Source: PSA
The PSA has won a last minute backdown from MBIE which has conceded its Flexible Work Policy, restricting working from home, was a breach of the collective agreement.
The concession means tomorrow’s two-day hearing before the Employment Relations Authority will now not go ahead and a consent determination will be issued by the Authority.
“This is great news for workers who argued all along that MBIE had no right to restrict their right to flexible work arrangements under the collective agreement,” said Fleur Fitzsimons, National Secretary for the Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi.
MBIE lodged a memorandum with the Authority this morning agreeing to the order the PSA was seeking at tomorrow’s hearing. The Authority has confirmed it will issue a consent determination of the remedy the PSA sought, which is that MBIE’s flexible work policy and procedures introduced last year are inconsistent with the collective agreement.
“This is a victory for MBIE workers and shows the power of a union to challenge an employer who threatens worker rights. ACC backed down too last year when it too backed from limiting working from home in the face of the concerns of workers and the PSA.
“This capitulation is a damning indictment of MBIE which had enforced the policy with some staff since last year. MBIE denied it was in breach, delaying the hearing at the Authority on numerous occasions. It refused to withdraw the policy. It refused to engage constructively. It went through three rounds of failed mediation. And then, on the eve of the hearing, it folded. Workers deserve an apology.
“The PSA will be raising personal grievances for any worker disadvantaged by the unlawful policy.”
But the backdown is incomplete. MBIE this week introduced a new version of its flexible working policy, and the PSA has already identified that it too is inconsistent with the collective agreement.
“This is just ridiculous. MBIE still fails to understand that the collective agreement enshrines the ‘flexible by default’ approach common across the public sector. ‘Flexible by default’ is an important right, it means employees have a right to flexible work arrangements which suit their individual circumstances unless there is a good business reason not to.
“The problem remains that the Coalition Government is trying to roll back working from home and flexible by default. But with petrol prices rising fast, that right has never mattered more. Employers should be encouraging flexible work, not restricting it and making the cost-of-living crisis worse for their own staff.
“We urge MBIE to work constructively, in good faith, with workers and use the upcoming collective bargaining to resolve this once and for all, surely more litigation is not needed? As the regulator, MBIE should be a model employer, and not play these games.
“Flexible work is a win-win, and the way of modern workplaces the world over. We can’t afford to go backwards.”
Recent statement:
Background:
The PSA filed ERA proceedings against MBIE in July 2025 after the first mediation failed. Two further rounds of ERA-ordered mediation, including in March 2026, also failed to resolve the dispute. The PSA is also challenging the Government’s broader flexible work restrictions through separate proceedings against Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission. Flexible work rights derive from the Gender Pay Principles (2018) and the Flexible Work by Default agreement (2020), both of which are embedded in the collective agreement.
The Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi is Aotearoa New Zealand’s largest trade union, representing and supporting more than 95,000 workers across central government, state-owned enterprises, local councils, health boards and community groups.
