Thank you everyone for your mahi and dedication – enjoy your day off!
Our Incident Management Team first met at the end of January to discuss the impact of COVID-19 and since then it’s been a pretty intense time for us all. Borders closed, courses moved online, most of us started working from home, some of you took on extra tasks – everyone pulled together to ensure our students were well supported and their studies weren’t disrupted.
As a token of the ELT’s appreciation for everyone’s mahi, they have given us all a day off work as a koha to say thank you. It’s not annual leave and it’s not time off in lieu – it’s a day to spend with your whānau or to focus on yourselves.
It’s important that you take the day now, in July or by the end of August at the latest (you can’t bank your day off to use later in the year). Everyone is feeling the effects of this challenging and unsettling time, so talk to your mangers and get the time booked in now. There are some parameters around the taking of this time, which they can discuss with you, and these are also summarised below.
In Merran’s video message today to staff, she mentions the feedback that one of our external evaluators gave following the Internal Evaluation Review interviews carried out recently. “Where you are now is not somewhere I have seen any other institution get to in this short a space of time and given the distance that needed to be travelled.”
“We couldn’t have got to this point without your hard mahi, dedication and support,” Merran said.
Parameters for your ‘day free off work’
Your one day off, is applicable to permanent staff 0.5 and above, and for fixed term staff that have an end date of 31 July 2020 or later. Please ensure you use your day off this month, or by 15 August at the latest. You don’t need to log leave, just check with your Manager first.
This day of is just for permanent and fixed term staff as outlined above, but not for staff under 0.5 FTE or casual staff.
If you have any questions, talk to your team leader or you can contact your HR Business Partner.