Eligibility

There are four criteria your organisation must meet to be eligible for the Awards component of the survey (to be identified as one of the "Best Workplaces in New Zealand"):

1. All employees of your organisation must be given the opportunity to complete it. This includes full-time and part-time employees, but does not include contractors or casuals. In some instances independent business units within a 'family' of organisations may undertake the survey. This would apply where that business unit operated as a truly autonomous unit, was separately branded with its own identity, and could reasonably be seen as a distinct entity from its 'parent' organisation. Conversely, a department or division of an organisation could not undertake the survey. If you are unsure of eligibility, please contact JRA on (09) 378 2003. If you can't meet this requirement but still wish to survey your staff, the New Zealand Workplace Survey offers an alternative option.

2. Response rate. Your organisation must achieve a response rate as follows:

3. The organisation must have been in business/operating in the New Zealand market for at least 12 months at the commencement of their survey. This applies to startups but not mergers or acquisitions. If you would like to check if this eligibility requirement applies to you please contact JRA.

4. Only responses from New Zealand-based staff are considered when finalists are selected. Employees based offshore may participate in the survey and you will still be able to view reporting which includes responses from them. However when this year's finalists are selected, responses from overseas employees will be excluded.

5. Your organisation must agree to participate in the JRA Best Workplaces Survey in good faith. Please view the summary on the following page that outlines our policy on providing incentives to staff to complete the survey: www.jra.co.nz/forum/topic6/thread90.aspx.

6. The survey must be completed between Tuesday 1 June and Tuesday 31 August 2010.

Categories for Finalists

Organisation Size Categories

All eligible organisations will be ranked using their Overall Performance Index score from the survey. This ranking will be used to determine the following 35 category finalists and the winning organisation in each category:

• 10 Best Small Workplaces (employing 20-49 employees)
• 10 Best Small-Medium Workplaces (employing 50-149 employees)
• 10 Best Medium-Large Workplaces (employing between 150 and 399 employees)
• 5 Best Large Workplaces (employing 400 or more employees)

Finalist and winning organisations earn the right to be identified as a ‘JRA Best Workplaces Finalist 2010.’

Most Improved Workplaces

There will be a group of awards presented to the organisations with the greatest overall improvement in their Performance Index score across their JRA Best Workplaces Survey 2009 and 2010 results (relevant eligibility requirements must be met for surveys in both years). An organisation does not need to be a category finalist to be eligible for this award.

• Most Improved Small Workplace
• Most Improved Small-Medium Workplace
• Most Improved Medium-Large Workplace
• Most Improved Large Workplace

Overall Winner

An Overall Winner will be chosen from the four organisation size category winners, having regard to the following criteria:

• Consistency in performance scores over time
• Organisation size
• Response rate
• Organisation demographics, including geographic spread
• Other special circumstances

The winning organisation earns the right to be identified as the ‘JRA Best Workplaces Overall Winner 2010.’ The selection of the Overall Winner will be made by JRA (NZ) Ltd, and their decision will be final. No correspondence regarding the selection of the winners of these Awards will be entered into.

Five-Year League

The Five-Year League Awards were created in 2009 to recognise the significant achievement of organisations that have demonstrated consistent high performance in the JRA Best Workplaces Survey and Awards over multiple years. To be eligible, an organisation must:

• Have been a finalist in the JRA Best Workplaces Survey or its predecessor at least five times within the last six calendar years
• Be a finalist the year the award is being presented

Each year that an organisation meets the above requirements they will remain in the Five-Year League, and this achievement will be recognised during the JRA Best Workplaces Awards Evening.