MSD receives 4786 complaints about staff in two years

People seeking support from Work and Income New Zealand (Winz) say Ministry of Social Development (MSD) staff are lacking in compassion.

In the past two years, the ministry has received close to 5000 complaints in relation to MSD staff’s bad handling of clients seeking help.

But the ministry claimed the complaints were a tiny portion of the it had with clients overall.

The 4786 complaints the ministry received related to clients feeling belittled during appointments, staff members being abrupt on the phone or at reception, and staff not listening to the client.

However, MSD said the complaints represented less than 0.1 per cent of interactions with clients over 2 years.

“We answer approximately 3.9 million calls a year and have hundreds of thousands of face-to-face interactions in our service centres with clients,” MSD group general manager of client service delivery Jayne Russell said.

She said Winz takes the responsibility it has with regard to to clients very seriously, and all its staff were experienced in working with clients who had high and complex needs.

“However, our business is a people business and we won’t get it right every time, and we continue to work to improve the services we provide to clients,” she said.

Auckland Action Against Poverty spokesperson Brooke Stanley said MSD operated in a low-trust model.

“It’s quite common for us to hear from people that come in to seek our support about how dehumanising the culture is at Work and Income.

“[MSD] treats people coming in to see them as if they’re suspicious, or as though the support they need could have been got elsewhere.”

She said the charity was frequently asked to attend Winz meetings with clients, and outcomes would normally be better when an advocate was present as support person. —RNZ