Date posted: 23/08/2024 5 min read

Tania Donaldson CA: fighting worker exploitation in NZ

Tania Donaldson CA is using her accounting skills to prevent worker exploitation and protect human rights in New Zealand

Quick take

  • Tania Donaldson CA is a senior manager in New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
  • She came to the role after a career that included a commerce degree in accounting and information systems, several years at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and time as a public servant and consultant mainly working with public sector organisations.
  • Donaldson says she has found her purpose at MBIE, where she is using her accounting skills to create fairer workplaces and promote more transparent labour supply chains.

Portrait of Tania Donaldson

Tania Donaldson CA was already an experienced accounting professional when something came across her desk that changed the focus of her career.

It was in her first week of working in the Labour Inspectorate of New Zealand’s Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) when she was asked to review the case of a worker employed in a convenience store.

“They had been made to pay NZ$10,000 offshore as a premium to secure their job,” she says.

On top of that, despite being paid what looked like the right amount of money through the books, “every week when they got their pay they were walking to the bank and taking most of the money out and putting it in a brown envelope” to give back to their employer.

“Then they had a demand for another NZ$10,000 to be paid offshore from their employer but they didn’t have that money to pay, so that was when they complained.”

It was at this point that Donaldson decided she wanted to “be a part of making this situation better for people in New Zealand”.

An understanding of business systems

Although Donaldson says it was something of a detour in her career, her previous experience had given her the skills and tools to be effective in her new purpose.

This was the same time that the Holidays Act issues were starting to become evident, and she spent the first couple of years leading the regulatory response to the Holidays Act non-compliance issues.

“I decided that the best person for doing that kind of job effectively was probably an accountant who understood business systems, so I sold my way into the role on that basis,” says Donaldson. “After all, if regulation is going to be effective it needs to fit beside and within business systems.”

This is a timely reflection, given that Brooke van Velden, New Zealand Minister for Workplace Relations and Safety, recently announced that the government will improve the Holidays Act with the help of businesses and workers, with an exposure draft expected to be released for consultation in September 2024.

“And where I’ve landed now is using my skills to focus on protecting human rights and preventing worker exploitation, and that is a really good alignment with my personal views,” says Donaldson.

A varied accounting career

After completing a commerce degree majoring in information systems and accounting, Donaldson gained about three decades of experience in the public sector, both as an employee and consultant.

Her roles were varied, ranging from a systems analyst and a systems accountant to an internal auditor and a project manager for replacing new accounting systems.

She spent a decade at the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, then worked as an employee and consultant in the public sector, at the same time supporting her partner to grow his business from one employee to 20. In 2015, she joined the Labour Inspectorate, where she is now the manager of employment system guidance and engagement.

“All the things you learn as an accountant are applicable in different ways,” says Donaldson.

Educating business owners on modern slavery

Her current role has a significant educational component, informing businesses and stakeholders of their responsibilities and promoting not just compliance but best practice.

Although progress is sometimes slow, Donaldson believes she and her team are making a difference, adding that regulation is only part of the equation because organisations increasingly understand that ethical practice is “also just good business”.

New Zealand has a draft Modern Slavery Reporting Bill, which has been in limbo since the change of government last October, but even without legislation in place there is momentum from a range of stakeholders to take action.

“Increasingly, organisations are caring about human rights and the treatment of people alongside the focus on profit and the planet,” says Donaldson.

“There’s an increasing expectation from stakeholders who see it makes good business sense, while investors want to invest in companies that are doing the right thing and employees want to work for good organisations.”

Another area of focus for Donaldson’s work at MBIE is supporting more transparency in organisational supply chains to root out practices such as modern slavery.

“I think accountants can really help with this as they have the ability to see issues, understand business risks and also think about how to maintain the organisation’s viability,” she says.

“Accountants are already doing a lot of things for organisations and understand them really well, and I don’t think it’s a huge leap for them to start thinking about modern slavery and worker exploitation risks and mitigations using social practice due diligence approaches.”

Donaldson says it's another area where accountants can look beyond the numbers to help understand what is happening.

“We often think of accountants as just looking at the numbers, but actually accountants do so much more and they can actually help understand the whole of the business because they are systems leaders.”

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