By David Skipwith of 
Former TVNZ chief executive Kevin Kenrick. File photo. Photo: RNZ
Former TVNZ boss Kevin Kenrick collected almost $200,000 in unused holiday as part of a $2 million exit from the state-owned broadcaster.
Kenrick left TVNZ in February after almost 10 years as chief executive. And according to the broadcaster's latest annual report, he collected a significant sum on his way out.
The report states Kenrick's pay, for the first eight months of the year to February 28, was $2,087,034.
His basic salary accounted for $560,071 of that - with various other payments bringing the figure up to $2m.
Those other payments include a $1.2m bonus, $755,725 in "fixed remuneration", $99,365 superannuation and $195,154 in holiday pay.
Kenrick did not want to talk about it when called by Stuff.
"The organisation determines that, not me. So you should direct [questions] to TVNZ," Kenrick told Stuff.
TVNZ chairman Andy Coupe defended Kenrick's pay, saying it "incorporates two yearly incentives".
But when asked whether a $195k leave balance had been appropriately managed, Coupe acknowledged a "challenge".
Kenrick left TVNZ about five months after he tendered his resignation.
"As is the case in many organisations, managing leave balances can be a challenge, especially for business critical roles," Coupe said.
"This is particularly true for leadership positions in times of extraordinary circumstances, such as those that were seen in the global pandemic."
TVNZ's Auckland headquarters. File photo. Photo: Supplied to RNZ
However, TVNZ staff told Stuff they see Kenrick's holiday pay as a double standard - with the CEO allowed to bank a significant sum while others at TVNZ felt pressure to take holidays in order to help the company's bottom line.
"It's ridiculous and the height of hypocrisy, given how much pressure individual departments were under to reduce leave," said one former employee, who Stuff agreed not to name.
"There were constant references to the financial liability faced by the company because of out of control leave balances, and to find out the man at the top was owed that much shows a complete failure on his part, and on the board's."
Another former senior manager said a similar thing.
"I can remember him [Kenrick] describing news' leave balances, in front of a room of senior leaders, as 'managerial incompetence.'"
Kenrick's pay has come under scrutiny before, with the union representing journalists saying in 2017 that he was overpaid compared to other state-hired CEOs in similar positions.
The union also criticised the growing gap between TVNZ's CEO and staff, especially after cuts to its newsroom in 2017 when Kenrick's pay increased to just over $1.3 million.
In comparison, the director-general of the BBC is paid $1m (£525,000) a year.
Coupe also defended the other large figures that made up the remainder of Kenrick's final pay, saying his $560,000 base salary was "prorated" as he only worked a partial year in the 2022 financial year.
He further explained that Kenrick's seven-figure total "incorporates two yearly incentives (2021 and 2022) which would normally have been paid the following year."
"Please note that he volunteered to forgo any performance incentive in FY20 in response to the economic impact of Covid-19 on the business," Coupe added.
Kenrick was involved in appointing Paul Yurisich as Head of News and Current Affairs, who resigned in July following an independent review into the controversial hiring, and exit, of Breakfast presenter Kamahl Santamaria.
Coupe denied the fallout from Santamria's hiring and Yurisich's departure could have affected Kenrick's $1.2m performance incentive, saying: "This hypothetical situation has not been considered."
This story originally appeared on Stuff
