Is Parliament a safe place for workers?
Several MPs say Parliament is a perfectly safe place to work but the Speaker and a former staffer disagree.
Speaker Trevor Mallard commissioned an external review of workplace bullying and harassment for all staffers, contractors, and former staffers at Parliament in the past four years – roughly 3000 people.
‘‘Incidents have occurred over many years in this building that are unacceptable,’’ Mallard said as he launched the review. ‘‘I wouldn’t recommend my kids work there,’’ he told The AM Show yesterday.
At least 100 people emailed the review team in the two hours after the announcement.
One former ministerial staffer, who planned on coming forward and did not wish to be named, told Stuff bullying was rife.
‘‘You would go into different offices and on a daily basis you would find someone crying. So part of your job would be rallying around other staff members,’’ the staffer said.
Ministers who weren’t necessarily bad people weren’t given the tools to be good managers and did not respect boundaries, often demanding exorbitant tasks out of hours that were not urgent.
‘‘They allow for the minister to call at any time of day or night and for you to just jump, no matter what it is,’’ the staffer said.
A spokeswoman for Ministerial Services said the body took its responsibility as a good employer seriously, and had systems to deal with conflicts.
‘‘We cannot comment on individual cases. We encourage those who have worked in Parliament to participate in the Francis Review and have a say on bullying and harassment in the Parliament workplace,’’ the spokeswoman said.
Staff in Parliament often work on ‘‘events-based contracts’’ that make firing them much easier than other full-time employees.
Most of the MPs asked by media on their way into the House yesterday said that while Parliament had its problems they would still be happy to recommend it as a workplace.
National MP Nikki Kaye, a former minister, said that while the building had issues, she disagreed with a portrayal of it as dangerous that might discourage young people from politics.
‘‘There has been a little bit of a portrayal of Parliament that is a bit of a mismatch from my experience but that doesn’t mean there aren’t people in the building going through a tough time,’’ Kaye said.
NZ First MP Shane Jones said he would recommend it as a workplace to friends – he said this was how Labour deputy leader Kelvin Davis got a job in Helen Clark’s office.
‘‘In my experience it has been a relatively benign place to work,’’ Jones said.
Consumer Affairs Minister Kris Faafoi said he had ‘‘seen some things I probably wouldn’t want to see’’ and hoped the review might fix that – but he would still recommend it.