Guidance: Misconduct and serious misconduct reporting requirements

The Public Service Act 2020 has recently been amended to introduce a new requirement for organisations to report annually to the Public Service Commissioner (the Commissioner) on the outcomes of any investigations into alleged misconduct or serious misconduct that year (see section 94B).

This guidance sets out the information for organisations to include in their reports to the Commissioner. Transparent and consistent public reporting on employment investigations into misconduct and serious misconduct promotes trust and confidence in the public sector. It helps to identify systemic trends and emerging risks, so that targeted support can be put in place.

As well as supporting transparency and providing valuable insights for the Public Service Commission’s (the Commission) integrity promotion function, this information will be used for aggregated and non-identifiable reporting annually. This reporting will include commentary from the Commission, explaining how we have analysed the data and what is being done to respond to the emerging risks and trends that we have identified.

If you have any questions about the misconduct reporting requirement, please contact us at enquiries@publicservice.govt.nz