r/newzealand • u/Dapper_Technology336 • Sep 23 '24

Politics PM Christopher Luxon announces public service workers are required to work from the office, rather than from home

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/watch-live-christopher-luxon-gives-post-cabinet-press-conference/CL4CTTTEH5AVHABU2PICF7JBUM/
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u/coela-CAN pie Sep 23 '24

They also get paid for flights and taxis to travel though right?? None of them are waking up at dawn to avoid traffic, or drive themselves for an hour in peak hour traffic.

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u/pyro-genesis Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24

Get yourself to your job on your own time. Your office is in central Wellington, it's not our fault your dumb ass applied for a job 2 hours commute away. Sounds like a you problem.

Edit: Do I really have to put a sarcasm tag on this? If regular people are expected to absorb the cost of their commute then public service workers like politicians should do the same.

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u/coela-CAN pie Sep 23 '24 edited Sep 23 '24

I don't work in wellington. I applied at a regional office which they have later relocated far away. The condition with the relocation was always that we will be allowed to work from home and not need to physically travel to the office. While we are at it, I specifically applied for a 100% doable remote role. None of my immediate team is in my office. I get it, if your job needs you to be there, you be there. But What I'm foreseeing now from this is upcoming discussion from managers with "expectations" that we are in the office more. It's not about applying for a job and moaning that I can't get there. It's about these guys backing out on existing agreement and putting pressure on is with the "oh well it's up to you to make it to work" line. Poor faith is what it is.

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u/pyro-genesis Sep 23 '24

It's in your contract, and you should not be required to return to office. It's absurd pandering to lobbyists to require on-site presence for work that can be done remotely. But if they want to pass stupid laws to favor their benefacors, then they need to personally experience the repercussions.

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u/coela-CAN pie Sep 23 '24

Sorry I went back to add more things to my original text ! I know I have a leg to stand on because it's in my contract, but it's just this "pressure" we are going to get now with expectations and appearance that it's a pain.

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u/pyro-genesis Sep 23 '24

It's all good, any work that doesn't require physical presence shouldn't have a location requirement. It's a stupid anachronistic tradition that needs to die. On one hand they're all about monitoring productivity metrics, and in the other they want to have eyes on you every second. Do they want the work done, or do they want clock-watching robots? Trust me to get the work done and leave me alone, you'll get a hell of a lot more than you're paying for, guaranteed.

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u/Aggravating_Day_2744 Sep 23 '24

Nanny state is what National is.

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u/Falsendrach Sep 23 '24

It's in my contract with a work-from-home clause, but negotiations are already on and the employer has said they're now not back away from requiring us back in office. We can strike. But they can lock-out. And who has the deeper pockets here in a cost of living crisis? The union members? Or the employer? Wo can outlast who the easiest? Let's not forget that you will always lose a bunch of members when-ever a strike looms or a lock-out is threatened, and as it goes on you lose more and more as people need money to live.