Bay of Plenty councils grappling to keep staff working during New Zealand's Covid-19 lockdown say they are not considering redundancies, yet.
More than 100 council employees across the Tauranga and wider Bay district whose work has dropped or become untenable amid alert level 4 restrictions have been reassigned to othertasks - mostly the local Civil Defence response.
Tauranga City Council general manager of people and capability Susan Jamieson said it was not considering reduction of staff or redundancies in any areas "as our primary focus is on ensuring we look after our people so they can look after our community".
This stance has been shared by Western Bay of Plenty District Council, Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Rotorua Lakes Council.
"We know there may be difficult times ahead ... there are challenges in our financial situation and the reality is that we need to make decisions about how we manage cost," Jamieson said.
"We remain optimistic but all businesses in New Zealand, including local authorities, need to face the reality of a disrupted and ultimately changed economic environment."
Tauranga City Council's response to the lockdown has so far included reviewing the use of casual, fixed-term, contractors and agency temps; cancelling any non-essential work activities such as staff training; and all but essential recruitment has stopped.
"Council has an important and on-going role in providing services to our community and will be instrumental in supporting the region as we move to a 'rebuild' phase. We need to ensure we are resourced appropriately and in the right areas to meet these needs."
Council staff salaries will continue to be paid during the four-week lockdown period.
"Local authorities play a critical role in times of emergency – we must keep essential services running."
Jamieson said working out the council's position on all of its contracts was not possible yet but many were on hold or could not proceed during the lockdown.
"Any decision to end contracts is a complicated matter and council is closely considering things like appropriate support for local businesses, central government's position, what levels 3 and 2 [restrictions] might look like, and also council's own financial position in light of reduced revenue.
"Council needs to work with our contractors to support the recovery of the community."
At Western Bay council, chief executive Miriam Taris said it was too early to make decisions regarding staff reductions during or after the lockdown.
Potential redundancies would depend on the lockdown and what Government direction the council would receive regarding recovery projects that could involve the council and its staff, she said.
For now, staff were working remotely from home to ensure the council operated as close to normal as possible. Those employees unable to work from home, such as library staff, were helping other areas of the council with tasks and projects.
There were also 20 to 30 staff temporarily redeployed to help the Western Bay and Tauranga Civil Defence and Emergency Management role, "particularly in the welfare space regarding accommodation, homeless, isolated communities and vulnerable communities".
Bay of Plenty Regional Council staff have also kept their jobs but some contracts were on hold.
Forty-one employees had been redeployed to work at the Bay of Plenty Civil Defence and Emergency Management group emergency co-ordination centre and nearly 50 Rotorua Lakes Council staff have also been reassigned.
Rotorua council chief executive Geoff Williams said council staff were "key income earners" in their families and staffing changes now would have "significant implications".
"Redundancies at this time would see more locals without income and with reduced spending ability that then has ripple effects into our broader economy."
Williams said contracts were "not being cancelled" and to do so would cause further damage to the economy.
