PHONE: (+64 4) 499 6174

MOBILE: 027 478 3034

FAX: (+64 4) 499 6175

EMAIL: mark@reesthomas.co.nz

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Mark specialises in Employment Law, investigations, organisational design, and change management,. Mark has also worked in organisations in senior management roles including HR Director of EDS New Zealand in their Senior Executive team.

His clients encompass a range of public, private and not for profit organisations. Rees-Thomas Law is a panel provider for the All of Government panel in two categories: Business Change and Human Resources.

Employment Law

  • Developed the Industrial Relations strategy for Te Pūkenga (National body for Polytechnics and ITOs)

  • Led the consolidation of 28 collective agreements into 4 collectives at Te Pūkenga

  • Represented clients in numerous employment mediations

  • Advised on contracts, policies and legal opinions

  • Advised agencies in working through the payroll remediation issues arising from interpreting the Holidays Act 

  • Led collective agreement negotiations for NZ Racing Board/ TAB/ Massey University, ESR

  • Developed and facilitated training for managers and HR teams on employment law foundations and managing staff

 

Investigations

  • Conducted numerous employment investigations for public, private and not for profit organisations

  • Investigations have included complex interpersonal relationships between senior managers and their direct reports, including claims of bullying

  • Investigations have also included issues of sexual harassment, serious harm, customer complaints, discrimination, breaches of professional codes of conduct, criminal conduct, and protected disclosures

Organisational Design and Change Management Experience

Mark has led major change management projects, including the design of operating models, outsourcing of IT services to private companies and design and implementation of organisational structures. His change management experience includes

  • Co-led the organisational design for the Ministry of Education’s executive leadership structure and ministry wide operating model, and also detailed design for sub-groups including Corporate Services, IT, Comms, Evidence and Data, Centre for Student Success, and led the change management and implementation for some functions

  • Designed the initial organisational structure for Te Pūkenga, led the change management workstream, led ideation and design workshops across Te Pūkenga for designing the future workforce strategy

  • Facilitated organisational and service design workshops with Victoria University of Wellington in business groups including Digital Services, People and Culture

  • Organisational wide design of operating model, structure and governance structures for He Whānau Manaaki (Early childhood organization with approx. 1,000 staff), and led the change management workstream

  • Led the organisational design and change management of Kiwibank’s Digital Services and People and Culture functions

  • Led the HR stream in outsourcing IT Infrastructure for the New Zealand Racing Board to Spark Digital

  • Led the HR stream for outsourcing IT Infrastructure for Ministry of Justice to Fujitsu.

  • Led the change management stream for the outsource of Facilities Management across 20 prisons at the Department of Corrections

  • Led and implemented organisational design and change management for IT at the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment

  • Organisational design for other functional areas with organisations including Massey University, Auckland University, Horticulture NZ, Waka Kotahi