Worksafe HQ in Wellington Central. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Employment disputes have ramped up at WorkSafe as it has restructured.
The Crown agency has cut about 120 jobs and this year has narrowed down its range of operations.
Figures newly released to RNZ show 11 staff lodged personal grievances in the year to July 2024. That compared with a total of just four across the entire three years before that.
WorkSafe had settled eight of the 11 claims, paying out $330,000.
Three were still open, and a further, singular personal grievance had been lodged in the 2024/2025 financial year.
"WorkSafe undertook an organisational change in 2023 and the majority of the PGs in 2023/2024 relate to this organisational change," the agency said.
It checked out its restructure plans with a law firm, Dentons, before it went ahead, an internal report released previously said.
"Overall, Dentons were really comfortable with our proposal for change."
Staff made more than 400 submissions on the changes, many of them questioning if core jobs would be eroded, as RNZ previously reported.
Its interim chief executive Steve Haszard, faced with having to plug a $17m deficit, told workers: "This has been a challenging and stressful process for many of you and I am sorry we are in this position.
"The organisation is currently not where it needs, or wants, to be. We have some way to go to reset, refocus, stabilise, and get on with our role in influencing better outcomes in the country's health and safety regulatory system."
