A lack of clear leadership from Regional Manager McGill, and creative interpretation by Vince Arbuckle, Director of Human Resources, was not going to prevent Senior Firefighters from being able to attend Station Officer exams today.

To all members it is clear that you are not able to work (paid New Zealand Fire Service employment) between your night shifts, without a required break.

Obviously Vince Arbuckle does not value Senior Firefighters and you can see (from his email attached) he has redefined paid employment which should, in fact, reduce the M.S.M. crisis in Auckland. “…I note that attendance at the examination is voluntary and that the time is not classified as duty hours for the purposes of normal overtime payments.”

This can only mean that any and all voluntarily accepted paid employment within the Fire Service is not classified as duty hours and therefore not included in Hours of Work.

All Blue Watch staff who were booked off one of their night shifts in order to sit the Station Officer papers will not be repaying that shift.