For about 300 staff, the move from a 75-hour to a 72-hour fortnight is equivalent to a 4.2% increase in their effective hourly pay and three fewer hours of work each fortnight.
But for about 30 staff who previously worked 80-hour fortnights, the move to 72 hours is equivalent to an 11.1% increase in their effective hourly pay and eight fewer hours of work each fortnight.
This 30-strong group comprises NRC’s seven-member executive leadership team, 11 Kaipara Moana remediation programme employees and 12 other staff.
Cleary’s report said the reduced-hours arrangement improved NRC’s position from last to sixth among New Zealand’s 11 regional councils when pay was assessed on an hours-adjusted basis.
The report said the 72-hour fortnight was chosen instead of a four-day week to provide greater flexibility while reducing operational risk and supporting service continuity.
NRC chair Pita Tipene. Photo / Denise Piper
The trial was made permanent by a narrow 5-4 majority, with NRC chair Pita Tipene casting the deciding vote.
Tipene said the council was taking an innovative approach to balancing staff wellbeing and productivity.
“Society is changing. The 40-hour week is not necessarily the way employers and employees work anymore.
Working patterns had particularly evolved since the Covid-19 pandemic, he said.
“We’re trying to create a balance between staff productivity and hard work and the quality of their lives.”
He said that was being achieved while the council had delivered a zero rates increase this financial year.
Cleary said no additional staff had been required because of the reduced-hours arrangement and there had been no demonstrated reduction in service delivery.
Statutory obligations, audit requirements, reporting deadlines, governance support, consent-processing timeframes and biosecurity programme delivery continued to be met despite the reduced-hours regime, he said.
Staff turnover fell from 12.97% before the trial to 10.1% in 2025-26, while the most recent survey found employees rated their new hours structure at 4.92 out of five and 84% reported having a healthy work-life balance, up from 69% before the trial.
Tipene cast Tuesday’s deciding vote after councillors Jack Craw, Colin “Toss” Kitchen, Amy Macdonald and Arama Morunga voted to make the regime permanent.
Councillors John Blackwell, Joe Carr, Geoff Crawford and John Hunt voted against doing so.
Crawford described the move as embarrassing at a time when some people in the community were struggling.
He said the decision was driven largely by emotion and feel-good sentiment and information presented in support of the regime was weak on data.
Hunt argued some of the report data was outdated and questioned the need to improve NRC’s remuneration ranking when Northland had New Zealand’s lowest per capita income. He also questioned the increase in staff numbers during the trial.
In contrast, Macdonald said councillors had done significant work to understand the regime and received good evidence in its favour from management and staff.
She said the arrangement reflected modern workplace realities and allowed people to better manage their work-life balance.
Kitchen said the decision came at a time of uncertainty over Northland local government reform and acknowledged the work staff had done.
Morunga said reduced staff turnover during the trial was beneficial as it cost $60,000 to recruit a new employee.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.