Increasing demand for free advice
“I’m at my wits’ end and don’t know what to do,” can be the first clue for a Citizens Advice Bureau volunteer that the person on the end of the phone or who has just walked in the door is desperate for advice, Far North Citizens Advice Bureau board chair Gay Ansley says.
And demand for free advice from the bureau and its networks is growing.
December’s 172 client inquiries was up 24 per cent on the same month in 2016, she said.
Close to 40 bureau workers, including four trainees, were currently volunteering at the Far North CAB. Mrs Ansley says their job was not to solve people’s problems, but to provide advice and guidance about what they could do next.
“The service is confidential. We respect people’s privacy,” she said as CAB New Zealand Awareness Week (March 19-25), with the theme of employment rights, got under way. Far North CAB inquiries about working conditions, including employment agreements, reached a five-year high of 116 in the 2016/2017 year.
“Employment-related inquiries come from across the board, often about employers holding back pay or failing to pay employees on time. Many don’t have written contracts,” she said.
“Some employers do not have knowledge about all the rules.
“The government has tightened up a lot, and a lot of the problems stem from the rules changing. Often people who are running small businesses can’t keep up with them.”
Anyone in that situation was welcome to pick up a brochure with all the latest information from the CAB office at the Procter Library in Cobham Road, Kerikeri.
CAB Far North’s service is free to everyone. Information, guidance and support was confidential and impartial. Contact the bureau at the library, freephone 0800 367-222, email farnorth@cab.org.nz ■ The office is open Monday to Friday, from 9.30am to 3.30pm.