The video, posted to Vimeo, shows the woman going into work at the Wellington Water building in Lower Hutt. Photo: Vimeo / Screenshot
A Wellington Water worker who bragged on social media about slacking off at work is "genuinely remorseful about making the video", her employer says.
An internal investigation is underway after RNZ reported on the 'day-in-the-life' style video posted to video sharing website Vimeo, which showed the woman going into work at the Wellington Water building in Lower Hutt.
Speaking in Mandarin, the engineer said she had been working at home for two days "half lying down", which she explained was "actually doing nothing".
Wellington Water said it could not comment on the investigation, but said it was taking the situation seriously.
"The employee is one of our younger whānau at Wellington Water and is genuinely remorseful about making the video. This video is not reflective of the hard work, dedication and commitment of Wellington Water staff.
"We remain focused on supporting the region to get through what could be a tricky summer and potential water restrictions, finding and fixing as many leaks as we can, and providing our councils with their long-term planning advice."
Wellington Water has confirmed an employee is being investigated after they posted a video online claiming to have spent the work day "slacking off". Photo: Vimeo / Screenshot
A workplace expert said the employee would likely be under performance management even if she was joking about slacking off, because she had brought the company into disrepute.
Massey University school of management professor Jarrod Haar said Wellington Water was already under immense public scrutiny because of the number of leaks.
"They're going to be following her performance probably on a day-by-day basis," he said.
"The public will give the CEO a hard time, who will give her manager a hard time, who's going to have to pass it down the chain."
It comes as the agency announces tighter water restrictions for Wellington, Porirua, and Lower and Upper Hutt from next week, with residents banned from using sprinklers and irrigation systems.
People can still hand water their gardens as long as the hose is not left unattended.
Wellington Water said the decision had been made due to very high demand putting pressure on the drinking water supply.
It said that demand was likely to grow with hot temperatures and more than 3000 known pipe leaks.