IRD job cuts slammed by union

The union representing Inland Revenue staff is taking the department to task over its plan to cut staff numbers.

The department has outlined the beginning of its moves to eventually shed 1500 staff over the next 21⁄2 years.

The Public Service Association (PSA) said it would involve moving many staff into broad generic roles, with a ‘‘take-itor-leave-it’’ approach.

Staff were given consultation documents and called into meetings on Tuesday. One said that it seemed that almost every role was changing, with a focus on staff having a broader skill set.

‘‘We understand Inland Revenue’s desire to maintain a flexible workforce ahead of the proposed job cuts, but this is not the way to treat our members,’’ PSA national secretary Erin Polaczuk said.

‘‘Employers can’t unilaterally change people’s job descriptions and then say [that] if employees don’t take it, they won’t be offered redundancy. We believe this is a fundamental flaw in the change process, and we are hopeful Inland Revenue will address it immediately.’’

Polaczuk said the proposals compound the uncertainty PSA members already felt about, given the size of the Business Transformation project.

‘‘Change happens, and our members understand this. But Inland Revenue needs to get the message that in this situation, employees’ rights have to be respected.’’

A spokesman for Inland Revenue said the proposals presented this week affected 4300 staff, including those in service delivery and information, intelligence and communications.

About 4200 roles would be created if the proposal went ahead, and 131 would be lost.

‘‘Under the proposal, there would be no reduction in the number of front-line customer service staff,’’ he said.

‘‘This change is about giving those staff greater ability to deal with all of the issues a customer is calling about, and to make the decisions that are needed to help the customer.’’