ONE
What are the four standards the Code of conduct covers?
Fair, Impartial, Responsible, Trustworthy
Who does the code of conduct applied to?
All staff working for MSD - permanent, casual etc
Where can you find the code of conduct?
Doogle main page
What does it mean to be impartial?
We must remain political neutrality
Carry out our role as a public servant without be affected by our own personal beliefs
support our organisation to provide robust and unbiased advice
Respect the authority of the government of the day
What should you do if you see someone possibly breaching the code of conduct?
Think about how you can deal with the situation responsibly and inform your manager at first instance
If you accidently entered a record of a client who you know of - what should you do?
Close the record straight away and email/inform your manager
Tim has been at a conference for the last couple of days and they have just finished up with a dinner at a local restaurant.
Tim has a taxi chit in his bag which his manager gave him to get home after the conference, but he is happy to walk – it will only take five minutes. A woman in the group who works for a different agency lives further away but she has said she will also walk as she doesn’t have any cash with her.
Tim is worried that she won’t be safe so he suggests that he sign the chit now, and that she could take it and use it to get home.
Are Tim's actions and Behavior ok or not ok?
It's not OK; travel policy dictates that taxi chits/cards must only be used by an authorised staff member for the business purpose intended only
Is it okay to access your mother's record to check that her NZS payments are on time?
No - you are not ever to access information of those who are family or someone you know of.
It is going to be a beautiful day and Ari would much rather spend it outside than in the office.
He is thinking about calling in sick and then going outside to lie in the sun.
Ari picks up the phone and calls his boss to tell him that he is feeling unwell and won’t be in today.
Are Ari's actions and behavior ok or not ok?
It's not OK, honesty and trust has been undermined, a key conduct and integrity principle. Sick leave is to protect staff members whereby reason of illness they are prevented from attending work
When we deal with public money and resources, what is the standard of expected behavior called?
Probity
Dave has had to call the printing company three times in one week regarding incomplete deliveries of printed material. Along with the third and final delivery comes a wrapped gift with Dave’s name on the card.
The printing company has sent him a bottle of wine and some coffee vouchers to give to his team, along with a written apology. Dave hands out the vouchers to his team and thinks to himself how nicely the wine will go with his dinner tonight.
Are Dave's actions and behaviours OK or not OK?
It's not OK, It is inappropriate for any staff member to benefit from any gift received or
rewards offered as a result of MSD expenditure or of their employment within MSD
Over the weekend Aimee and her friends had a laugh ‘googling’ their names on the internet to see what they could find out about themselves.
Aimee was quite surprised at some of the information she found, Aimee was previously an MSD client herself so at work on Monday she decides to search the system to see what information the Ministry holds about her.
Are Aimee’s actions and behaviours OK or not OK?
It’s not OK under any circumstance. This deliberately contravenes our requirements around accessing information and the misuse of client information
Standard behaviour for public servants is issued under what act?
Section 17 of the Public Service Act 2020
The Ministry is responsible for paying benefits and for prosecuting those who defraud the benefit system. Our clients are required to provide us with highly sensitive and personal information to get what they need and for our business reasons. This means that in these particular areas the standards we apply to ourselves must be higher than those we expect of others. Name 2 examples that is unacceptable for a staff member to do (what we have zero tolerance for):
1. Steal from the benefit system or MSD
2. Interfere with or in any way abuse a child or young person that MSD has a professional relationship with
3. Sell Client information
4. Deliberately share client details or circumstances with any unauthorised person
Sally uses her Facebook account at home to keep up with friends overseas and to share photos. She has just received a message from a friend who has moved back to New Zealand.
Her friend asks what work she is doing and how she is finding it. Sally is feeling pretty stressed at work, and she doesn’t like the direction some of the policy she is working on is taking, so she takes this opportunity to vent her frustration directly on her Facebook page.
Are Sally's actions and behaviour ok or not ok?
It's not OK, as public servants we are politically neutral, we keep politics out of work and work out of politics