Wintec pays out $4m for staff exit packages

Wintec has shelled out $4.036m million in exit packages over an 11-year-period.

The significant cost to taxpayers of exit packages comprises a payment of a redundancy and/or a confidential settlement. The $4.036m was paid towards settling 55 confidential settlements and 166 redundancies.

Wintec has previously refused to release the breakdown over settlements by year or per amount, but it works out to an average of $72,727.27 per person on exit packages which occurred between 2005 and September 2016.

In 2016, the median, or middle, income in New Zealand was $48,800 a year or $23.50 per hour.

The Herald revealed that the organisation was involved in 45 confidential settlements between September 2006 and 2008.

There were also 53 restructures carried out between 2009 and 2015.

Former Wintec School of Sports and Exercise Science team manager Dr Don Milham, who was paid out $140,000 in lost wages, costs and hurt and humiliation after the Employment Relations Authority ruled he was unfairly disadvantaged following a flawed disciplinary process and unjustifiably dismissed during a sham restructure, said the high number of settlements was indicative of the culture.

Chen Palmer principal of employment Anthony Russell said settlements were not unusual and generally ranged in value between one and six months’ salary, and no more than $30,000 to $40,000 in compensation.