No bias in quake hirings: EQC review
NZ Newswire March 15, 2012, 10:42 am
http://nz.news.yahoo...ngs-eqc-review/
The Earthquake Commission (EQC) says an independent review has cleared it of any bias or nepotism in hiring assessment staff after the Christchurch earthquake.
Wellington-based HR firm KSH Associates was asked to go over EQC's hiring processes after an ex-employee alleged highly paid "jobs for the boys and girls" were being given to relatives of senior staff members.
They included
Nikki Kettle, daughter of EQC claims manager Gail Kettle, earning $180,000 a year plus allowances of up to $24,000, as an EQC assessor and 19-year-old Zac Stiven, son of EQC Canterbury events manager Reid Stiven, as an assessor, while Matt Searle, the son of senior manager Barry Searle, was employed as an estimator.
On Thursday,
EQC board chairman Michael Wintringham said the review found hiring processes were appropriate and that it had gone to some lengths to ensure they were fair.
The findings of no bias and nepotism were supported in a peer review by a former State Services Commission deputy commissioner, he said.
"A family relationship should not favour or disfavour an applicant. Selection should be on merit, and that was the basis for appointments in the 2012 recruitment."
EQC is cutting its contractor numbers from about 800, working on a rotating basis since September last year, to 200 for 2012.
"EQC had been required to make rapid adjustments in the face of one of the largest events in insurance history," Mr Wintringham said.
"Naturally, not everyone got their preferred outcome, but it's pleasing that the processes used in these unusual circumstances measure up to external scrutiny, were robust and there was no evidence of bias or nepotism."
Mr Wintringham responded to criticism there were too few successful candidates from Canterbury.
"EQC already had a large pool of experienced assessors and estimators to choose from. Given the dramatic reduction that was to take place in their numbers, there was no justification for seeking external candidates."
EQC staff connected to firms doing rebuild
http://www.stuff.co....s-doing-rebuild
EQC staff connected to firms doing rebuild
MARTIN VAN BEYNEN AND MARC GREENHILL
Last updated 05:00 13/06/2012
Christchurch Earthquake 2011
ECAN_80x30_PressNewsSponsor_160512
The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has threatened to sack staff with private business interests in the Christchurch rebuild in a move to protect its reputation.
The warning, in a May 28 staff memo obtained by The Press, was prompted by the discovery of "a number of staff" with interests in businesses involved in the rebuild.
In one example investigated by The Press, a company owned by assessor Nikki Kettle and estimator Grant Todd quoted for the repair of a St Martins house this year.
Kettle, the daughter of claims manager Gail Kettle, was one of three EQC staff identified last year by The Press - the others were
Zac Stiven, the 19-year-old son of EQC Canterbury events manager Reid Stiven, and Matt Searle, the son of senior manager Barry Searle – whose employment prompted allegations of nepotism and conflicts of interest.
Kettle formed a company called Re-Built Project Management in January with Todd.
The Press understands Todd knew the owner of the St Martins house through sporting connections and then helped the owner to opt out of the EQC process.
EQC emailed its staff on May 28 to remind them of their obligations, saying: "Depending on the level of involvement you have this has the potential to compromise EQC's reputation with regard to impartiality and trustworthiness.
"For example if you have a building company providing quotes for earthquake damaged homes either through the customer managed repair programme or through the EQR [earthquake recovery] process, this presents a direct conflict of interest.
"EQC will not allow any staff contractors or employees to engage directly in such business. Should employees engage in this it will be considered a breach of our standards of integrity and conduct and further action will be taken which may include disciplinary or dismissal action."
EQC staff are required to declare interests in other businesses in a disclosure form that was first issued this year.
The commission inspects quake-damaged properties and funds repairs through EQR or the opt-out process.
EQC customer services general manager Bruce Emson said Kettle had herself flagged the issue of a possible conflict after her company had quoted for the work.
She and Todd had been told they could not continue to work for EQC and also run a building company.
One of the pair had decided to leave EQC but not as a result of any disciplinary action. None was taken, Emson said.
"They flagged the issue and we had not made it clear it was not acceptable. The gap was with management. I should have made it much clearer at the time."
Staff had anonymously complained about the alleged conflict of interest, but Kettle had already "put her hand up", he said.
EQC investigation relaunched
MARTIN VAN BEYNEN
Last updated 05:00 23/06/2012
http://www.stuff.co....tion-relaunched
The Earthquake Commission (EQC) has reopened a conflict of interest investigation into an assessor who is the daughter of its
claims manager Gail Kettle.
The Press last week revealed assessor Nikki Kettle, who is on an annual salary of $114,000, started a building repair company called Re-built Project Management Ltd, with EQC estimator Grant Todd, at the beginning of the year. The company was incorporated on 26 January with Kettle and Todd having an equal shareholding.
On May 28, EQC put out a staff memo warning all staff direct involvement in firms providing quotes for earthquake-damaged homes, either through the customer- managed repair programme or through EQC,
was a conflict of interest and warranted dismissal.
The memo appears to have been prompted by an incident at a St Martins property on May 15 when Todd's appearance to provide a quote surprised an EQC estimator who arrived at the same address. The Press understands the estimator then told his supervisor, who prepared a report.
The Press asked a series of follow-up questions last Friday and the commission took five days to offer a four-sentence response.
The Press took issue with the response and yesterday an EQC spokesman said the organisation was "undertaking further investigation into the issues surrounding these two staff".
Last week
EQC's Canterbury boss Bruce Emson told The Press Kettle had "put her hand up" about the fact her company was quoting for a job and that prompted a thorough investigation and then the memo to all staff.
He said an anonymous tip-off about Todd appearing at the address occurred after the investigation was already under way.
Management was to blame for not making it clear such conflicts were unacceptable and staff had to choose between working for EQC or their building company, he said.
However, in response to a follow-up question: "When do you say Kettle put her hand up about her conflict?" EQC said, "Nikki Kettle made declarations in December and February about potential work conflicts."
This refers to standard disclosure forms completed by all EQC staff.
If that is correct, Kettle and Todd were allowed to operate their business for up to six months before EQC clarified the conflict of interest rules.
Neither Todd nor Kettle appear to have been privy to EQC records about the St Martins property but EQC has so far refused to answer questions about how many other jobs the company quoted for.
Kettle started with EQC last year as an assessor on a salary of $180,000 and also secured a job with it this year when it cut down its field staff from about 550 to 200.
Her appointment was one of several that opened EQC to accusations of poor management of conflict of interests. It was exonerated in an inquiry by an independent personnel consultant it appointed.
EQC is now understood to have transferred Kettle to a hub job at Kaiapoi.
The commission told The Press Todd was leaving EQC but it has not responded to questions about his present status.
The Press has been told he is talking to his lawyers.
- © Fairfax NZ News
Give girls a go Report by Human Rights Commission
Female Modern Apprentices in New Zealand
http://www.neon.org....Go%20Report.pdf
Third-year building apprentice
Nikki Kettle, 19, had a tough road before
finding an apprenticeship that would give her the training she wanted.
But now she’s working at
Estate Builders in Hamilton and learning skills
that could take her anywhere. She’ll even be building herself her own
home soon. During her apprenticeship she’s discovered how to take
charge of her learning and to think for herself. In her experience,
the easy way out was a road to nowhere.
The
Palmerston North teenager says
she always knew she wanted to do
something like building. “I’m really into
my sport so I knew I wanted to do something
that wasn’t sitting down all day inside. I like
having to use my brain,” Nikki says.
Nikki grew up with a father and brothers
who were all motor mechanics, and
a mother
who raced cars with her father. “So I’ve always
been around a male environment,” she says.
However, it took three apprenticeships and
three moves before she found a workplace that
would support her learning.
Her first year was
16
spent on big commercial high rise buildings
and apartment blocks in Wellington, which she
says was “boring and cold”. As the only woman
in a crew of 200, Nikki felt outnumbered.
“But I never really felt like quitting. I don’t
know if that was because everyone said I
would quit and I didn’t want to prove them
right, or just that I had done a year and didn’t
want to throw a year of my life away.”
Moving back to
Palmerston North, she started
a new apprenticeship with a crew of seven, still
doing commercial work such as storage sheds.
The smaller crew was an improvement, but
the work was still repetitive. “I spent two solid
weeks last year sealing panels, putting sealant
in between panels. You just learn nothing,
sealing panels, but that’s what had to be done.”
Nikki felt the men didn’t appreciate having a
woman in their workplace, though she was on
good enough terms with some of them to have
the occasional beer after work. “I was put to
work by myself a lot because they couldn’t be
bothered with me. And I don’t know if that was
because I was a woman or because of my own
personality, but I was cast aside a lot.”
But Nikki was not yet ready to give in. “I do
think I have the attributes or whatever it takes
to do it. I think I bring something else to the
building trade. Like, organisation. I seem to be
able to get to places on time.”
She moved to
Hamilton and looked for work.
Twelve builders she rang who were looking
for apprentices wouldn’t even talk or meet
with her. But her luck was about to change.
After going back home again feeling “down
as, because I had just been denied by all
these people”,
the Building and Construction
Industry Training Organisation (BCITO)
suddenly stepped into the rescue.
One of the
BCITO Modern Apprenticeship
Coordinators was looking out for her. He called
Nikki to say that
Mike Pryor, of Estate Builders,
needed someone to start the next day. “So it
just happened and fell into place.” And finally
Nikki feels she’s in the right place to learn her
trade, working in a small team of three where
her boss is on hand to monitor her progress.
Small teams and smaller jobs are the way to
go, she says. “I think doing commercial, you
can go through your apprenticeship and finish
it and not know anything.”
The houses Nikki works on now require more
detailed finishing, she says. “It’s got to be a
lot tidier because it’s going to be seen.” Since
Nikki hasn’t done a lot of housing before,
she has some catching up to do. “Here I’m
not exactly thrown in the deep end, but given
a task to do and allowed to get on with it.
They don’t care if I don’t know how, because
I’ll just ask. I haven’t been made to feel stupid
if I don’t know a lot of what they do.”
It’s been a challenge for Nikki to get the
training she needs.
Her previous work on
commercial sites did not require her to learn
how to read plans, because the site foremen
took care of that. “It’s easy to be lazy and not
do it, and let someone else do it for you.”
Nikki says she can keep up with the guys
physically, as long as she’s on top of her game.
But she says there’s a danger that, because
a woman can ask for help more easily than a
man, it’s tempting to be lazy there too. “It’s
easier for me to go ‘Oh someone, can you
please do this for me, pretty please,’ and they’ll
go ‘Oh yeah, OK then,’ and so I could slip
through. But then you don’t learn anything and
you don’t get anywhere.”
The optional units of the Modern
Apprenticeship can be skipped on commercial
sites. Nikki says this means somebody can
finish their apprenticeship and be a competent
builder, but only on a specific type of building.
“I could build a 14-storey building, but I couldn’t
do a soffit in it, a nice tongue-and-groove soffit.”
(A soffit is the underside of an overhanging
structure such as a balcony or eave.)
Nikki loves what she is doing now. It involves a
lot more thought. “You’ve got to put the effort
in to make it look nice.” Now she does more
planning, working out the process and how
things will look.
She likes the social aspect of the job, with all
the interesting characters she gets to meet
every day. And she loves the shared sense
of achievement that goes with building. “Not
all jobs you can see what you’ve achieved
that day. Here we’re about to pour the fl oor
and…it’s been such a struggle to get here.
We’ve worked knee-deep in mud, been soaked
through and shivering, and we’ve been out
on hot days when you just want to find some
shade. You’ve done it all, and at the end of the
day you get to see what you’ve done.”
Nikki says her friends think her job is really
cool. “My friend’s a builder, beat that!” Her
family wasn’t surprised by her career choice
either. It was a good decision for her because
she is not carrying a student loan. “I couldn’t
really just rack up debt and then spend the
next ten years paying it back. I wanted to
be able to do something that didn’t cost me
a million bucks, and actually come out with
a good solid qualification that can take me
anywhere. I can do it anywhere in the world.”
18
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