North Canterbury lines company leads COVID-19 vaccination initiative

North Canterbury lines company, MainPower, is taking a strong stance on getting its workforce vaccinated. If it reaches its target of 90% of its workforce fully vaccinated by 1 December 2021, the company will give a day of special leave to every full vaccinated employee.

“The ‘Take two for the team’ challenge is important as we are an essential service provider,” says MainPower Chief Executive, Andy Lester. “A single staff member contracting COVID-19 could not only be dire for that person and their family, but also could potentially impact our network of more than 42,000 customers.

“If we reach our goal by 1 December 2021, all fully vaccinated staff will receive one day of special leave to use in the next 12 months, as a thank you for doing their bit to help reduce the impact of COVID-19 and keeping our team and our community safe.

“We hope other businesses throughout the country will adopt this idea as this will be hugely beneficial for New Zealand.”

One of the largest employers in the North Canterbury region, MainPower is no stranger to employee wellbeing initiatives. Earlier this year it introduced another industry-leading initiative, offering its staff the opportunity to work nine day fortnight – with slightly longer working hours and a three day weekend every fortnight.

“These wellbeing initiatives are valued by our staff and are looked at within our industry as impressive and innovative ideas,” says Mr Lester.

MainPower is the first electricity industry company to offer COVID-19 vaccine incentives and nine day fortnights to its staff.

“Being an industry leader in this area gives us an edge in recruitment and better enables us to attract and retain people, who would be unable to find a similar level of flexibility and focus on well-being elsewhere. This is critical in today’s competitive labour market,” says General Manager People and Culture Sandra O’Donohue.

MainPower was recently recognised at the New Zealand Energy Excellence Awards – winning the Wellbeing category, which celebrates excellence in caring for employees.

The company’s core activity is maintaining the electricity distribution network in North Canterbury and it has continued attending to network faults throughout the current lockdown.

MainPower

Rangiora-based MainPower New Zealand Limited owns and operates the electricity network across North Canterbury, incorporating the Waimakariri, Hurunui and Kaikōura regions.

Our network delivers electricity to more than 65,000 customers via more than 5,000 kilometres of overhead lines and underground cables, across a geographical area of 11,180 square kilometres.

MainPower is a consumer owned company; the MainPower Trust holds the ownership of MainPower New Zealand Limited on behalf of the communities of North Canterbury and Kaikoura and for Qualifying Customers.

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