First names only, please

Council workers in New Plymouth are happy to be on first-name terms with the public but have successfully challenged a decree to wear full-name badges at work.

The New Plymouth District Council has been told by an Employment Court judge it cannot force its employees to wear name badges which include their surnames because it is too hazardous.

The council had wanted all its staff, with the exception of parking and animal control officers, to create an environment of "accountability and service" to ratepayers and the public by wearing such identification.

But some of the staff felt they would be put at risk by that policy from difficult members of the public.