Opotiki District Council senior management staff are raising concerns at how staff are often being treated as ‘on-call' at all times following a number of recent incidents in the town.

The council has recently revamped its after-hours service seeking to ensure members of the public are confident that they can get hold of someone when they need to for out-of-hours matters such as dog control or noise complaints.

Council Chief Executive, Aileen Lawrie, says using an official process is important because it means council has the matter on record.

'We can be held accountable for dealing with it in a timely manner and it can be escalated if it needs to be.

'We have better statistics about the sort of issues we get, when we get them and how long it takes us to resolve them.”

Several other factors have also highlighted the need for better management of the after-hours service.

'There are some great things about living in a district like Opotiki. It means we are an interconnected and close community with a strong sense of whanau.

'But one of the things we are really aware of here at the council is that it often means local people know who they want to talk to, so they bypass the usual processes and just go and chat to the person they know.

Council employees want to help out so are usually happy to provide that assistance on the spot.

'This sense of community is part of what makes us a responsive and people-focussed Council. But the downside is that it can put a lot of pressure on staff.

'For example, we have recently had some key staff on leave, or away unwell or dealing with bereavement. Like any good employer, we want to make sure that our staff have the right to personal and family time when they are not at work. Work doesn't need to follow them home.”

Aileen says this is why council have things in place like after hours contact phone numbers so that staff can be rostered on call and other staff know that they are free to spend time with family or friends without worrying about work.

'It's a small thing that the community can do to help our staff keep work at work and home at home just as we would all like.

'So please, if you are contacting the Council, use the after-hours phone numbers or wait until the next working day to raise your issue. I'm sure staff will thank you for it.”

Council will be raising the profile of after-hours contact details over the coming weeks through additional advertising and on Facebook and the website www.odc.govt.nz.