agenda covering the biggest strategic concerns for leaders in the information security space, for 1.5 hours per day.
Discover how CISOs and senior cybersecurity leaders are migrating from a technical to a strategic role and enabling business agility and growth by strengthening their frontiers.

To register please visit the CISO Online website.

 

Securing NZ’s Borders, Facilities & Public Spaces
13-14 April 2021
Vodafone Events Centre, Auckland

Attend to receive essential updates on the latest developments in safety and security. Hear from a wide range of experts from across police, law enforcement, government, legal, sports, venue operators, risk management and the security industry.

Topics will cover:

• Security at national and civic level – funding, collaboration and strategy
• Border quarantine and managed isolation facility security review
• Harnessing the benefits derived from the ability to share information between agencies
• Reviewing the NZSA New Zealand Security Industry Good Practice Guidelines
• Protecting crowded places from attack – New Zealand’s strategy
• Threats to national security posed by social media
• Mastering the art of profiling – managing indicators of potential offenders
• Cyber attacks on public infrastructure
• Building safer cities through innovative architectural design
• Legal clinic: maintaining public safety within legal parameters
• Emergency services and first responders – engaging with the first line of response
• Dealing with disaster – how government and local councils react to tragic incidents

To register please visit the Conferenz website.

Appreciating that tenders at this time of year can be missed we would like to notify members that the MOJ is seeking proposals for National Alarm Monitoring services. Details can be found on GETS, RFX number 23348728 and with closing date 15 February.

From the NZSA team.