By SCOTT INGLIS
A former Department for Courts manager broke recruitment rules by not telling her boss that six people hired under her were relatives, an inquiry has found.
But the manager, former Auckland District Court collections unit head Losa Purcell-Milford, says she did nothing wrong.
She says the inquiry was in retaliation for her taking a grievance case against the department.
The investigation was launched in June over the hiring practices of Mrs Purcell-Milford after two staff complaints of nepotism.
It was ordered by chief executive Wilson Bailey and carried out by the department's business assurance manager.
Mrs Purcell-Milford left her job of three years on March 31.
The investigator found that six relatives, from members of her extended family and those connected by marriage, were hired during Mrs Purcell-Milford's time as manager.
The investigator found that though the unit had "robust" recruitment procedures, these were not followed during that period.
"Despite a formal request from her area manager, the former district manager did not disclose her family relationship to individuals who were interviewed and appointed."
The department says such disclosure is mandatory under its code of conduct.
Documentation supporting the appointment of staff and relating to other staff matters was also inadequate, the investigator found.
Some of the six relatives have left their jobs but the department general manager of collections, Murray Short, refused to say how many, citing privacy.
He confirmed that those remaining had to be retained because they had employment contracts in force.
There was nothing the department could do against Mrs Purcell-Milford either.
But Mrs Purcell-Milford told the Herald the department was wrong.
Her superiors signed off on all staff recruitment she was involved in - and in fact encouraged her to find people she knew to save on advertising costs, she said.
And, when she was manager, staff were hired by a panel of three, including herself, and the successful candidate chosen from a ratings system.
She did not have the final say.
She had no idea how the department came up with six family members - only three were related, and two of those were hired at the same time as her.
One left during her term and was rehired after she left and two others were former work colleagues, she said.
In all cases, she insisted that recruitment rules were followed.
Mrs Purcell-Milford resigned after an earlier inquiry into her letting her daughter use her car park and a male friend drive a department car after she had been drinking.
She had taken out a personal grievance case over that and believed the nepotism inquiry was in retaliation.
She now has another job in human resource
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