By FRANCESCA MOLD
Act leader Richard Prebble was rebuked by Parliamentary Services for publicly suggesting his staff worked longer hours than employment laws allow.
Mr Prebble revealed his telling-off at the party's annual conference in Wellington yesterday.
It related to comments he made in response to allegations about a secret staffing scheme run
by the party.
Mr Prebble said Parliamentary Services, which acts as the employer of parliamentary workers, had reprimanded him for talking about the long hours his staff worked, including late at night and on Sundays.
"I have been rebuked ... for saying truthfully that ... our staff work hard, are not clock-watchers and do far more than a 40-hour working week," he said.
"My comments are, I have been told, contrary to the Employment Relations Act."
Mr Prebble said Act had a culture of expecting hard work, but it was obviously not considered acceptable under current employment laws.
Act has been accused of running an elaborate scheme that allowed staff to be paid as out-of-Parliament "electorate agents" when they were working virtually full-time in Parliament as researchers and press officers.
Other political parties have lodged complaints about the scheme with the Auditor-General and Serious Fraud Office.
But Mr Prebble maintains the scheme was legitimate and fitted within Parliament's rules.
Yesterday, he said the concerns were "a storm in a teacup".
The staffing scheme was simply a matter of Act managing its resources well.
