Workload survey
The Justice system is seriously overloaded. Methamphetamine trials are clogging up the courts. Youth Courts are under pressure from increased offending and family courts are dealing with increasing cases of domestic violence.
Business collapses are adding to the work of the High Court.
Leaky homes cases contiinue to add to the backlog. The intended increase of numbers in the police force will only add to the courts workload. A growing number of members have told us their workloads are too big and this is affecting their wellbeing and the quality of their work. In discussions in the recent round of members’ meetings you have made it plain that something needs to be done.
Before the union can decide on the most appropriate action to take we need more information about how widespread the problem is and which areas are the most affected. Help us to help you by completing a short workload survey. Your identity will be kept confidential.
To complete the survey go here.
Action you can take now
1 Never do more than your agreed hours without advising your Team Leader or Manager that you need to do this to achieve the work assigned to you.
2. When you do need to extend your time and when you raise it with your Team Leader or Manager tell them you want to have the work recognised by way of Time off in Lieu or Overtime
3. Keep a record of workload pressures
4. Where workloads are causing you problems of excessive stress raise this with your local health and safety committee. Let’s get it on the site agenda in these forums.
• This enables excessive workloads to be identified as a present workplace hazard and causes it to be addressed as such.
• MoJ have a legal obligation to ensure that your workload is safely manageable in your agreed hours but they need to know of problems in order to address them.
• Failure to take all practicable steps to keep you safe can result in prosecution of MoJ by the Department of Labour.
5. If the issue of workloads is not addressed, a trained health and safety representative has the legal authority to escalate this and ultimately to protect you by issuing a "Hazard Notice” under Health and Safety in Employment legislation. That notice must be responded to by MoJ and failure to do so also means you can refuse to perform the work that is causing you to be at risk of harm. (We hope this is never required and would want to be involved before this step was used.)
PSA opposing plan to cut 88 positions at Ministry of Justice
“The Ministry of Justice is the latest government department with an increasing workload where jobs are being cut as the result of a government review of its budget,” says Public Service Association national secretary Richard Wagstaff.
Read on.
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15/04/2009 3:09:20 p.m.
Last year TVNZ reported: "There is concern district court services in the Auckland region are under more pressure than anywhere else in New Zealand.Northern Region Executive Judge Jan Marie Doogue says youth court business increased by 36% between 2005 and 2007.She says summary criminal business also went up by 25%, while there was a 28% rise for civil defended cases. Doogue says it means that additional venues are needed, as well as additional staff and judicial officers to administer the work. She warns that the Ministry of Justice has to invest more resources otherwise there may be a crisis." There is no evidence that the situation has improved. How is it affecting your workload and your work-life balance? Are there similar pressures in other parts of the country? What's it like in your workplace ? Tell us your story. It will help the union fight for better staffing and reasonable workloads.
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Workload